Yak May 2012

TELLING THE Y R O T S E L T S NEWCA few

off to uncover a ts e s s s e rg u B e Kati tle Museum. s a c w e N e th t a secrets

ANGUAGE WATCH YOUR L t

abou ns a thing or two ar le n to in L w re D language centre. n w o ry ve ’s N o U

RD MUM’S THE WO

ISSUE 8 / MAY 2012 BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE U

hes out a little Claire Young dis the lead motherly love in ay. up to Mother’s D

CONTENTS 08

11 HOLE-Y MOLEY!

TELLING THE NEWCASTLE STORY

17 turf

Cover design by Jessica Rykers

EDITORIAL Matt Hatton - Managing Editor Rowena Grant - Managing Editor Nick Turner - Deputy Managing Editor Claire Young - Deputy Editor Jessica McAneney - Deputy Editor Lachlan Stevens - Deputy Editor Jessica Rykers - Junior Graphic Designer Jock Spence - Promotions Officer Angela Geddes - Art Director

CONTRIBUTORS Alaisdair Dewer - Contributing Writer Ben Mitchell - Graphic Design Drew Linton - Contributing Writer Kate Lamont - Graphic Design Katie Burgess - Contributing Writer Lachie Leeming - Contributing Writer Leah Henkel - Contributing Writer Lauren Johns - Graphic Design Sam Rayfield - Contributing Writer Yasmin McCall - Graphic Design

SUBMISSIONS The Yak editorial team is always on the look out for passionate student writers and graphic designers to contribute to the magazine. If you would like to take the opportunity to get your work published, please send a sample of your writing to yakmagazine@newcastle.edu.au.

ADVERTISING

mass planting

18 brick paving

timber decking

MUSIC AND WOMEN

WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE

23

24

BALL PARK MUSIC

THE USUAL STUFF

12

MUM’S THE WORD

ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW

04 Stalkerspace 04 Yak or Yuk 04 Green U 05 The Awkward Moment When...

05 Watt Space 06 Careers

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concrete paving

CAUGHT SHORT

26

SPOTTED

06 How to: Deal with Internet Trolls 07 Support U: Health Services 07 Dear Bernie 14 What’s On 27 Vox Pops

For advertising opportunities, contact Nick at yakmagazine@newcastle.edu.au yakmagazine@newcastle.edu.au

facebook.com/yakmagazine

twitter.com/yakmagazine Yak magazine is a free publication of UoN Services Ltd © 2012. www.uonservices.org.au Printed by PrintCentre on Callaghan Campus.

Get your free copy from press-points around campus on Monday, Aug 06.

With the exams and holidays looming, Yak is going to take a short, well-earned break. But fear not, we will return in semester two with more fantastic content to distract you from the doldrums of study.

Yak Magazine is published by UoN Services Limited at the University of Newcastle. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of UoN Services Limited or the University of Newcastle, unless explicitly stated. UoN Services Limited accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the opinions of information contained in this issue of Yak Magazine.

In addition, Yak Magazine may at times accept forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of affiliate compensation to subsidise the costs associated with producing the magazine. We recommend you do your own research and draw your own conclusions about any product claim, technical specifications, statistic, quote or other representation about a product, service, manufacturer, or provider.

LETTER FROM

THE EDITORS

THIS MONTH’S BITING QUESTION: “What is the worst gift you have ever given your mum for Mother’s Day?” MANAGING EDITOR

A WORD FROM OUR MANAGING EDITORS,

ROWIE & MATT One thing that we often take for granted is where we are living. We assume that we know all of its secret spaces and oft-overlooked nooks and crannies. We think that we know all there is to know about our hometowns, but how correct is that assumption? Now, for those of you living in Newcastle, how much do you really know about the Capital of the Hunter?

Our dearly beloved ex-managing editor, Katie Burgess, finds out that Newcastle is most definitely not all it seems and there are secrets that even the most patriotic locals don’t know about. Be enlightened on page 8!

Have you ever wondered what that mysterious building on the other side of the Auchmuty Courtyard is? The one where a lot of international students hang out? We got one of our new recruits to check it out. Have a read on page 18.

After a perusal of Stalkerspace, we decided we’d get to the bottom of the massive hole in the middle of the Shortland Building, and just how on earth they got the excavator in. Learn exactly what is going on in the Derkenne Courtyard, and how it’s going to end up on page 11.

We also have a lot of other juicy tidbits for you to sink your teeth into, like a bumper reviews spread for you, with some suggestions for how you can entertain yourself during the upcoming holidays; a bunch of short reads in our columns section ranging from height woes to love stories; plus all of our regular bits and bobs with Support U, Careers and the like.

ROWENA GRANT

Present: I went on a hockey trip to Dubbo and was the only underage person on the bus. Naturally, on the way back I was plied with alcohol - the night before Mother’s Day. Not having drunk before, I spent all of Mother’s Day throwing up. Mum was not appreciative.

MANAGING EDITOR

MATT HATTON

Present: I’m pretty sure I actually forgot about Mother’s Day one year. I wandered into the kitchen for breakfast and Dad asks “what did you get your mother?” I stare, blankly, back at him. “For what?” At this point, mum walks in and I realise that this is all going quite badly for what I thought was just another casual Sunday morning. “I love you, mum!” was all I could do.

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

NICK TURNER

Present: My mum assures me that I have never given her a bad gift on Mother’s Day. I know I give good presents, but I find this hard to believe. She must have forgotten the painted rock that I gave her when I was seven or eight.

DEPUTY EDITOR - ENTERTAINMENT & TECHNOLOGY

LACHLAN STEVENS

Present: I bought my mum an electric guitar this one time.

I’ve got to say she didn’t really enjoy it as much as I’d hoped. I still own it today.

DEPUTY EDITOR - REGULAR CONTENT

JESSICA MCANENEY

Present: When I was 11, we made wooden frames (as in, we received them and decorated with paint and buttons) and were able to frame a poem. This is what I wrote: Mum is good. Mum will not cut wood. My Mum is nice. My Mum will eat chocolate slice. My Mum knows Leigh. My Mum’s name is Maree. I love My Mum because she is not dumb!

Love, Jess 10/5/1998.

DEPUTY EDITOR - FEATURES & PROFILES

CLAIRE YOUNG

Present: When I was little, my three brothers and I saved up and bought my mum a fridge magnet of a dog holding a table tennis racquet. We thought it was the ultimate gift.

Happy Yakking!

JUNIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER

JESSICA RYKERS Jess M’s lovely artwork!

Present: My primary school self made a habit of spending a solid $2 at the Mother’s Day stalls to buy homemade bath bombs. In different colours, of course.

PROMOTIONS OFFICER

JOCK SPENCE

Present: One year my dad, brother and myself got mum a pressure cleaner. Great idea at the time. In hindsight however, it’s no wonder my parents are divorced.

Yak Magazine - May 2012

03

HANNAH

To the girl who jumped me from behind, covered my eyes and forced me to ‘guess who’, I’m sorry I wasn’t the friend you thought I was from behind but thank you for the laughs that followed.

128 people like this

JAMES

It’s time to let go and move on. Forget about all the good times you had together. The late night phone calls, all the games you played, all those times they were there for you when you really needed them.

5 mosquitoes in 30 seconds I AM DRENCHED IN THE BLOOD OF MY ENEMIES.

It’s over now.

41 people likes this

ADELAIDE 1 person likes this

JAMES

You are a valiant warrior Putin. Keep up the good work.

I crush the evil so that others may walk free

10 people like this

THE 100 BUS 9 people like this

CALLUM

This month Emily Wood explains why it’s okay to let go of old things and make room to help reduce e-waste.

Mosquitoes will whisper hushed and desperate tales to their larvae for generations.

Finding the lost city of Atlantis would be easier than finding a park today.

37 people like this

NEWCASTLE To those who post passive-agressive UNIVERSITY parking rants, print out a few of these for STALKERSPACE peace of mind.

Your old mobile phones have got to go. Instead of keeping them locked up in a draw somewhere, gathering dust, why not give them a new life? Recycling your mobile phone can actually make a real difference.

There has been a phenomenal increase in the development and use of electronic goods around the world over the last two decades, especially in the case of mobile phones.

This rapid increase, combined with the perceived obsolescence and short physical lifespan of the technology, has seen an astonishing increase in the amount of electronic waste (e-waste) produced around the world. Disposing of old mobile phones and other e-waste is becoming a major global problem, that is having negative impacts on the environment and people’s health.

According to the Environment, Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC), Australians discarded 16.8 million electronic devices in 2007 and 2008. Only 9 per cent of these devices were recycled while 88 per cent, or 14.7 million, were sent to landfill. The remainder were exported.

In 2002, the Basel Action Network (concerned with reducing the movements of hazardous waste) released a report that found 50-80% of e-waste collected for recycling in the United States was exported to other nations, including China, India and Pakistan.

Recycling of e-waste in these countries was not well regulated and the dumping of e-waste also occurred, resulting in the pollution of the environment and local men, women and children exposed to toxins.

654 people like this

42%

Foreign coins All nighters in the AIC Button-up flies

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58%

4%

96% 20%

80% 45% 55%

iPads in class Common lunch hour

E-waste that is not recycled or exported ends up in our landfill, where it leaches dangerous metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury into the surrounding soil and groundwater, ultimately ending up in us. The health effects of such heavy metals in humans can be devastating, potentially resulting in tumours and mental health disorders.

13%

Yak Magazine - May 2012

87%

NUSEC, with the help of UoNS, is running a mobile phone recycling program. Please take your old mobile phones to U Contact in the Shortland building and place them in the mobile phone recycling box. For more information on the recycling program and to drop off your phone, you can visit U Contact between 10am and 2pm, Monday to Friday.

By Rowena Grant

M

had invited to the party. He just couldn’t understand it. For him, it was an awkward-as-all-hell situation. For me, it was normal.

Some people have rules that they don’t stay friends with exes because:

That was until I stopped and had a look at the dynamics. My mother had sent my housemate to contain one of them, who she identified as still having feelings for me. Another ex was standing in the same group. My most recent ex was taking photos of everyone and being awesomely helpful. Another one gravitated towards my housemate who was busy containing two exes. Another turned up three quarters of the way through the night, blind drunk and tried to finally thank my mother for a gift we gave him three and a half years ago. And when my current boy turned up, that’s when it really got awkward.

ost of us can say that we have loved. Whether you were in a relationship for two years, three months, or had a summer fling: most of us have them. Exes. Whether it was someone you loved and lost, or whether you both mutually decided the relationship had come to an end, there exists a person (or people) with whom you’ve shared part of your life.

a) it complicates things; b) it’s too hard to force down those recurring feelings; or c) they just don’t want to see each other ever again.

Now, I’ve never understood the last one. Maybe that is because I have never had someone to do that wrong by me that I literally cannot stand the sight or mere mention of them. On the contrary, I try to stay friends with my exes. My reasoning? Clearly I cared about them that much that they were a huge part of my life. Why on earth would I want to block them out completely? Can you really ignore someone who was that important to you for such a long time?

Moral of the story: being friends with your exes is absolutely fine, and I definitely recommend it. However, my only advice is to never put them in the same room.

I understand the need to be apart for a while and just not be friends at all until you are ready. And I do that, so maybe that is why I seem to be friends with my exes. I hadn’t really thought about it until I had my twenty-first birthday. My brother made a comment the next day that he couldn’t believe how many exes I

Blooms

GARAGE SALE

MAY EXHIBITION APRIL 25 - MAY 13

16 MAY - 3 JUNE

> Iron with a J- Will Maguire (image Blooms left) > Identity- Curated by Lynda Lewis > 3rd year printmakers- a group proposition > Compassion- Bec Castelijn (image below titled edited image) > Il Familja- the ties that bind Becc Spiteri

Curated by student members of the Watt Space Committee, Emily Coutts, Sigourney Nicholson and Elric Ringland.

Compassion

The annual themed open exhibition, where students from all faculties at University of Newcastle are invited to submit works for display at the Gallery. Prizes are awarded in various categories.

Identity

Thursday, May 17, 6.30pm Email: wattspace@newcastle.edu.au Website: www.newcastle.edu.au/group/watt-space Facebook: Search: Watt Space Student Gallery of the University of Newcastle.

Watt Space Gallery, University House, Auckland St Newcastle. Open 12 noon -6 pm, Wed - Sun. Ph: 4921 8733 Watt Space is funded by UoN Services Limited and supported by the University of Newcastle School of Drama, Fine Art and Music.

Yak Magazine - May 2012

05

DEAL WITH INTERNET TROLLS

By Matthew Hatton

The Internet. Never before has a single piece of technology allowed people across the world to communicate in such an easy (and cheap) manner. I’m pretty sure I don’t just speak for myself when I say that I’ve met some pretty amazing people that I wouldn’t have otherwise met if it wasn’t for the Internet.

Most social networks give you the ability to just simply block people whose updates or comments you don’t want to see. Your first line of defence, and one of the most effective, is to simply just block the troll. If you can’t see their trolling, it can’t upset you.

But, as with everything in life, with the good comes also the bad. And in the case of the Internet, the bad comes in the form of trolls.

Internet discussion forums and social networks generally have a policy about not being dicks towards other users. Your second course of action against the troll is to report them to the site administrators for breaching this guide. That should see their account removed so you can continue to enjoy the site without fear of the troll.

Now, if you’re unfamiliar with the trolls of the Internet generation, these are not the creatures often found under bridges in Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Nor are they dolls with the fluoro coloured hair that were all the rage in the mid-90s.

These trolls are ordinary people. Like you and me. Sort of.

These modern interpretations of the troll sit behind their computers, hiding their identity behind a witty screenname. They lurk in Facebook groups, message boards and chat rooms. Their goal is to cause emotional pain, to upset and to generally just be arseholes. In short, they are not particularly nice people.

Thankfully, there are things you can do to help mitigate the damage a troll can cause you:

May is another busy month for the Careers Service. Keep an eye out for the following events!

Nursing and Allied Health Expo

T

he Careers Service in conjunction with the Faculty of Health will be hosting a Nursing and Allied Health Careers Expo. The date for the Expo is being finalised and will be published soon. This Expo provides students in Nursing and Allied Health disciplines with an excellent opportunity to network with organisations and find out what opportunities are available for graduating health professionals.

Visit CareerHub for more information.

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Yak Magazine - May 2012

Finally, and this is hardly an ideal option, you can simply stop visiting sites that the troll frequents.

Again, if you’re not seeing their posts, you’re not getting upset or offended by them.

Of course, if you’ve got a bit of confidence about yourself, you can always attempt to troll the troll. But in my experience that never really ends well. Hopefully these few tips will help you enjoy the Internet as it was intended… to look up vast amounts of pornographic material.

> Career Workshops

> National Career Development Week

Never had an interview before? Would you like to reduce your interview anxiety? Did you apply for a graduate program? The Careers Service (Callaghan & Ourimbah) has scheduled workshops during May to help with interview preparation - Prepare and Practice for Job Interviews - and gain insight into Assessment Centres.

The Careers Service will be celebrating National Career Development Week (NCDW) from 14 – 20 May, 2012. Keep checking CareerHub and Blackboard to see how you can participate or to find out what NCDW is visit http://www.nationalcareerdevelop mentweek.com.au/.

Final year Education students should keep an eye on CareerHub and book in to attend Department of Education and Communities (DEC) interview preparation workshops.

Bookings are essential and can be made on CareerHub – look under the “Events” heading.

Finally to help us improve the service we offer to YOU we need your feedback. Please let us know the good, the bad and even the ugly! Feedback can be provided via CareerHub using the “My Questions” function.

Callaghan - SC2.12 Student Services Building & Ourimbah - Student Support Unit www.careerhub.newcastle.edu.au

When writing this column, I was informed that free flu vaccinations (Fluvax) were being handed out at International House, my college of residence.

On a personal level, the flu vaccination is something that I doubt. There is no substance to my reasoning; I just don’t like the idea of being injected with a virus so that my immune system can learn to fight it off. My immune system is done learning, thank you very much.

Lucky for me, as an on-campus resident and university student in general, the University of Newcastle has an abundance of health services should I fall victim to the dreaded cold and flu, toothache or even have to offer my arm as a pincushion to the Hunter Area Pathology service.

Ourimbah campus offers the University Oral Health Clinic as a training facility for dental hygienists. The clinic is fully accredited and students work under close supervision from qualified dentists and hygienists. > University Oral Health Clinic, Ourimbah: Contact (02) 4348 4164 Hunter Area Pathology Service (HAPS) is located on the grass level of Bar on the Hill and offers all Pathology services. It is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 4.30pm.

Please phone (02) 4921 7444 to make an appointment.

The University Health Service is a general practice staffed with doctors and nurses that offers services to all health conditions, including: • Treatment of illnesses and injuries • Women’s health care • Advice on contraception and the morning after pill • Testing for sexually transmitted infections • Travel immunisations and advice • Immunisations • SCUBA diving medicals • Assistance with emotional and personal difficulties • Pathology testing • Referral to specialists, x-ray services or physiotherapy • Skin checks.

Don’t forget your Medicare or health insurance card, health care concession card and any vaccination history.

Home visits are available for patients who live in University accommodation or within 15 minutes travelling time from the Callaghan campus, and are unable to attend the Health Service because of their medical condition.

To make an appointment: > Newcastle (Callaghan campus) • Hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm during semester and recess. • Phone: (02) 4921 6000 • Location: Level 1, Student Services Centre > Central Coast (Ourimbah campus) • Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9am to 5pm, with doctor appointments from 9am to 4pm.

• Phone: (02) 4348 4060 • Location: Student Support Unit (adjacent to the library).

Dear Bernie, Welp, I’m on Google+ and I’ve no idea how to use it...

Oh god. You poor man.

For those of you that have no idea what Google+ is, it is basically what would happen if Twitter and Facebook had a baby and it was then adopted and raised by Blackboard.

It is backwards, more than a little pointless and just generally an awful place to visit.

For those of you with a memory, you are probably noting that my feelings about Google+ mirror those from last month’s column regarding Blackboard.

To answer the question about using Google+ more directly, I’d suggest the best way to get your head around using it would be to go and get employed by Google. They are the only people on earth who understand how their user interfaces work and what purpose their attempts at social networking actually serve.

If being employed by Google isn’t where you see your career heading, you’re probably best to just avoid it.

Also, “welp”? What are you, 6 years old?

Dear Bernie, May I request a kebab stand?

SUPERB IDEA. Seriously.

There are just a couple of things that I’d consider first.

Firstly, it’s a widely known fact that the word kebab doesn’t actually have its origins of being a fried meat dish of Persian extraction. It’s actually an acronym – Kan’t Eat Before A lot of Beer. Yes, I realise that can’t is generally spelt with a C and not a K, but considering the meaning of the word kebab, that can hardly be considered a surprise.

Secondly, if we consider this meaning, it raises an issue that some may consider problematic. A kebab cannot be eaten before the consumption of a quantity of beer. I’m sure you can imagine what would happen should there be a kebab stand placed on campus. There is no doubt that this action would do little but perpetuate the stereotype that university students exist in a state of constant inebriation.

And we wouldn’t want that now, would we?

Yak Magazine - May 2012

07

• By Katie Burgess • Designed by Jessica Rykers

I

’ll be the first to admit that I am no Novocastrian. I’ve lived here for two-and-a-bit years now; I study at the uni; I sling tacos at a local restaurant and am known by name, degree and beverage preference at my local bottle shop. But none of that necessarily makes me a true local. I still consider myself in transit, at the mercy of wherever the prospects of gaining paid employment take me. Don’t get me wrong, I love this city very much.

Though I can’t tell you where I was when the earthquake struck and don’t have an opinion on whether the Del was better before or after it was renovated, this quirky little city by the sea has become my home away from home and I lead a rather happy existence here. But it’s sometimes hard to figure out where I fit and that can feel very lonely.

Newcastle has been home to a lot of different people over the years. Take Silverchair, Jennifer Hawkins and Marcia Hines, just to name a few of the more well known Newcastle ex-pats. But it’s also been home to a lot of other interesting people too. Did you know that Walter Drowley Filmer, who did the first ever x-ray in Australia, was a local boy? Or the three-time Archibald prize winner William Dobel was one of our own too?

Like me, the curator of the Newcastle Museum, Julie Baird, is not a true local

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either, but she says there’s so much that people don’t know about their own town.

past and “chip-on-their-shoulder” community mentality as Newcastle does.

“Newcastle is full of these really creative, weird cats doing wonderful things that they never talk about, that no one ever notices,” Julie says. “There are so many unknown stories.”

“For me, [our exhibits] are all about identity and how you belong. I took that idea and went to a bunch of 17-year-old HSC students at Merewether High School and said ‘If you were going to answer the question, ‘Who are we?’ what things would you talk about?’ We sat and we worked out what the story would be and how we would tell it, then we went to a bunch of people in the community and said ‘This is what the kids think, is there anything that you’d like to add?’, and nothing changed,” Julie says.

When Julie walks down Beaumont Street, she doesn’t just see the street as it is now, but as the past and the present as a collective. She walks by Oasis and doesn’t just know it as the place where people clamour to get their greasy food fix after karaoke night at the Kent; she knows that’s where a dog circus used to be, starring a ‘Catholic’ dog that became renowned for only eating fish on Fridays.

Standing at the traffic lights on Tudor and Beaumont Streets, she knows that they were the first traffic lights in the whole region; grabbing a coffee at GJs, she knows that the place used to be a haven for illegal gambling and wandering past the racecourse, Julie knows that the area used to be a mine site, once believed to be inhabited by the ghost of a worker who had perished there in the 1889 collapse of Hamilton Pit. A self-confessed “outsider”, Julie came to Newcastle in 2002, charged with telling the story of Newcastle to its people.

In her 20 years as a curator, she has worked in museums in Canada and South Australia, places with the same industrial

“When you walk down Beaumont Street you can see over time that everything has changed. Gay bars, mine disasters, it’s all happened on the one street over time. I want people to walk around and go ‘I can make a difference, I’m part of the story and things keep changing’. This is my art; putting lots of different objects together and trying to make a story.”

The museum itself has had a rather interesting history. Opened in 1988 by Queen Elizabeth II, the museum used to be in Hunter Street before the (at the time contentious) decision to relocate down to the Foreshore last year. “[The old museum] was huge and was perfectly designed as a brewery, but was pretty bad as a museum,” Julie says.

“It was very hard to get people to come to Newcastle West so we wanted to move down here where people were so they would stop in and use us. At first people couldn’t see why we wanted to move - they thought it was a waste of time and money - but now that we’re open people can see the vision that we had and what we wanted to do.”

It’s funny, because most people think of history museums as dust and doilies. We’ve had everything from zombies to Christian scientists in here.

With over 120,000 people through the doors since August alone, the move has definitely paid off, with the museum doubling its previous number of visitors.

Its current exhibits pay homage to days gone by, where men were made from tougher stuff (if their workplace first aid kits are anything to go by) and the world was a very different place. They challenge our minds (The Supernova exhibit), appeal to all of our senses (The BHP lights show) and leave us with something we didn’t have before we walked in.

“We’re a shell and we want all sorts of different kinds of people here. If people have really good ideas, we’re happy to work with them.”

“It kind of makes you feel like you’re a part of the community even if you’re not,” says Julie. “I’ve only been here 10 years and I’m like the authority on Newcastle because I listen and I watch and I learn.

“You’ll never come here and know everything there is to know about one topic, but you’ll know a little bit about a lot of things and you’ll recognise yourself in the space. I want people to leave here still a little bit hungry, wanting to find out a little more and do a little something extra,” she says.

One of the greatest challenges that the Newcastle Museum team have faced since reopening is trying to redefine the space as not just a static, dead place dedicated to relics from the past.

“It’s funny, because most people think of history museums as dust and doilies.

We’ve had everything from zombies to Christian scientists in here. We also do a thriving disco under the Earth Ball.

Locating Newcastle Museum:

So why not learn something about the town you live in? Settle into the vintage leather chairs in the gallery and read a train story to your son, little brother or nephew while taking in the photographs around you. Grab the person that you love by the hand and get a stranger to take a snapshot of you both being silly in front of the photo walls outside. Eat hot chips on the lawns with your best mates, take your mum and dad there when they come to visit, heck, even hoon around the Supernova exhibit with your grandma (if my day at the museum taught me anything, it’s that nannas dig the lifting car – try it!).

In the end, a museum isn’t just a monument to past history, it’s about creating some history of your own; all of those moments and memories that make up a life. I don’t know where I’m going to be after I graduate next year and although living in Newcastle is probably only going to be one chapter in a life full of transit and change, I can still see myself as part of this town and part of this community when I walk through those doors.

Days Gone By

BHP Lights Show

The Newcastle Museum is free and open six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday.

If you would like any more information on upcoming exhibits and ways to get involved with the museum, check out their Facebook page.

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Supernova Exhibit

Rowena Grant digs deeper into the mystery of the renovations of the Derkenne Courtyard.

Y

ou’ve been hard at work all morning and it’s time to relax.

After grabbing some Subway, you decide to hit up a picnic table on the grass outside Gloria Jeans. You look out the window and OH DEAR GOD! What on Earth has happened to the courtyard?!

We’ve all seen the memes (and if you haven’t, they are hilarious!) but what’s with the heavy machinery, mounds of dirt and cute tradies in the Derkenne Courtyard? You’d have to be living under a rock not to notice that it’s undergoing some major transformations, but why all these changes?

To put it simply, the Derkenne Courtyard had no drainage, patchy grass and only minimal facilities, so UoN Services teamed up with Facilities Management to create a new and exciting space.

So who is this mysterious “Derkenne” and why does he have such a central place named after him?

Bernie Curran, Executive Officer of the UoN Foundation and UoN history legend, says that the courtyard was named after a guy called Warren Derkenne.

Derkenne was the President of Convocation (Alumni) and both a member of the university council and the union.

More importantly, he was concerned with “well rounded students” who weren’t just engaged in their studies, but also in their university community.

Derkenne was also good friends with Godfrey Tanner, the GT Bar’s namesake,

turf

mass planting

so it’s rather fitting that the two spaces are positioned adjacent to each other.

“He believed that students needed to be educated in the broad sense of the word,” Bernie explains. “He believed in student leaders committed to not only their studies, but also to all aspects of university life.”

So now that we know who Derkenne is, what’s going to happen to the courtyard? According to Nat McGregor, CEO of UoN Services, there are going to be a lot of changes.

Picture this: opening up the area outside Gloria Jeans with tables and seating, a large bench with power points and charging facilities; covered areas on both sides of the courtyard with rearrangeable furniture; a grass area with deck chairs; and to top it off, the normal stage area will be updated to include a rear projection video screen for an outdoor cinema facility.

Plus, all of this will be complimented with wireless connectivity in the courtyard.

“What we want to do is create better spaces on campus,” Nat says. “At the end of the day, [UoN Services] are still not-for-profit. Everything we do that creates surplus we want to put back into the students.”

Not only is the Derkenne Courtyard undergoing renovations, Bar on the Hill has also been updated and UoN Services have big plans for the Brennan Room as well.

timber decking

brick paving

concrete paving

“We want to make them useable spaces again,” Nat explains. “Everything that hasn’t had investment in it, we want to work with. We’ve got this brown-uponbrown 1970s look everywhere. We want to prove that an old building can still look good.”

Now that we’ve covered all the major facts, let’s get down to business… How the heck did they get that excavator into the courtyard? Philosophy students have mulled over this, declaring that the excavator is a state of mind, engineering students have said it’s just not possible to get it through the building and med students simply don’t care.

Brian Jones, the Acting Associate Director of Facilities Management, knows the truth – and the answer is a crane.

“It’s a difficult space to work in,” Brian says.

“They had to use a crane in the car park to get the excavator in.”

While Brian says the project has “hit a few snags” (such as the ridiculous amount of rain that has poured over the last few months) he believes the project is a valuable one, creating a better space for students to socialise in.

While a lot of students are frustrated about the lack of a courtyard in the Shortland building at the moment, it’s safe to say that the wait will definitely be worth it.

The Derkenne Courtyard’s official opening will be during semester two.

When it comes to the Yak editorial team, there aren’t too many things that we agree upon.

relationships and friendships… But I’m definitely getting the hang of it.”

We debate over whether or not bucket hats are cool, if cats are cute and what our Yak mascot would be called if it had a name. But there is one thing that we all agree on – mums are pretty great.

She highlights that as a young mother there are plenty of stereotypes, but they’re not always true. “A lot of us young mums are responsible,” she explains. “I wake up eight times a night sometimes and I do everything else that I need to do for Scarlet. I am responsible for her and I work hard to give her the life that she deserves.”

It doesn’t matter if you eat dinner with her every night, or if she lives on the other side of the globe: this is the time of year to let your mum know she’s a top human being.

In honour of the big day, we’ve decided to look into a few different motherly relationships on campus to show our appreciation for the females we love the most!

Rose: There’s nothing better than coming home from a lengthy lecture at uni and taking a nice, long nap. But this is a luxury many uni students take for granted.

For Rose Marsh, napping after she gets home from uni isn’t a priority… Actually, it isn’t even an option.

Rose is a 21-year-old Open Foundation student with a passion for make-up artistry and the dream of someday becoming a primary school teacher. Above all else, she is also a mother to Scarlet, an 11-month-old baby girl.

Thanks to Scarlet, Rose is now studying at the University of Newcastle and is well on her way to making the most out of her life. She is becoming a pro at tackling everything life throws her way, but admits that it isn’t always easy.

“It’s a constant juggle between looking after Scarlet and having my own time after she’s gone to bed to try to recharge and study,” Rose says. “Plus I have to maintain

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Yak Magazine - May 2012

Rose explains that at first, enrolling in Open Foundation was primarily for Scarlet. “I dropped out of school at 16 and never wanted to study ever again, so at first I definitely started uni for Scarlet, but now it’s for me. I started out wanting better for her, but now all of a sudden I want better for me.”

For her first Mother’s Day, Rose has decided to keep it simple. Her plans include having a relaxing day with her daughter, and after buying several tacky mugs for herself, she is hoping that someone else will finally buy her a coffee mug, which clearly states ‘I love mum’.

Alyce: Planning a giant Mother’s Day feast for your mum?

Why not think about doing something a little different this year?

University of Newcastle PHD student Alyce Cook has created a research program called MADE for Life, which stands for Mothers And Daughters Exercising for Life.

The main outcome of the research is to increase physical activity levels in primary school girls.

“What we know is that girls are less active than boys and that women are less active than men,” Alyce says.

Nick: Our Deputy Managing Editor, Nick, describes his mother, Kim, as someone who is always happy.

“She’s a very positive person and that’s where I get my happy outlook on life. She’s a great person to be around,” he says.

It’s lucky that Nick enjoys spending time with his mother because not only do they live together, they also spend a lot of time on Callaghan campus - it’s where Kim works, and where Nick is studying a Bachelor of Arts.

Some students might shudder at the thought of being around their mum on campus, but Nick says they don’t see each other too often.

“I get a ride with her to uni whenever I’ve got classes on in the mornings, which is very handy and a real convenience because if we’re both going in the same direction, we might as well carpool,” he says.

“Plus she’s pretty hip when it comes to what we listen to on the radio; she loves Triple J so she’s right up there with all the popular music.”

Nick admits that having his mum at uni definitely has its perks.

“Mum has a good knowledge of how the uni works so she’s been able to help me out with different processes and with directions. ”

Her research highlights that it’s really important for kids to see their mum as an active role model.

“Some girls might say ‘we do exercise and play games in the backyard with dad’ but they might not see their mother as someone who is active as well,” she says.

“We want to get the daughters to see that mum is active, and that they can be active too.”

Alyce highlights that the physical activity recommendation for adults is 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most, if not all, days.

Now you might not be a primary school girl, but you can still embrace the outdoors and be energetic with your mum this Mother’s Day. “Have a think about what your mum is interested in,” Alyce says.

“You could go for a bike ride on the Fernleigh Track, walk out by the water in Newcastle or do a Zumba class if she likes dancing. The key is doing something that you will both enjoy, and make sure you do it together.”

Alyce’s research has even helped out her own mum.

“My mum and I are really close. She lives in the Hunter Valley so even though we couldn’t exercise together, I was able to let her know about the benefits of yoga,” she says.

Her mum has now been able to sustain a healthy new lifestyle for over a year.

Helping Nick find his way around campus is just one area where Kim has helped Nick in the past.

So does all this mean that you have to give up the bacon and egg brekkie this year? According to Alyce, not at all!

“In April last year I went to Sydney with my family and went out in King’s Cross only to have my wallet stolen. I completely forgot the name of the hotel we were staying at and had to call mum at 4am for help,” Nick says.

“You can obviously still enjoy something yummy for breakfast, but do something active throughout the day as well.”

“After borrowing money for a cab ride back to the hotel, mum was there waiting for me. She gave me a big hug and helped me get back to our room. It’s situations like that which make me realise just how much I appreciate her.”

This Mother’s Day Nick is planning on cooking his mum a good old-fashioned brekkie, but admits that the day is more about spending time with one another than material goods.

“I’d like to let mum know that although I probably don’t say it enough – I love her very much and appreciate everything she does for me.”

Yak Magazine - May 2012

13

WEEK 10

U Event Kerser Doors open: 7.30pm Bar on the Hill Tix: U Members: $10 Students: $12.50 Guests: $17.50

07MONDAY Wii Wars 3pm - GT Bar Poker 4.30pm - Bar on the Hill 2012 National Campus Band Competition registrations open

Bar Bingo 4pm - GT Bar

WEEK 11

14 MONDAY

Trivia 1pm - GT Bar Pool Comp 3pm - GT Bar

Wii Wars 3pm - GT Bar

Wind-Up Wednesday 3pm - 7pm - Bar on the Hill

Poker 4.30pm - Bar on the Hill

Newcastle University Finance Club Distinguish yourself: Take the Bloomberg asessment.

1.30pm-4.30pm - CT109

15 TUESDAY

Trivia 1pm - Bar on the Hill

10 THURSDAY

Bar Bingo 4pm - GT Bar

U Member Happy Hour 4pm - 6pm - GT Bar

MAY

NUDS Speed Theatre 3 minute plays 11am - BotH Lawn Stage

16

Bar on the Hill Gig Kerser Doors open 7.30pm Bar on the Hill

Quidditch 6pm - Oval 4

Mothers Day Sunday

09 WEDNESDAY

10

U Member Happy Hour 4pm - 6pm - Bar on the Hill

NRL: Knights vs Cowboys Sat-:7.30pm - Hunter Stadium

Student Exchange Fair 11am-3.30pm Brennan Room

Pool Comp 3pm - GT Bar Wind-Up Wednesday 3pm - 7pm - Bar on the Hill

“Reflective Dialogues” Exhibition Opening Sat: 3pm - Uni Gallery

Trivia 1pm - Bar on the Hill

Trivia 1pm - GT Bar

11 FRIDAY 12/13 SAT/SUN

08 TUESDAY

16 WEDNESDAY

MAY

U Event Daniel Merriweather Doors open: 7.30pm Bar on the Hill Tix: U Members: $17 Students: $19.50 Guests: $24.50

17THURSDAY

U Member Happy Hour 4pm - 6pm - GT Bar Scholars Week Watt Space Exhibition Opening Night 6.30pm - Watt Space Galley

18 FRIDAY U Member Happy Hour 4pm - 6pm - Bar on the Hill

19/20 SAT/SUN Newcastle MS Ball Sat: Wests New Lambton

Bar on the Hill Gig Daniel Merriweather Doors open 7.30pm Bar on the Hill

MAY WEEK 12

21 MONDAY Wii Wars 3pm - GT Bar

Poker 4.30pm - Bar on the Hill

22 TUESDAY

Trivia 1pm - Bar on the Hill Bar Bingo 4pm - GT Bar

23 WEDNESDAY

25 FRIDAY

Wind-Up Wednesday 3pm - 7pm - Bar on the Hill

U Member Happy Hour 4-6pm - Bar on the Hill

Quidditch 6pm - Oval 4

26/27SAT/SUN

28 MONDAY Wii Wars 3pm - GT Bar

Pool Comp 3pm - GT Bar

NRL: Knights vs Panthers 7pm - Hunter Stadium

24 THURSDAY

U Member Happy Hour 4pm - 6pm - GT Bar U Event The Axis of Awesome Doors open: 7.30pm Bar on the Hill Tix: U Members: $15 Students: $17.50 Guests: $22.50

U Event Boy and Bear Doors open: 7.30pm Bar on the Hill Tix: U Members: $30 Students: $32.50 Guests: $37.50

WEEK 13

Poker 4.30pm - Bar on the Hill

NRL - State of Origin 8pm - Melbourne Etihad Stadium

U Member Happy Hour 4pm - 6pm - GT Bar

NRL: Knights vs Titans Sat: 5.30pm - Hunter Stadium

Trivia 1pm - GT Bar

Wind-Up Wednesday 3pm - 7pm - Bar on the Hill

31 THURSDAY

Giggle Ball Newcastle Panthers

Easy! Drop us an email to yakmagazine@newcastle.edu.au with your event name, date, times and other details.

01 FRIDAY/JUNE U Member Happy Hour 4pm - 6pm - Bar on the Hill

02/03 SAT/SUN

29 TUESDAY

EXAM PERIOD SCHOLARS

Trivia 1pm - Bar on the Hill Bar Bingo 4pm - GT Bar

Mid Year Examinations commence Monday, June 4 to Friday, June 22 2012.

30 WEDNESDAY Trivia 1pm - GT Bar

WEEK

Thursday May 17 Friday May 25 UoN will be celebrating excellence in academic resarch, artistic and

Pool Comp 3pm - GT Bar

athletic fields with scholarship ceremonies all week! For the full schedule, go to the uni website and search for Scholars’ Week.

24

MAY

31

Bar on the Hill Gig The Axis of Awesome Doors open 7.30pm Bar on the Hill

MAY

Bar on the Hill Gig Boy & Bear Doors open 7.30pm Bar on the Hill

GET SPONSORED TO STUDY AND GAIN A REWARDING CAREER You may not be thinking about your career after university just yet, but the Australian Defence Force is. If you have started your Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing or Allied Health degree at any recognised Australian university, you should apply to become a defence sponsored student. Continuing at your university you will receive a salary of up to $43,266p.a., have your remaining Higher Education Loan Program paid, enjoy subsidised accommodation, free medical and dental, text book allowance and graduate with a rewarding career in the Navy, Army or Air Force.

GPYR MDFT3876

To find out more, call 13 19 01 or visit defencejobs.gov.au/unisponsorship

Today whilst browsing CDs in JB Hi-Fi, I was making my way towards Porcupine Tree (erroneously placed within the alternative section) before being pleasantly interrupted by a girl perhaps two years younger than I. She abruptly broke away from her group of giggling friends to exclaim, “Oooh, Porcupine Tree!”

Initially I was surprised, but my shadowy prog rock cynicism kicked in almost immediately. I thought “This is bullsh*t, she’s probably just a turd that thinks Porcupine Tree is a funny name. Move along, husk”. However, my intrigue was soon renewed as she picked up Steven Wilson’s currently underrated solo opus, Grace for Drowning. Perhaps it was my almost staggered physical revelation that made her tilt her head in my direction.

I continued browsing, making my way towards the section directly in front of her. Was she going to move back to her friends, or further down the alternative rows?

Pleasingly, she proceeded down through the CD aisle as I kept a close eye on her movements. With every band and album she skimmed over with her fingers I knew that, based on her music tastes, she could easily be the one.

Nirvana? Yep. Nine Inch Nails? She’s there. Neutral Milk Hotel was unexpected, yet warmly welcomed anyway. My eyes could only stalk her to ‘N’ however, and I lost sight of her browsing from the letter ‘O’ onwards.

Nevertheless, I decided to continue to play what felt like a small psychological game, a game that we were both willingly participating in. As she walked into the popular section and went to Pink Floyd, I moved past her and went to King Crimson. She went to Neil Young, I slightly invaded her personal space with Yes. This continued for a while as it seemed like we tried to follow each other around the store appearing as natural as possible.

I then decided to give her a real test and hit the farand-away metal region. This was something that had the potential to make or break our relationship, as I’ve attempted to tell girls “Yes, I listen to a bit of Agalloch, and I enjoy what I’ve heard of Atheist’s new album,” and have failed my arse off at attempting to say that I really enjoy Nick Drake as well.

Of course, this test proved too great for her, and I knew I’d lost this one (if she was ever there to begin with). Due to my selfloathing and consequent self-deprecating, I desperately tried to save the situation by returning to the alternative section where she was still browsing. Firstly, I went to Elliott Smith’s hopelessly malnourished portion of a wide range of CDs, and was shaken by their possession of only one of his posthumous releases, (An Introduction

To)… Realising I was almost done for, I did something I never thought I’d ever do for any girl. Urgently, yet with the casualness of someone attempting to appear cool, I browsed up to Radiohead and picked up the special edition of OK Computer. As I was doing so, I looked to my left to see whether she’d moved any closer. She had not. She had gone, her friends had gone, all without a trace.

Throughout that entire time, considering my lack of adherence to time itself, I had been on the verge of asking her what the time actually was (even though it was irrelevant). After I’d gotten the answer, I would’ve paused to make it seem as though the time was all I wanted to know to make it seem as though I wasn’t interested at all, but I’d throw her a curveball with, “Ummm… I couldn’t help but notice you picking up Steven Wilson’s new album, have you listened to it yet?”

Venturing metalwards is where I buggered it up. I was probably expecting too much, but what appeared to be such an eclectic taste in music needed to go to extremities. Perhaps it did, and I should’ve spoken to her regardless. Actually no, I really should have. But, oh well.

And the moral of this story? If you ever fall into the abyss that is metal and find a girl that can at least tolerate Opeth, Meshuggah, Isis and Mastodon, don’t ever let her go.

By Drew Linton | Designed by Yasmin McCall

uring a debate about whether Spanish should be taught in Texan schools, the first female Governor of Texas is rumoured to have said, “If English was good enough for Jesus Christ; it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas.”

Now, while my overall knowledge of things international and linguistic is arguably a step ahead of the Governor’s, there is still nothing particularly brag-worthy about how little I actually know.

This was never more obvious to me than during the afternoon I spent visiting the university’s Language Centre. Not only because I originally had no idea where the centre actually was (for those of you similarly illinformed, it is down the hill next to the AIC), but also because almost all of

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Yak Magazine - May 2012

the initial assumptions I had about the experiences of international students were so quickly proven false.

I had assumed, for example, that international students face their biggest challenges long before they arrive in Australia to study. I had assumed that raising the money to come to Australia, leaving friends and family, and spending torturous hours applying for student visas, were the biggest hurdles they’d have to face.

What I quickly came to realise however, is that the challenges an international student faces are actually not over once they arrive in Australia. In fact, it is safe to say that they face what is arguably their biggest hurdle once they arrive at the University of Newcastle - that could see them miss out on studying their degree entirely and could result in them having to leave Australia and return home.

So, what is this hurdle? This hurdle is ELICOS. ELICOS – English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students – is an intensive English language program, and a prerequisite for international students wishing to study here at the University of Newcastle – or, for that matter, any university in the country.

After being assessed and placed into an appropriate English level, international students begin a 10 week course (or a series of 10 week courses) that they are then required to successfully complete before they can go on to study a degree.

According to the Director of ELICOS, Seamus Fagan, this program is a hurdle for most students.

“Generally, international students enjoy their English studies at the Centre,”

Seamus says. “But they do face a challenge… ensuring that they reach the [required] English language proficiency.”

“I feel just so good because here is the place I really wanted to come,” Jackie says.

Seamus describes the ELICOS program as “high stakes” for students, and rightly so. If students don’t successfully complete their English course, not only will they need to pay to do it again, but they may also miss the next entry point for enrolment in their chosen degree.

This could mean up to six months more in a state of academic limbo.

She feels that her participation in the ELICOS program has been crucial for her education, and is the way in which she will further develop her writing skills – skills which she says are “very important” for her to learn.

As if that’s not difficult enough, students are also faced with the possibility of having to return home if they continue to fail and cannot afford to keep repeating the courses.

According to Seamus, this isn’t really an option for some students, “We often might say to someone who has failed a number of times, ‘look, you should go home’. And they say, ‘I can’t go home. I can’t go home and say that I failed!’”

As my conversations continued further, another of my assumptions was disproved. ELICOS, as it turns out, not only helps international students develop their English skills in a way that allows them to study here in Australia, but it also helps them in other aspects of their life.

One feature of the ELICOS program, which helps international students in their day-to-day interactions, is something known as “speed conversations”.

“Every week, depending on the classes, we have what we call ‘speed conversations’,” Seamus says.

Seamus says that it is this pressure that forms the basis of the biggest challenge international student’s face during ELICOS – not the course work, but the stress that they are under.

“Our Social Club Co-ordinator brings in 15 native speakers and [we] have them sit down with 15 students in the class and they have conversations.”

“Sometimes it impacts on their learning… they are just so stressed that they can’t

Seamus said that ELICOS staff try to encourage the students to learn English

do it,” Seamus says.

At this point, I had begun forming a particular impression of ELICOS; however, (as kept happening all afternoon) this impression was proven wrong as well. Surprisingly enough, even with all the above realities, ELICOS is actually not one big anxiety-producing roadblock.

For many students, the program is actually enjoyable.

“I enjoy it very much,” says Jackie, a student from China who is doing her postgraduate work here at the university.

Despite the aforementioned stresses that come with completing ELICOS, Jackie feels that her experience is a good one.

both in the classroom and through interacting and being social on campus.

“We try and get them involved in clubs,” he says.

By working very closely with programs on campus, the Language Centre has attempted to “engineer” opportunities for ELICOS students to meet with native speakers.

a social distance between international students and other students on campus.

Both Seamus and Jackie agree that there is not enough interaction between international students and other students on campus.

Jackie pointed out that some international students hold back from speaking with other students because they are shy, they can’t speak English fluently, and are not so confident.

According to Seamus, international students would love to engage with other students but they are often scared to. Seamus feels that domestic students can help out by playing a role in ‘breaking the ice.’

“In general, most students on campus wouldn’t stop an international student and ask ‘where are you from’, [or say] ‘welcome to Australia!’” Seamus says.

He feels that it is important for Australian students to think about what it would be like to be in an international student’s shoes, and try to remember how brave they are by being here.

So that, I must admit, highlights yet another assumption of mine that was proven incorrect – it is in fact not rude to ask an international student where they are from, or to take an interest in their experience.

Not only will it help them feel welcome here at the university and give them an opportunity to practice their English, but there is also a good chance that you, like me, could learn something.

Which, let’s be honest, is definitely something that will drastically reduce the chance that you will ever utter something similar to that of a 1920s Texas Governor.

“That type of integration is one way of improving their English language,” Seamus explains.

After all the incorrect assumptions I’d made about ELICOS, one was actually proven to be correct – namely, there is Yak Magazine - May 2012

19

Imagine the possibilities

With the wealth of services available from the PrintCentre on campus, you’re only limited by your imagination!

Find us at facebook.com/printcentreuon PrintCentre University of Newcastle Level 2, Shortland building tel 02 4985 4474 email printcentre.uon@aus.fujixerox.com www.fujixerox.com.au/printcentreuon

Jessica McAneney gets a healthy kick from speaking with The Biggest Loser’s resident nutritional and dietetics expert, and UoN Alumni’s Professor Clare Collins.

S

ay, for argument’s sake, it is a Tuesday night.

Like yours truly, you are a slightly indecisive person and have a tendency to channel surf.

As a result the regular reality TV shows such as Channel Ten’s The Biggest Loser become a weekly ritual.

You revel in the trials and tribulations of excessive weight loss, and become skeptical of the success rate once the cameras are switched off and the contestants return to their daily routine.

Cue Clare Collins.

Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, NHMRC CDA Research Fellow and CoDirector of the Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition, Clare Collins is also the resident nutritional and dietetics expert on Channel Ten’s The Biggest Loser, and brings the scientific point of view to a television show that means so much more than entertainment for its contestants.

Clare is a Fellow of the Dieticians Association of Australia (DAA) and is their nominated media spokesperson, sharing her passion for nutrition and healthy eating with the world through opportunities such as The Biggest Loser, which she assures has a higher success rate than the average viewer at home may estimate.

“You may be surprised to learn that whilst paramedics are constantly waiting off camera, the contestants are not in

their home environment and are given a full time opportunity to lose weight.

The majority still find success in their weight loss once they return to their daily routine,” explains Clare.

Successful weight loss is measured by losing 8-10% within the first three to six months of one’s original body weight, and keeping that weight off for the next two years.

“Some young people are scared to dream big in case it doesn’t work out.

I think that you have to address your big plan...”

This statistic is applicable to most contestants on The Biggest Loser, and is the scientific side of the concept that the cameras rarely show and that Clare heavily advocates for in all areas of her work.

Starting at the University of Newcastle in 1992 in part-time study, Clare was a mature aged student aiming for success in refreshing her qualifications so as to be competitive in her chosen field.

Clare developed strong relationships with her supervisors and became a part-time lecturer at the University of Newcastle in 2000.

Clare credits the University of Newcastle, and the city of Newcastle itself, in the significant opportunities it provides those looking to establish themselves as an expert in a particular field of research.

Newcastle offers a less crowded campus and an easier lifestyle to allow for growth and changes to be made.

“Newcastle offers such an opportunity that you can lead a great lifestyle and find success in research with a wide range of resources, opportunities and mentors to assist you,” explains Clare.

“I can’t imagine doing a two hour commute each day and then having the brain power to write a research paper.”

Research has played a major role in Clare’s success, as she is a National Health and Medical Research Council Research fellow who has worked collaboratively with supervisors and mentors to speed her journey of establishing what she wants to change in the world’s approach to nutrition, and clarifying her vision through the outcomes of her research.

“Some young people are scared to dream big in case it doesn’t work out. I think that you have to address your big plan, and crystalise what you want to be different in five, 10 or 20 years time,” says Clare.

This advice to all students of dreaming big, staying determined and asking for help all contribute to success in one’s chosen field, and Clare is proof that it can all happen right here in Newcastle!

Do you know anyone who has graduated from UoN and has had a remarkable experience? Let us know at yakmagazine@newcastle.edu.au or on our Facebook page.

Yak Magazine - May 2012

21

exactly vertically challenged either. So how come I ended up looking like a Danny DeVito lovechild?

My grandparents are all tall as well. In fact, looking further down (or up) my family tree, my great-greatgrandfather was a 6ft 9in monster who played basketball for his native country of Lithuania.

CAUGHT

SHORT

From the moment I turned 12 years of age, something in my body clocked off and I simply stopped growing.

I have barely added an inch and, 10 years down the track, I am just beginning to come to terms with this. I mean, it’s a pretty embarrassing thing when you’re constantly compared to the size of a pre-pubescent teenager.

My Mum is rather upbeat about my size, describing my lack of it as “cute”. Thanks, Mum. But that doesn’t help me in my quest to find out the how and why of my missing out on the height gene.

Looking over my family history, I’m again left answerless.

Granted, neither of my parents are exactly Michael Jordan-esque in terms of stature. But, they aren’t

Combining my slender (or cute) frame with baby faced (good) looks doesn’t exactly help my cause to look like a grown man either. I’ve tried to add facial hair to my repertoire, but it was far from being a positive addition. My fellow Yak team members labelled me and my three day growth as “a 12 year old with a hair growth problem”.

Just the other week, as I was getting my haircut, my hairdresser asked if I was looking forward to going back to school. Primary or high I’m still unsure, but she seemed a little perplexed when I kindly let her know that I was in fact 22 years old and had finished my schooling in 2007. And the worst part: she then went on to charge me the adult rate of $24.90. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.

Despite all of this, I wouldn’t change a thing about my 168cm self. Ok, maybe an extra inch or two would be nice, but I suppose it’s a little too late for that now.

There are of course benefits to being a shorty. I can stand in the front row at concerts and nobody can ever complain that I’m blocking their view. I can still easily fit in the play equipment at McDonald’s. And, by the way, Pumpkin Patch has a far better variety of clothing than any men’s store will ever have.

So next time you see a short guy out and about, there’s no need to feel sorry for us (or make fun of us either, if you’re that way inclined). The view from down here is perfectly alright.

• By Lachie Leeming • Designed by Jessica Rykers • Photography by Mei Yen Ng

Lachie Leeming explores a chronic fear of the Indie phenomenon with Brisbane’s very own Ball Park Music.

I

’m from the country, so I approach anything “Indie” with a fair amount of trepidation. Spacer earrings, weird jeans that roll up to the ankle, checked shirts with the top button done up. It petrifies me. And from what I understand, Ball Park Music are about as Indie as it gets.

I met the dynamic front-duo of the band, Jen and Sam, briefly before the show. Sam was reserved, exuding an air of quiet comfortableness from beneath the brim of his trucker cap, as the Indie often does. Jen had swirly make up on, snaking its way down her face from her eyes, a freshly shaven head that exuded pine-fresh vibes and backing it all up with her sparkly, excited demeanour.

I had a rough theory of how the performance would go running through my head before the band filed out. Physically braced for a Chinos assault of biblical proportions, I was pleasantly surprised when the boys rolled out in their Sunday best, suited up and ready to shred, with a polka-dotted-dress-wearing Sam accompanying.

I really wasn’t expecting what happened next. Things kicked up a gear – some would say sh*t got real. I was expecting a cruisy Indie track to open their set - something heavily metaphorical, very theoretical and a little bit boring. Instead, the band ripped into an enchantingly hastened rendition of Dick Dale’s “Miserlou.” I felt like jumping on a surfboard and catching some deadly swell right there and then.

But there was a gig to review, and it had been kicked off in delicious fashion. Sam’s reserved manner from before the show seemed to be shrugged off the second he donned the suit and thin neck tie of his outfit. As the band worked their way through the set, Sam hollered, bounced around, jerking with the microphone stand. He and Jen’s voices were ceremonious in their union, reaching their peak at “It’s Nice to be Alive”.

That’s a damn good song in its own right, but then they consolidated by finishing up with a ramming “All I Want is You”.

I doubt anyone could have walked out of Bar on the Hill without feeling uplifted and with a renewed positivity toward their fellow human beings, such is the amount of good vibes that emit from these two songs.

So thank you, Ball Park Music. I still vow to never roll up my jeans or do up my top button, but thanks for the heartening insight into your fascinating world of the Indie. I have a bit more of an understanding and, dare I say it – even an artistic appreciation – of these artsy odd folk that permeate the streets of our beloved Newcastle.

Yak Magazine - May 2012

23

BOOKS A Game of Thrones – George R.R. Martin

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Marching Powder – Rusty Young

To put it simply, George R.R. Martin is the 21st century Tolkien. A Game of Thrones, the first book in an (as yet incomplete) seven book series, tells a story of war, family, honour, deceit and backstabbing.

There’s a bit of everything thrown in, and the characters are never quite what they seem.

It’s touted as the new Twilight, but don’t worry – they’re nothing alike! This first novel of three follows teen Katniss who volunteers to take her sister’s place as District 12’s tribute for the Hunger Games - a battle to the death for 24 teenagers on live television.

Because a whole country watching the gory details of two-dozen teenagers murdering each other is certainly a healthy society…

Written by an Australian and set in a Bolivian prison, this book may seem like it is fiction, but it is actually a true story. Thomas McFadden is an English drug smuggler who gets caught in a Bolivian airport. Thrown into the notorious La Paz prison in San Pedro, Thomas has to buy his own cell, food and favours - all while being drawn into the cocaine business.

Filled with crazy fashion, killer technoanimals, people with no tongues and a love triangle, The Hunger Games is one book to pick up during your mid-year break. LH

The matter-of-fact descriptions and chilling recounts of experiences are thrilling and make you wonder how the Bolivian government are getting away with it. RG

Journey

League of Legends

Fez

Playstation Network

PC

Xbox 360

Journey is the tale of a nameless, faceless humanoid traversing an expansive desert.

It completely ejects any notion of an explicit storyline and gives the player an immersive, emotional world that will keep all eyes on the screen from start to finish.

When you’re short on cash, a free-to-play online game might just be what the doctor ordered. Action Strategy game League of Legends is one of the best available.

At first, it might seem like a very old fashioned platformer, but not long into your playthrough of Fez, you gain the ability to rotate the one dimensional world on its axis – allowing you access to areas that didn’t seem connected.

Martin is brilliant in setting the action in such a way to leave the reader completely unaware of the daggers above their heads, yet kicking themselves is that they didn’t see them crashing down until the last minute.

GAMES

You need to read this book. Seriously. LS

Intuitive multiplayer features allow interaction and teamwork between players as they both head on their titular travels, though you won’t know the name and login of the characters you’ve crossed paths with until the completion of the game.

This is one of the best games I’ve ever played.

If you have a few hours free, give it a play. LS

Each game takes place on an arena-like map, with players splitting into even teams. The goal is for a player’s champion to make their way from their side of the map to the opposing teams to destroy the enemy base. With turrets, enemy minions and champions to take care of along the way, it’s no mean feat.

Some might say that League of Legends is an acquired taste, but give it a shot. You might find you enjoy it! LS

It then takes another leap away from being a simple platformer, as you’ll find puzzles hidden within the levels that won’t immediately be obvious. The game begs you to think, because nothing is quite as it seems.

It is by far the most polished game on the market at the moment, and has plenty to offer its players. LS

DVD’S

By Lachlan Stevens, Leah Henkel, Rowena Grant and Alaisdair Dewar

The Descendants May 9 Director Alexander Payne went for Oscar gold with George Clooney at the helm of this dark dramedy. The story revolves around a father and his two daughters as they deal with their mother (Elizabeth) falling into a coma after a water skiing accident.

Details of a shady affair surface as the family comes to grip with the betrayal and secrets hidden by Elizabeth. An outstanding lead performance from Clooney thrust him into Oscar contention while the young supporting cast almost stole the show.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows May 10 Sherlock (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) continue their bromance on a much more global scale. Downey Jr. is just as adept at playing the awkward and socially incompetent Holmes as he was in the first film and, as with the first, the consequences are just as funny. Stephen Fry brings a few laughs in his cameo role and new antagonist James Moriarty (Jared Harris) gives Holmes an intellectually equal opposite.

The Muppets May 16 Kermit and the gang are back with a movie that re-ignites the franchise and reminds both young and old why we love The Muppets so much. Enchanting original songs combine with a stellar support cast (led by Jason Segel and Amy Adams) for a good watch.

The story revolves around an oil investment company wanting to tear down the old Muppets studio and it is up to new muppet, Walter, to reunite the old gang and put on a show to save the theatre.

Filmed on location in Hawaii, the dark tone of the story clash with the exquisite scenery. AD

There’s plenty of visual effects to be had, and if you’re after a bit of action, comedy and adventure (in varying parts), give Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows a watch. LS

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

True Blood S4

Underworld: Awakening

May 23

May 23

May 30

I really liked the Swedish adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s crime fiction. When faced with the English version, I’m not so sure.

When I actually sat down and watched True Blood, I was surprised. It actually wasn’t too bad. Of course, I’d never admit that in a public forum such as a magazine, but yeah.

Apparently Eric Northman is hot. I don’t see it.

But Sookie Stackhouse? Yes, please.

Kate Beckinsale is back as vampiress Selene for Underworld: Awakening. The film presents a bit of a jump cut from Underworld: Evolution. There’s little said in the opening of the film to explain how and why events so dramatically changed between movies, and this takes from its opening moments.

Daniel Craig is brilliant in his portrayal of Mikael Blomkvist – I couldn’t imagine a better actor for the role, but Rooney Mara’s Lisbeth is a far cry from Noomi Rapace’s performance in the Swedish version.

Having been made only two years after its Swedish predecessor, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was always going to be scrutinised in comparison to the earlier film.

Unfortunately, it just doesn’t stand up to it. LS

True Blood’s fourth season continues with the same formula as the first three – vampires, sex, violence and crazy Southern accents in equal parts. It smacks of lameness but, to my chagrin, it was just a little bit addictive. If you’re ready to move up on the scale of vampire fiction from Twilight, then True Blood is ready and waiting. LS

Compelling performances, a tongue-incheek storyline and outstanding music sees The Muppets stand out as a must see film for fans both young and old. AD

In a world where the Lycans have supposedly been eradicated, the action soon picks up as Selene searches for her lover Michael, believed captured as a lab rat by the humans.

There are a few sore points in the plot and acting, but Beckinsale’s sexy performance makes this film worth a watch. LS

at To g a pa rty P h o to g r a p hy by J e n n i f e r Pa r ke s

This month, we asked the kids on campus

r’s Day?” “What is the worst present you have given your mum for Mothe > Nick Turner > Rowena Grant

JOSH

QUESTIONS:

Degree: B. Software Engineering Present: I have re-gifted. I can’t remember what it was as it was a while ago, but that is easily the worst present I have given her.

> What is the worst present you have given your mum for Mother’s Day? > If you could have dinner with any celebrity who would you choose, and why?

Celebrity Dinner: Ricky Ponting. I play cricket so I would like to get all his insights on the game.

> How will you be spending your mid-year break?

JOCELYN

Holiday: I’ll have a bit of spare time on my hands, so I would have to say that I will enjoy a few drinks.

KIRSTY

Age: 23

Age: 21

Degree: B. Teaching (P.E)

Degree: B. Teaching (P.E) ?: ?

Present: A rock that I had painted myself. I glued eyes onto it and when I gave it to her, she didn’t seem too impressed.

Present: I gave my mum chocolates, knowing full well that I would end up eating them. So it was really a present for myself.

Celebrity Dinner: This is quite hard. I’d say Jake Gyllenhaal from Crazy, Stupid, Love. He seems pretty interesting, and good looking.

Celebrity Dinner: Benedict Cumberbatch. He plays Sherlock Holmes in the BBC version and I have a mild crush on him. He would definitely be my choice.

Holiday: I’ve got no idea where it will take place, but I will be getting ready for my internship as it starts halfway through next semester.

JAMES

Age: 21

Holiday: Hopefully I’ll be heading to Melbourne with a group of my friends and my boyfriend.

ALI

Age: 21 Degree: B. Design & Technology/ Teaching Present: It would have to be an IOU card that I gave her. And yes, I did go on to repay it.

Celebrity Dinner: I’d have to say Jennifer Aniston, for obvious reasons.

Holiday: I’ll be spending my holiday in Thailand. I’m off for two weeks with a full moon party on my birthday, cannot wait.

facebook.com/yakmagazine

twitter.com/yakmagazine

Age: 27 Degree: B. Software Engineering ?: ?

Present: A pot for cooking.

Apparently in my culture you don’t do that, as it means you’re telling them to stay in the kitchen. I didn’t know this.

Celebrity Dinner: Ruby Rose. Like her, I have an interest in DJ-ing, so I guess we would be able to talk about that.

Holiday: I’ll be doing a lot of relaxing.

Taking it easy, nothing too exciting.

yakmagazine@newcastle.edu.au

WHY THIS MAN SPENT $17,000 ON A NEW NOSE

LITTLE MASTER’S MISERY

GOOD WEEKEND

WEEKEND SPORT

2012 FACES TO WATCH SPECTRUM

WEEKEND

FIRST PUBLISHED 1831 NO. 54,375 $2.50 (inc GST)

January 14-15, 2012

MEET THE $10b HEIRESS

PAUL McGEOUGH

BOMB BLAST THAT ROCKED THE WORLD NEWS REVIEW

NEWS, PAGE 6

ANNE SUMMERS

SILENCE LIKE A CANCER GROWS NEWS REVIEW

Year of job Who’s for a dip? But there is a dark side pain to hit banks, shops Gareth Hutchens ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

AUSTRALIA is on the cusp of a white collar recession with insiders warning that thousands of jobs are at risk in the finance sector, after it emerged yesterday that ANZ planned to cut 700 jobs.

But the Herald has established the job cuts will total as many as 1000 by the end of this year, which will be more than the bank shed at the height of the global financial crisis.

They come a day after the Royal Bank of Scotland announced plans to close its investment banking business, leading to the loss of more than 200 jobs in Australia.

Economists have warned Australia is vulnerable to a recession this year with a wholesale funding squeeze in Europe raising debt costs for banks such as ANZ. Experts have warned thousands of jobs will be lost from the industry this year as banks scramble to adjust to an era of low credit growth and higher funding costs.

This comes on top of cuts of 2150 jobs between March 2009 and last September in ANZ’s Australian division. ‘‘We have run a policy of shedding jobs through attrition since October last year,’’ an executive said. ‘‘Temps have not been rehired once their contract has expired.

Secondments have been stopped. We have outsourced two whole floors of operations staff from a [Melbourne] office to Manila [in the Philippines]. If

700 2100

ANZ jobs to go this year

Australian jobs cut by ANZ in past two years

200

Local jobs lost in Bank of Scotland closure you count all those jobs since October, along with what will be announced in the next week . . . we will lose more staff than we did as a result of the GFC.’’ The national secretary of the Finance Services Union, Leon Carter, criticised the bank for shedding jobs when it had record profitability. ‘‘Yet again the first time anything gets tough in finance the only trick in their locker is to put jobs on the line,’’ he said. ‘‘It continues to be a highly profitable organisation that is making multibillion-dollar profits. They have an obligation to keep everybody employed.’’

The Financial Services Minister, Bill Shorten, said: ‘‘We haven’t been briefed specifically on any decisions of the ANZ in term of jobs.We regard any job losses as unfortunate.’’

Experts say banks will be for-

ced to cut staff numbers for the next few years to protect profit margins. The high levels of consumption and lending they enjoyed in recent years will not continue.

At the start of 2007 Australia’s banks, excluding ANZ Asia, employed 155,000. Four years later that figure had grown to 178,000 people, an increase of 23,000.

In ANZ alone, the number of employees in the group’s global operations increased by 12,000 since September 2008, from 36,900 to 48,900.

But ANZ’s Australian division has shed more than 2100 jobs in the past two years – from 19,922 to 17,768 – as it sends more jobs to offshore.

The job losses could exacerbate conditions in Australia – already vulnerable to recession. The chief economist at JP Morgan, Stephen Walters, said: Australia has not undergone adjustments observed elsewhere ... it remains vulnerable to shocks.

Economists also say we might expect a further shake-out in the retail industry, which employs 1.2 million people, following the jobs losses last year.

The Grattan Institute’s Saul Eslake said: ‘‘I wouldn’t be at all surprised if 2012 was a year in which some of the almostinevitable consequences for employment in retailing of the deterioration in retail trading conditions over the next couple of years came to a head.’’

ANZ staff wait for axe to fall — Weekend Business

Fri Jan 20 10:10

OVERSEAS INVASION Tertiary advisory days: your five-page guide to starting university

Sun, sand and fun ... Tabitha Palmer, 6, centre, plays with Liv Knight, 7, and Harry Hamilford, 5, at North Bondi. The girls are in the under-7 nippers. Photo: Dallas Kilponen

Economic conditions are preventing children learning to swim, writes Nick Ralston.

LIFESAVERS have a simple explanation for the spate of near drownings and a record number of rescues in recent weeks. ‘‘There was pretty poor weather leading into Christmas and I think that everyone was frothing at the bit to get out to the beach,’’ said Dean Storey, the lifesaving manager of Surf Life Saving NSW. ‘‘Then the sun came out. At the same time we had the big swell . . . and it all came together to create a couple of weeks of

carnage.’’ The solution to the problem is not as simple. Water safety groups are concerned that pool closures and entry costs are denying young children the chance to learn to swim.

While an estimated 1.2 million children have private lessons, experts conservatively predict that each year at least 50,000 children nationwide graduate from high school without being able to swim 50 metres.

In NSW classes are offered

through an Education Department, two-week intensive program in schools for students in years two to six.

The program – the most affordable in the state – is offered to 100,000 students but is not compulsory.

The peak industry body AUSTSWIM said in recent years issues of cost had made some parents reluctant to send their children for lessons.

The chief executive, Gordon Mallett, said: ‘‘If there is no local pool, despite any efforts the Department of Education may make, it starts to get more difficult. Then you’ve got the cost of

entry to existing pools, which is a barrier to some socio-economic groups, and the increasing cost of bus transport. ‘‘The Department of Education tries to minimise the cost but there are some limitations on that. It’s just a sign of our economic times at the moment.

People are being pinched a bit.’’

On the plus side, Surf Life Saving is enjoying a boom in the number of young people becoming involved in the volunteer rescue organisation.

This year it has 30,000 nippers on its books and the number has been rising annually for the past four years.

‘‘We have kids who are doing nipper training, who are rescuing kids their age on days when the surf is a bit tricky,’’ saidMonday January 2, 2012 the nipper manager at North Bondi Surf Life Saving, Jim Walker.

North Bondi has 1400 children doing nipper training, up from 850 a few years ago.

A Bondi resident, Julia Palmer, was raised in England and wanted her daughter, Tabitha, to gain a better understanding than she had of safety at the beach. ‘‘We offered for her to do it and she loves it. She’s much more confident now in the surf than she was,’’ Ms Palmer said.

Anna Patty

Dylan Welch ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

THE Fijian regime of Voreqe ‘‘Frank’’ Bainimarama has recruited one of Washington’s most notorious lobbyist firms – that has been raided by the FBI and represents repressive regimes in the Middle East and Africa – to help manage its reputation and lobby foreign journalists.

And diplomatic sources believe the firm, Qorvis Communications, may be behind the decision by Commodore Bainimarama to lift the widely condemned public emergency regu-

Frank Bainimarama ... advice. lations, only to enshrine them in a permanent law.

The company is represented in Suva by a fresh-faced former business journalist, Seth Thomas Pietras, who has been in the

country on and off since October. A contract published by the US Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act reveals that in October the Fijian Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, signed a deed with Qorvis worth $US40,000 a month for a year. In return, Qorvis has agreed to provide ‘‘public relations services relating to business and investment to the government of Fiji’’.

But it appears to the Herald, which spent the week in Suva being lobbied by Mr Pietras, that his ambit is far greater than spin.

It is likely Mr Pietras, described

as Qorvis’s chief speechwriter, helped draft Commodore Bainimarama’s recent speeches, including his New Year’s Day address announcing the lifting of emergency regulations.

Several countries with an interest in Fiji expressed a belief to the Herald that, given the timing, Qorvis might have played a role in Commodore Bainimarama’s decision to lift the emergency regulations.

A diplomatic source also expressed concern that the kind of role played by such lobbyists in the Middle East and Africa was being imported to the Pacific.

News Review Fiji’s future of uncertainty Mr Pietras, an executive vicepresident of Qorvis’s geopolitical solutions section, is at least the second Qorvis employee to travel to Fiji, after Tina Jeon, an Olympic archer and Qorvis spinner.

In early November Ms Jeon posted on Twitter a photo of herself and Commodore Bainimarama aboard a boat in Fiji with the caption: ‘‘No better place to write a press release’’.

Last year, during the Arab Spring, Mr Pietras was Qorvis’s spokesman when its role in defending Middle East regimes was the subject of debate. ‘‘Our clients are facing some challenges now,’’ Mr Pietras told The New York Times. ‘‘But our long-term goals to bridge the differences between our clients and the United States haven’t changed. We stand by them.’’

In 2004 when Qorvis was raided by the FBI as part of an investigation into whether an advertising campaign it helped run broke federal law by not disclosing Saudi funding.

At the time, Qorvis was the beneficiary of a six-month contract with the Saudis worth almost $US15 million to help improve its reputation after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Last year an Egyptian steel tycoon with ties to the Mubarak regime retained Qorvis to manage his public relations during a trial regarding claims of widespread corruption. He was eventually sentenced to 10 years in jail.

The company has also represented the man widely known as ‘‘Africa’s worst dictator’’, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

SYDNEY CITY shower or two 19°-23° LIVERPOOL shower or two 17°-24° PENRITH shower or two 18°-24° WOLLONGONG showers clearing 18°-21° GOSFORD few showers 17°-23° NEWCASTLE few showers 20°-23° CANBERRA shower or two 12°-24° ARMIDALE showers, storms 12°-22° DUBBO shower or two 15°-31° COFFS HARBOUR storms 19°-26° DETAILS PAGE 19 ISSN 0312-6315

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TRAFFIC across the city would be slowed to 40km/h as part of City of Sydney plans.

Terry Lee-Williams, a transport strategy manager at the City of Sydney, told the NSW Parliament’s joint standing committee on road safety that the council would like a “blanket” 40km/h speed limit across the city in “predominantly residential areas”. He said 20 per cent of the existing city speed zones were 40km/h. ‘‘Once we do the CBD, that would take it up to about 35 per cent and we would progressively like to roll that through. I say progressively because it is a cost issue,’’ Mr Lee-Williams told the committee late last year.

The costs include hundreds of thousands of dollars in studies ‘‘and hoops we must jump through for the RMS [Roads and Maritime Services]’’.

The NSW Labor MP Walt Secord, who is a Staysafe committee member, said he disagreed with the council plan to introduce the 40km/h speed zone across the city, saying it would further congest traffic. ‘‘Recently at a Staysafe parliamentary hearing, the staff from Sydney City Council were advocating changing the entire city to 40 kilometres,’’ he said. ‘‘While I understand they have safety concerns, I fear that it could slow city traffic to a snail’s pace. ‘‘This would make journeys across Sydney even longer in duration and slower, especially at night.’’

A spokeswoman for the City of Sydney said it was the responsibility of NSW Roads and Maritime Services to approve any changes to the speed limit.

“The RMS is responsible for signposting and speed limits throughout NSW,” she said.

“The City of Sydney supports improving road safety and minimising the risk of injury and death in pedestrian areas

STARTS PAGE 12

The son also rises SPORTSDAY

First published 1831 No. 54,364 $1.50 (inc GST)

Howard honoured, for Queen and country

INSIDE Bowser blues

NSW drivers could face more petrol price rises when the government bans regular unleaded fuel, pushing up demand for ethanol-blended and premium unleaded, the industry has warned. From July, petrol stations will no longer be allowed to sell regular unleaded in a bid to promote renewable biofuels.

News — Page 3

Weather, or not

The most miserable summer in Sydney in 50 years. The coldest autumn nationally in more than 50 years. Record flooding in Victoria. A Christmas Day in Melbourne with hailstones the size of eggs. Massive floods and cyclone Yasi in Queensland.

What’s it all mean?

ROAD RULES Pedestrians in the city centre: 600,000 Vehicles in city centre: 85,000 International safety speed: 30km/h City of Sydney safety speed: 40km/h through the reduction of speed limits, as is international best practice. On any given working day, there are 600,000 pedestrians in the city centre and 85,000 vehicles. The slower the vehicle, the less risk of severe trauma to the pedestrian.’’

A spokeswoman for Roads and Maritime Services said it had “received a copy of the concept proposal for a speed zone reduction from the City of Sydney on Christmas Eve and is reviewing it early this year”.

The former Labor premier Kristina Keneally and the City of Sydney lord mayor, Clover Moore, agreed to a plan to slow traffic within the city centre to 40km/h by early 2011 in a memorandum of understanding dated September 13, 2010, when Mr Secord worked as chief-ofstaff for Ms Keneally.

A spokesman for the NSW Roads Minister, Duncan Gay, said the minister had not yet seen the City of Sydney proposal.

Mr Lee-Williams told the Staysafe committee in late November that someone hit by a car at 40km/h was far less likely to die than if they were hit at 60km/h. ‘‘Internationally it is 30km/h, but because it has taken about 12 years to get the RTA down to 40km/h, we did not want to push the envelope to 30km/h,’’ he said. ‘‘Traffic also flows better in crowded areas at a slower speed because . . . you do not get compression between intersections: the vehicles are moving easily; they do not have to accelerate, decelerate, accelerate, decelerate.”

Paul Sheehan, Opinion — Page 11

Road toll falls

The 2011 road toll was the second lowest since 1944, according to provisional figures from the NSW Centre for Road Safety. Last year, 376 people were killed on NSW roads, down from 405 the previous year. The toll has dropped from 524 over the past 10 years.

News — Page 5

Exceptionally meritorious services ... Mr Howard at home in Wollstonecraft yesterday. ‘‘It’s a compliment to Australia,’’ he said of his award. Photo: Quentin Jones Kelly Burke ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

NOT since Sir Robert Menzies has the monarchy bestowed such approbation on an Australian politician.

John Howard’s decade-long prime ministership and his dogged adherence to a constitutional monarchy have earned him admission to an exclusive club with a capped membership of just 24 after Buckingham Palace announced yesterday he had been appointed a member of the Order of Merit.

Only Menzies’ Knight of the Order of the Thistle, to which the Liberal Party founder was invested in 1963, carries more kudos. ‘‘I’m very honoured,’’ Mr Howard told the Herald from his home in Wollstonecraft. ‘‘It’s a compliment to Australia and a recognition, among other things, of the respect the Queen has for this country. I’m very grateful for it.’’

Mr Howard, along with the British artist David Hockney,

IN GOOD COMPANY

On merit ... clockwise, from top left: Baroness Thatcher, Prince Charles, Sir Tom Stoppard, David Hockney and Sir David Attenborough. who was also appointed to the order yesterday, will join luminaries including the former British prime minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, the naturalist Sir David Attenborough and Prince Charles.

The Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, said she warmly congratulated Mr Howard on receiving such a distinguished award. ‘‘This is a rare and singular honour for his service to Australia,’’ she said.

The Order, founded by King

Edward VII in 1902, carries no title but is considered an extremely high mark of honour and a personal gift from the Queen.

According to the Royal Family’s website, it is to be given ‘‘to such persons, subjects of Our Crown,

as may have rendered exceptionally meritorious services in Our Crown Services or towards the advancement of the Arts, Learning, Literature, and Science or such other exceptional service as We are fit to recognise’’.

Although writers and artists have traditionally dominated the field, politicians appointed to the order have included Sir Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee and Baroness Thatcher.

Mr Howard becomes the ninth Australian appointed, following in the footsteps of the philosopher Samuel Alexander, the intellectual Gilbert Murray, scientists Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Howard Florey and Robert McCredie May, former chief justice of Australia Sir Owen Dixon, artist Sir Sidney Nolan and soprano Dame Joan Sutherland.

Mr Howard is expected to receive his Order of Merit – an eight-pointed cross bearing the imperial crown to be worn around the neck – at a ceremony later this year.

Gillard Wickets tumble as Test cricket hits fast-forward button rebukes Hawke on unions

First Tuesday

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul appeared to be running neck and neck in Iowa before tomorrow’s first vote on the candidates vying for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, with Rick Santorum mounting a late charge. Contenders have been blitzing shopping malls, public meetings and local media.

Jessica Wright ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

THE Prime Minister has dismissed a call by the Labor elder Bob Hawke to slash the power of unions within the ALP. Julia Gillard defended the factional and union influences that were responsible for the destruction of Kevin Rudd’s leadership in 2010.

Mr Hawke, a former prime minister and boss of the ACTU, said in an interview with the Fairfax publication The Australian Financial Review that while his ‘‘first love’’ was the trade union movement, its influence over the Labor Party had grown to ‘‘suffocating’’ proportions.

World — Page 8

Classic stoush

Chloe Hosking won a thrilling first race of the Bay Classic and promptly called Union Cycliste Internationale boss Pat McQuaid ‘‘a dick’’ for failing to implement a minimum wage for women.

Third placed Rochelle Gilmore also called for change.

SportsDay — Page 32

Harbour rubbish pile on the rise after prison drain gangs get the brush-off Debra Jopson ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

THE amount of litter and waste Sydney Harbour garbage collectors pick up each year has plummeted to the lowest level in more than a decade after NSW Maritime suspended a long-running clean-up program that used prisoners on periodic detention.

The environmental services team, which clears debris ranging from plastic drink bottles to fallen trees from more than 5000 hectares of waterways, collected just 2284 cubic metres of waste last financial year, almost 500 metres less than the year 230686cubic .

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Dirty business ... litter lines the foreshore at Iron Cove.

Photo: Jon Reid before, NSW Maritime’s latest annual report reveals. ‘‘One can draw the conclusion that there would be more litter in the harbour,’’ said Peter McLean, the NSW chief executive of Keep Australia Beautiful. ‘‘I hate to see

programs like this not continue in some form. It would certainly be very detrimental. We have millions of people living in that catchment.’’

Research indicated it was likely that since the end of the

drought more rain has meant more litter washed into waterways, he said.

Most of the man-made refuse consists of food and drink packaging dropped on streets and swept into the harbour through stormwater drains, a NSW Maritime spokeswoman said.

While the fall was partly caused by Maritime’s environmental service losing its flagship vessel for more than six months as a replacement was built, it also followed a decision in December 2010 to stop using detainees provided by the Department of Corrective Ser-

vices for the foreshore clean-up, she said.

Minimal risk detainees began working with government waterways cleaners 17 years ago and the program has contributed between 12 and 28 per cent of the volume of waste collected every year up to 2008-09, official figures show.

However, the program was suspended when the Department of Corrective Services began to phase out its periodic detention program last October, according to NSW Maritime.

The Herald understands that staff were unwilling to work with

higher-risk detainees receiving intensive correction orders, which have replaced periodic detention.

The detainees’ assistance was hailed as a success in previous years, as NSW Maritime crews worked to remove boating hazards and rubbish from Sydney Harbour and the navigable waters of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers over a combined foreshore length of 270 kilometres.

Four minimal risk detainees worked three times a week with government staff to clear debris in areas inaccessible to boats,

such as mangrove swamps, the NSW Maritime spokeswoman said.

The agency expects to restart the program using volunteers provided by a non-government organisation in the first quarter of next year, another spokesman said.

Mr McLean said volunteers were difficult to attract. He warned that the loss of extra assistance with garbage collection coincides with the NSW government setting a target in its new state plan of achieving the lowest litter count per capita in Australia by 2016.

SYDNEY CITY sunny 18°-26° LIVERPOOL sunny 15°-31° PENRITH sunny 16°-33° WOLLONGONG sunny 18°-26° GOSFORD sunny 15°-28° NEWCASTLE sunny 18°-26° CANBERRA partly cloudy 15°-35° ARMIDALE mostly sunny 10°-27° DUBBO sunny 17°-35° COFFS HARBOUR partly cloudy 16°-26° DETAILS PAGE 18 ISSN 0312-6315

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‘Our great trade union movement is important to Australian society and to representing the needs of working people.’ Julia Gillard

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There’s action aplenty as the five-day game takes its lead from Twenty20, writes Malcolm Knox.

DYNASTY THE TENDULKAR DY YNASTY

The world of the box-set addict

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Come in spinner: Fiji pays Washington lobbyists for image makeover

summer FESTIVAL OF THE COUCH

2011 a year in weather

summer

Wednesday January 4, 2012

STATE POLITICS

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When children’s shows become naughty

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But yesterday Ms Gillard said the unions were the champions of ‘‘working Australians’’. ‘‘I believe our great trade union movement is important to Australian society and to representing the needs of working people,’’ she said. ‘‘It was the trade union movement, shoulder to shoulder with the Labor Party, that fought back and got rid of Work Choices.’’

Responding to Mr Hawke’s advice to the ALP to recognise the perceived negative association with the unions, Ms Gillard said the matter had been adequately addressed at the party’s national conference last month.

She tried to soften the public rebuke to Mr Hawke, once the nation’s most popular leader, saying he was an important part of the ALP’s history. ‘‘Bob Hawke is of course a living legend,’’ she said. ‘‘Bob is right to say that the Labor Party needs to keep modernising.’’

His criticism of undue union influence within the ALP mirrored the view of another former prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who savaged the power of the unions

and factions in a speech to the national conference.

Mr Rudd said the party had failed to take any significant steps to rein in the power of factions and union bosses. ‘‘While some claim we have moved forward on party reform, the truth is we have barely moved at all,’’ Mr Rudd said. ‘‘The stark alternative remains: either more power to the factional powerbrokers or more power to the 35,000 members of the Australian Labor Party.’’

An internal review by the former premiers Steve Bracks and Bob Carr and Senator John Faulkner recommended a guaranteed say for unions and Labor supporters in party preselections and aired dire warnings that the party faced a membership crisis.

Senator Faulkner has repeatedly warned that the ALP risks a wipeout of its membership – as ‘‘a small party getting smaller, [and] an old party getting older’’.

Ms Gillard welcomed the review but resisted the suggestion that the unions be given a say in policy and parliamentary decisions. ‘‘As Labor leader I will insist on the right to freely choose the executive of the federal parliamentary Labor Party,’’ she said at the time of the review’s release. ‘‘I have chosen my team of ministers and parliamentary secretaries and I will continue to do so.’’

Mr Hawke also addressed the leadership question that continues to dog Ms Gillard, saying he believed she was the best person for the job. ‘‘I don’t think they should change leaders,’’ he said. ‘‘There has been a lot of criticism of Julia, but you have got to give her credit for a lot of achievements and tenacity. ‘‘She has shown a lot of courage and determination, particularly on the carbon tax and the mining tax. When those things are bedded down they may even become positives.’’

Ms Gillard has refused to address questions about the leadership this year, telling reporters on New Year’s Day to ‘‘check the transcripts’’ of last year for her answer.

It is more than 20 years since Mr Hawke was prime minister of Australia but the ‘‘Silver Bodgie’’ has enjoyed a resurgence in the media, most recently in a renewed spat with the former prime minister Paul Keating.

The pair showed the passing of time had done nothing to ease the rancour in their relationship with Mr Keating this week blaming Mr Hawke for the wage explosions of the 1970s.

Mr Keating said that Mr Hawke, as the ACTU national secretary, had ‘‘nearly destroyed the economy twice’’. The spat coincides with the release by the National Archives of the 1982 and 1983 cabinet documents.

AS IF obligated to compete with the evening’s entertainment, 22 Test cricketers of Australia and India romped through three bright and breezy sessions. The batsmen clubbed the ball to all corners when they weren’t losing their wickets. The bowlers served up bouncers, wides, late outswingers and unplayable in-duckers, with the occasional nagging length ball for variety.

Fieldsmen fell asleep if the ball hadn’t come to them in an over.

What is this new thing, and how can it be stretched to five days? Perhaps each team needs three innings in a Test. Perhaps there is no problem. Test matches have a natural duration of 31⁄2 days, and we should celebrate the plebeian uprising of the bowler.

While M.S. Dhoni and R. Ashwin were together, putting on 54 in 81 balls for India’s seventh wicket, an anxious Australian voice in the Churchill Stand muttered, ‘‘They’re digging in now – we need a wicket, Hilfy!’’

Resurgent Punter holds key to series If the opening day was all about Sachin Tendulkar, the central character leading into today is Ricky Ponting.

Summer – Page 26

How good is James Pattinson? ... Australia’s hottest new quickie celebrates the wicket of Virender Sehwag. Photo: Steve Christo

Bowler Ben Hilfenhaus did his bit, and concerns about a partnership lasting more than an hour were allayed. Mexican waves couldn’t even make a full circuit as a wicket fell first.

When security guards seized beach balls, they weren’t booed, because something had happened on the field to distract the crowd’s attention. Bill Lawry surely couldn’t cry ‘‘It’s all happening!’’ for fear of understatement.

When Dhoni won the toss, the crowd cheered – they were going to see Sachin Tendulkar. Of course, they never considered the Indian top three might bat all day, and they were right, though it did look, for a moment after tea, as though they might be back in for their second innings.

Tendulkar did not make his 100th international century. Two constants of his career – that he scores runs in Sydney and that his teammates let him down – collided, resulting in his dismissal for 41. He came to the crease at 2-30 when not one ball had been hit convincingly in front of the wicket.

From there it was a contest of his cover drive versus Australia. The bowlers fed the shot. He laced drive after drive between point and mid-off, then dragged one onto his stumps. As wickets go, it was a cheap buy.

In general the bowlers didn’t have to strike any bargains. Hilfenhaus rediscovered his fast bouncer to remove Ashwin. Then, like a child who remembers last year’s Christmas present was even better than this year’s, Hilfy used Continued Page 2

Economic woes hit US defence ambitions Daniel Flitton ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

AUSTRALIA is about to confront the biting reality of US military decline as its cash-strapped ally moves to abandon the longstanding doctrine of being ready to fight two wars simultaneously on opposite sides of the globe.

The New York Times reported yesterday on cuts expected to be announced this week by the Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, to slash hundreds of billions of dollars in defence spending across ground forces, navy, air force and the nuclear arsenal.

Coming after earlier reduc-

tions, the US’s formal strategy to fight two large adversaries at once – as it did during World War II against Nazi Germany in Europe and Japan in the Pacific – will also be surrendered.

For 60 years the Defence chiefs in Canberra have had the luxury to assume Washington will be free to come to Australia’s aid, no matter what the US entanglements outside the region.

But those days are gone as a teetering economy forces deep cuts to the US defence budget – at the same time as many are concerned about China’s growing military ambitions.

Buzzcut Pentagon prepares to slash spending.

World – Page 8

The troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, of which Labor has committed to buy between 14 and 100, is also reported to be targeted.

Despite the cuts, the US would remain the pre-eminent military power with the ability to fight and win one major conflict and ‘‘spoil’’ a second adversary’s ambitions in another part of the world. But The New York Times

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reported that the cuts inevitably posed questions such as whether a reduced aircraft carrier fleet could counter an increasingly bold China or whether a smaller army could fight a long ground war in Asia.

Australia has already made plain its hope to see a greater US engagement in the ‘‘Asian century’’ as the Obama administration withdraws from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The agreement to train up to 2500 US Marines near Darwin, announced during Barack Obama’s visit to Australia in November, was widely interpreted as

insurance against China’s rise.

The US has also made clear a desire to shift the focus to Asia and Mr Obama used his speech to federal Parliament to pledge the US was ‘‘here to stay’’.

The shift from fighting two simultaneous wars against major forces recognises the significant changes to warfare during recent decades, with insurgent conflicts the norm and the growing use of drones and other high technology.

The Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd, would not comment on the change.

Killer given passport, licence and freedom Saffron Howden and Alicia Wood ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

TRENT JENNINGS packed his passport, driver’s licence and, unsupervised, took off in a stolen car from a prison psychiatric hospital.

As authorities scrambled yesterday to shift the blame for the bungle that allowed the killer to walk free on Friday and outsmart police hours later, the nationwide hunt for him continued.

Jennings, 26, stabbed a man to death eight years ago during a casual sexual encounter.

He was granted day leave rights from Morisset Hospital, near Newcastle, only a month before he absconded from custody and allegedly arranged over the internet to meet a man, 50, at his home in Sydney’s Zetland.

Last Thursday, Jennings, pictured, tied the man up with his consent then stole some of his belongings, including his black Mercedes four-wheeldrive, police say.

That night he returned to hospital after curfew, having contacted staff to tell them his train was running late.

Satisfied with this explanation, hospital staff allowed him out unsupervised at 2pm the next day, the eighth anniversary of the night he stabbed Giuseppe Vitale, 32, in the neck after binding him at the hands and feet in a park at Narwee.

Jennings did not return on Friday evening and, four hours later, he was pulled over by police in the stolen car south of Coffs Harbour. His licence and vehicle registration were checked, he was issued with some fines, and allowed to drive off.

Last night, police across Australia were searching for the former Sydney waiter, who in 2005 was found not guilty of Mr Vitale’s murder because a court concluded he was in a druginduced psychosis at the time.

Yesterday the Premier, Barry O’Farrell, ordered a report from all relevant departments into the circumstances surrounding the getaway and the delay in notifying the public. ‘‘I share some of the concerns about the lack of information about his release or his escape,’’ he said.

This week the NSW chief psychiatrist, John Allan, will review Jennings’ case and patient leave procedures at Morisset Hospital.

The local health district Continued Page 2

SYDNEY CITY shower or two 20°-32° LIVERPOOL shower or two 17°-39° PENRITH shower or two 18°-39° WOLLONGONG storms, showers 20°-32° GOSFORD shower or two 16°-34° NEWCASTLE shower or two 20°-31° CANBERRA shower or two 18°-34° ARMIDALE shower or two 12°-29° DUBBO partly cloudy 19°-37° COFFS HARBOUR mostly sunny 18°-29° DETAILS PAGE 16 ISSN 0312-6315

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