04 August 2022 The Coroner’s Inquest by Joseph Hathaway-Wilson Stacked Consequences by Jacqueline Adams Breaking Down UTS Staff Salaries by Ashley Sullivan The University of the Future: In Conversation with Senator Mehreen Faruqi by Joseph Hathaway-Wilson
What I cannot agree to, and have made clear from the very beginning, is an increase to the amount spent on Vertigo magazine. I have proposed the amount of $129,000 for Vertigo which covers the full costs of the production in 2021 ($128,357) and I am not willing to almost double that to $245.000 as requested. I have made my concerns about the print version of Vertigo very clear: it is a high quality production that suits the purposes of a very small fraction of students, largely the publishing team and the design students who contribute to it. I have asked for a plan to increase its accessibility, and content designed for international students, and received no response. In years prior I have offered the President the opportunity to work with UTS and our journalism team to turn Vertigo into a fully online publication. This has not been taken up. There appears to be no willingness to make changes to the production costs of this magazine which I do not believe is serving the interests of the majority of students. If the UTSSA insists on continuing to publish the magazine unchanged, it will have to do so within budget. This is my final position on Vertigo.
• ANTaR — Advocacy organisation dedicated to justice, rights and respect for Australia’s First Peoples — antar.org.au More organisations can be found here:
Jess Prowse would like to acknowledge the Gundungurra and Dharug people of the Ngurra AlexanderNation.Kingsford would like to acknowledge the Cammeraygal people of the Eora Nation.
The University of Technology Sydney would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the Traditional Custodians and Knowledge Keepers of the land on which UTS now stands, and pays respect to Elders past, present, and emerging.
• Blak Business — “Bringing together information, knowledge and resources to facilitate broader learning and discussion about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander topics.” — blakbusiness.com.au
Vertigo would like to extend a personal acknowledgement to the Traditional Custodians and Knowledge Keepers of the land on which we lived and worked as editors and designers during the creation of this magazine. We pay respect to Elders past, present, and emerging, and extend this respect to any First Nations people reading this volume. As students, we must acknowledge the Indigenous contributions to academia that have enriched our understanding of Australian history and culture. We exist on stolen land, and recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded.
• Seed — Fighting for climate justice — Seedmob.org.au
Sophia Ramos would like to acknowledge the Boolbainora clan of the Dharug people of the Eora SienaNation.Zadro and Joseph Hathaway-Wilson would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the If it is within your means, please consider donating to an Indigenous organisation such as:
–Maree Graham Deputy Director, Students, and Community Engagement Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education & Research
Andy Lee, Clara Atkin, and Joey Chalita would like to acknowledge the Dharug people of the Eora AshleyNation.Sullivan would like to acknowledge the Burramattagal and Dharug people of the Eora Nation.
• IndigenousX — Indigenous media organisation — Indigenousx.com.au
• Black Rainbow — Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Sistergirl and Brotherboy (LGBQTI+SB) Organisation — blackrainbow.org.au
CONTENTARNING 3
or
Some articles and images contain themes or references t mental ill-health, abortion, death, r*pe, incest, homophobia sexual references, sexual assault, addiction, abuse, violence, discrimination, and climate anxiety. Please keep this in mind as you enjoy our magazine; your health and safety are important to us. Contact the UTS Counselling Services on 9514 1177, or visit the UTS Counselling Services website to find out more and access the extensive online self-help resources. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please consider speaking to your local GP, a healthcare professional, or calling one of the numbers below. Lifeline — 13 11 14 Beyond Blue — 1300 22 4636 If you or someone you know is experiencing or has experienced sexual abuse, you can call or refer to the following confidential hotlines. General — 1800 737 732 Counselling — 1800 211 028 Crisis Centre — 1800 424 017 If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or child abuse, call or refer to the following 24/7 confidential free hotlines. Domestic Violence Line — 1800 656 463 NSW Child Protection Helpline — 13 21 11
If
numbers below. Alcohol
Available
Information Service (ADIS)
If you are struggling with self-injurious behaviour, such as self-harming or an eating disorder, please reach out to the following: Butterfly Foundation — (02) 9412 4499 you, or someone you know, is struggling with or has struggled with drug or alcohol abuse, please consider speaking to your local GP, a healthcare professional, calling the and Other Drugs — 1800 250 015 NSW Quitline — 13 7848 (13 QUIT) Monday to Friday: 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Available
ANDY LEE, JESS PROWSE, JOSEPH HATHAWAY-WILSON, SIENA ZADRO, ALEXANDER KINGSFORD M, JOEY CHALITA, SOPHIA RAMOS, CLARA ATKIN, & ASHLEY SULLIVAN.
lett-Editors'er 5
Dear Readers, We write to you from the midst of a predicament. The UTS Senior Executive have deemed it necessary to dictate the distribution of student union funds. As a result, the budget that Vertigo was provided at the beginning of the year has been slashed by almost half, and we are now unable to print anything beyond this issue. In an article by Central News, former Deputy ViceChancellor Shirley Alexander expressed her desire to see a student publication that is relevant to UTS students. Hence, we present to you the final print issue of 2022: ‘Vertigone’. Treat this volume as a handbook: the UTS student’s guide to everything you should care about, here and now.
Check out Joseph Hathaway-Wilson’s ‘The Coroner’s Inquest’ for an editor’s rebuttal to the Vertigo funding cuts, then flick over to ‘Piling Cuts, Stacked Consequences’ by Jacqueline Adams to read about their ramifications. Let Clara Atkin guide you through the list of course cuts at UTS in ‘Airing Dirty Laundry’, while Ashley Sullivan discloses the salaries of our staff. Learn from UTSSA President Anna Thieben about the Senior Executive’s plan for 2027, and hear from Greens Deputy-Leader Mehreen Faruqi about the most pressing issues facing Australian tertiary education today. And it’s not all about us either! Shanelle George talks Roe v Wade, while Elektra Politis reflects on the reality of secular Australia. For a walk through the lighter neck of the woods, ‘Poems, Photographs, and Movie Reviews’ showcases the latest poetry, personal essays, and short fiction from UTS’s budding creatives. While the powers at play may have turned our mood from ‘Sonder’ to sombre, we ask one thing of you while you peruse these pages. Capture whatever it is you feel when reading these articles. Preserve it, nurture it, use it as fuel. But don’t let it consume you. Think not of what is, but rather, what should be. In the oft-quoted words of Dylan Thomas: Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light Thank you, as always, for reading Vertigo. Lots of love, Vertigo 2022
CLARA ATKIN: The Hunger Games because I wanna be the mockingjay. JOEY CHALITA: The Planet of The Apesbecause monkey. ASHLEY SULLIVAN: Blade Runner because the aesthetics are pretty cool. ANDY LEE: Westworld so I can sleep knowing rich people got killed by robots. ALEXANDER KINGSFORD: Divergent so that I can f**k with the system and be factionless. JOSEPHWILSON:HATHAWAY-UTS 2027. SOPHIA RAMOS: Ready Player One so I can justbecome a degen and live in aheadset. JESS PROWSE: The Hunger Games but just for the Capitol fashion lol. SIENA ZADRO: Animal Farm oink oink comrade. Which dystopian world wouldyou choose to live in? Editors'Question. 6
spotify1 253 4 6 7 98 EVERYONE WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD. BY LORDE GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD. BY ELTON JOHN. I KNOW THE END. BY PHOEBE BRIDGERS. BACKSTABBER. BY KESHA. IN THE END. BY LI N KIN PARK. THE SHOW MUST GO ON. BY QUEEN. ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE. BY MONTY PYTHON. DESPERADO. BY RIHANNA. CRIME OF THE CENTURY. BY SUPERTRAMP. 7
8
RAGE!RAGE,IKNOWTHE END! RAGE AT THE EAG: SHOWCASINGCOLLECTIVES AT UTS p48by Cat Doherty & Sara ChaturvediNUS VS. THE SSAF p50by Joseph Hathaway-Wilson OB REPORTS p80 MUTUAL AID PANTRY p82 by Anna Thieben DEAR HOLLYWOOD, WOMEN DON’T HATE EACH OTHER p54 by Adeline Chai SMORGASBORD p58 by Eleni Carydis STRENGTH IN SORROW p59 by Ayesha Baig 'VIOLENT WINTERS.', 'SULTRY SUMMER.', 'THE ART OF MEMORIES UPON ME', 'WE ARE EVE’S APPLE' p60 by Gokce Caliskan 'ORANGE TREES', 'THE RAIN' p64 by Durr-e-’Adan Haque HOW TO START YOUR OWN CAMPAIGN: A CHAOTIC GUIDE p67 by Siena Zadro SUPERMAN: THE MOST UNDERRATED OVERRATED SUPERHERO p70 by Andy Lee THE UNIVERSITY OF THE FUTURE:IN CONVERSATION WITHMEHREEN FARUQI p72by Joseph Hathaway-WilsonSTAFF SHOUTOUT p76 by Clara AtkinFIRST THEY CAME FORTHE MEDIA p78 IN FRIENDSHIP, ALWAYS PHOTOGRAPHS MOVIESPOEMS& REVIEWS. 9
The Coroner's
by Joseph Hathaway-Wilson Come ye, gather by the shore as we push this burning longboat out to sea. Remember the days when we didn’t need to stress over enrolling in a face-to-face tutorial? When our favourite tutors weren’t working on casual contracts, and we didn’t wait six weeks to get our marks back? Remember when Vertigo wrote about more than just its own imminent demise? No? Nevermind, perhaps you’re too young for that. For everyone reading this, from stalwart fans to first-time readers (Ver-gins, if you will), we believe that an explanation is in order. This issue may read as an impassioned manifesto more so than a non-partisan student publication. Alas, desperate times call for desperate measures. If Vertigo is to go out of print, the least it deserves is a “Cause of Death”. See that longboat burning on the horizon? Yep, that’s us. You may be wondering how we got there.
Pt. 1: Vertigo:a brief history Were it not despairing over its imminent extinction, UTS Vertigo would be celebrating its 31st birthday. In the beginning (1991), Vertigo succeeded Newswit as the official student publication of UTS, three years after the university itself evolved from the New South Wales Institute of Technology into the University of Technology Sydney. The original editors’ office was based on the top floor of Building 1, inspiring the name of the young university’s student publication (fyi, we now work in a windowless storage space on the third floor of Building 3, down the corridor from MediaLab — come say hi, we have a coffee machine). from Museums
Inquest
n Image sourced
Victoria SLASHTHE 10
7
1. Vertigo is managed by an editorial team of six to twelve UTS students. A new Vertigo team is elected each October by the broader UTS community (i.e. you!).
4. Since 2015, the magazine has produced six issues a year. Before that, we printed eight. Before that, ten. The highest number of issues printed in a year according to our archives is twelve. Fast forward to the here and now. Over the past three months, Vertigo’s digital platforms have been spewing material protesting a reduction in their funding. As opposed to the standardised six issue suite, the 2022 Vertigo editorial team will only be printing three issues of the magazine for the UTS public, the third being this paperback spiel on the lamentable state of the world today. Vertigo says that if funding is not returned to its usual levels, the publication may go out of print entirely.
2. The publication is financed by the UTS Students Association (UTSSA), also known as the student union. Vertigo is one of many services provided by the union and is constitutionally obliged to follow their rules. The UTSSA is also voted in by you.
So, what happened?
Pt. 2: extremistmovementsRadicalandactivities9 11
So, what do you need to know about Vertigo that you may or may not know already? Here are the quick facts before we get into the good stuff: The month is December 2005: After nearly a decade of unsuccessful attempts, the Higher Education Support Amendment (Abolition of Compulsory Upfront Student Union Fees) Bill 2005 is passed through the Australian Senate by the fourth government of Prime Minister John Howard. The new bill heralds the introduction of Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU), at the expense of Universal Student Unionism (USU) in Australia. University students are no longer required to pay their union fees. Indeed, it is no longer compulsory for them to join their student union. Liberal Senator Santo Santoro calls it one of the Howard Government’s “crowning achievements”.1 One prominent Young Liberal by the name of Edwin Dyga applauds the bill, referring to the political initiatives of student unions as “radical movements” and “extremist activities” which regularly lead to violence and disruption.2 For years, the Liberal National Coalition have been barracking for “freedom of association” and, at last, they have their wish.
3. The stylistic and written content of Vertigo is picked by the incumbent editorial team. Historically, the publication has maintained a focus on student issues, Australian politics, pop culture, and subculture.
Every UTSSA budget required her approval. For the most part, this was not a problem. Long-serving staffers and other actors within the UTSSA have told Vertigo that Alexander rarely, if ever, stipulated how exactly the UTSSA needed to spend their budget. Until now. On May 4 2022, Shirley Alexander emailed UTSSA President Anna Thieben about the planned allocation of the student organisation’s budget for the year. While Alexander was content with how the majority of the UTSSA’s budget would be spent, she refused to approve the requested budget until the amount of money being allocated to Vertigo (which had already been agreed to by the UTSSA and the editorial team in January) was reduced to almost half of the planned figure. The paragraphs she wrote regarding the student publication read as follows:
lPt. 3: A high productionquality
Fast forward to October 2011: John Howard has been succeeded by Kevin Rudd, who is in turn succeeded by Julia Gillard. A new bill, the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services and Amenities) Bill 2011, is passed through the Senate with support from Labor, the Greens, and various independents. This bill marks the introduction of the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF), an intriguing new middle-ground between John Howard’s VSU and the USU of old. SSAF is a mandatory fee paid by university students “to support the provision to students of amenities and services not of an academic nature”.3 In other words, student unionism is still not compulsory, but SSAF is. Money accumulated through SSAF may cover the cost of clubs and societies, sport and fitness resources, the student union and its services, student media, food relief, legal aid, and a million other services that should contribute to the university experience. But there’s a catch (and this is the important part). Instead of being distributed by a student body, the university’s SSAF money is handed over to University Management: a small executive of Chancellors, Vice-Chancellors, Presidents, and Deans who are responsible for the administration of the university. It is this executive who distribute the university’s SSAF revenue among the relevant services, usually via the signature of one Deputy Vice-Chancellor in particular. Enter Shirley Alexander. At UTS, SSAF revenue (the money you pay every semester) amounts to approximately $10.2 million every year. That money is spent on orientation, UTS Counselling, UTS Careers, Accessibility and Financial Assistance, HELPS, COVID-19 hardship initiatives, ActivateUTS, and the UTSSA. The exact breakdown of these finances has been made available on the UTS website (many thanks to campaign work of the UTSSA). Since COVID-19, the UTSSA has received approximately 12% of this revenue, a downgrade from the 15% it received before the pandemic. This money (which, since COVID-19, has amounted to roughly $1.2 million) is then allocated by the UTSSA Executive to their various services: Casework and Advocacy, the UTS Legal Centre, Bluebird Brekkie and Night Owl Noodles, Orientation, Student Collectives, and Vertigo That’s if Shirley says so. From her appointment in January 2006 until her resignation in June 2022, Shirley Alexander served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Education and Students) at UTS.
SLASHTHE 12
THIS IS MY POSITIONVERTIGO.ON FINALy dd b n SLASHTHE 13
“What I cannot agree to, and have made clear from the very beginning, is an increase to the amount spent on Vertigo magazine. I have proposed the amount of $129,000 for Vertigo which covers the full costs of production in 2021 ($128,357) and I am not willing to almost double that to $245,000 as requested.
I have made my concerns about the print version of Vertigo very clear: it is a high quality production that suits the purposes of a very small fraction of students, largely the publishing team and the design students who contribute to it. I have asked for a plan to increase its accessibility, and content designed for international students, and received no response. In years prior, I have offered the President the opportunity to work with UTS and our journalism team to turn Vertigo into a fully online publication. This has not been taken up. There appears to be no willingness to make changes to the production costs of this magazine which I do not believe is serving the interests of the majority of students. If the UTSSA insists on continuing to publish the magazine unchanged, it will have to do so within budget.“
Pt. 4:
Having already printed two issues prior to Alexander’s verdict, the 2022 Vertigo editorial team is now unable to print their entire suite for the year, making this issue, which you now hold, the final print issue for 2022.
3. Evidence suggests that if anything, student interest in is far higher than Alexander assumes; Vertigo has a larger Instagram following than any other student publication in NSW (including University of Sydney’s Honi Soit), and, last year, more students voted in the elections for the new editorial team than they did the elections for their new SRC, NUS delegates, or any individual UTSSA office bearers.
SLASHTHE 14
When taken at face value, Alexander’s justifications for reducing Vertigo’s budget aren’t too unreasonable. However, dissecting the matter at hand may prompt you to think otherwise. Let’s break down some of what the former Deputy Vice-Chancellor had to say about UTS’s student publication (and why she is wrong).
2. The Student Satisfaction Surveys which Alexander uses to gauge student interest do not contain any questions concerning UTS Vertigo, making her opinion even more poorly informed.
Topic #1: The interests of students
l
Topic #2: How much money is too much? In justifying her revised figure for Vertigo’s 2022 budget, Alexander claimed that $129,000 would cover the entire cost of production for Vertigo in 2021. So, what’s the issue here?
At the crux of Alexander’s feud with Vertigo is the need for our content to meet the interests of UTS students. Of course, the interests of the student body should be of paramount importance to any student publication. However, there are a few reasons as to why Alexander’s opinion here is problematic.
1. Shirley Alexander is not a UTS student.
2. The proposed budget for 2022 is closely aligned with pre-pandemic Vertigo budgets ($209,177 in 2018 and $236,715 in 2019). Note that SSAF revenue in 2021 actually exceeded the amount accumulated in 2018, so it’s not as if the money isn’t there. The great debate
1. The 2021 Vertigo budget was made to account for the extensive Sydney lockdown. Only three issues were printed for the public in 2021. The 2022 team, just like the teams before the pandemic, is expected to print double this amount. Alexander is well aware of this.
3. Honi Soit is a fantastic student publication because it relies so heavily on the strong Arts contingent at the University of Sydney. Similarly, Vertigo falls back upon the highly commended Communication and Design courses that UTS offers. The fact that we have a high-quality publication as a result of this is not a coincidence.
SLASHTHE 15
In an interview with Central News, Alexander expressed her desire to see “a newspaper that is relevant to UTS students,” referring to Vertigo as a place to “read poems, and look at photographs, and movie reviews”.4 Additionally, according to past UTSSA President Aidan O’Rourke, Alexander has also longed to see a publication more akin to the University of Sydney’s Honi Soit 1. As mentioned in Topic #1, Alexander has no metric for measuring student engagement with Vertigo. If the content is irrelevant to students, that should be made apparent by the students, not by an administrator who is paid to speak on their behalf.
1. There is no record of Shirley Alexander ever making direct contact with the Vertigo team.
2. The notion that Vertigo publishes little more than poems, photographs, and movie reviews demonstrates an even deeper ignorance of the publication’s content. See a list of articles explicitly concerning UTS below.
Topic #4: Relevance of content
3. Vertigo’s budget can be divided into three parts: the expendable budget, the editorial team stipends, and the overhead costs. Overhead costs cover the cost of UTSSA staff salaries, technology hire, technological support, stationery, and insurance. This money is undoubtedly essential to the production of the magazine, but the team has no control over how it is spent. In 2021, the Vertigo editorial team was only given control over approximately $60,000 of the $128,357. In 2022, the editorial team was given control of only $50,000 of the $129,000 allocated to the publication. Editorial team stipends make $40,000, while the remaining budget is put towards overhead fees.
Topic #3: Willingness to make changes Alexander has attempted to heap the blame for Vertigo’s budget onto Vertigo and the UTSSA themselves, claiming that she offered past Presidents the chance to turn Vertigo into an online publication while also asking for a plan to increase accessibility and content designed for international students.
3. There is absolutely no specificity about what “increasing accessibility” would entail. This demand is also ignorant of the fact that Vertigo and the UTSSA staff recently implemented a translation service for our website and, since 2021, have been replicating all print content on our digital spaces.
2. The fact that the Vertigo team and UTSSA President change every year means that the possibility of progress towards Alexander’s vision is near impossible, which she knows.
And one more thing: In stipulating that the budget for Vertigo should be reduced from the agreed upon figure, Alexander is overruling the autonomy of two democratically elected student organisations. The UTSSA is constitutionally required to finance Vertigo and ensure that content is relevant. Any qualms over the production of the magazine should be managed between them and the Vertigo editorial team. Numerous avenues were at Alexander’s disposal had she been serious about evolving the student publication for the better. She pursued none of them.
SLASHTHE 16
Now, as the last of our lonely longboat dissipates into the fog, let us turn to the seasons ahead. If the budget allocated to the 2022 editorial team is replicated in 2023, Vertigo will be forced to undergo huge reductions in quality and quantity, that is, if it is kept in print at all. Not only does this erase the proud history of visual excellence that has earned Vertigo a reputation around university campuses, but demonstrates a complete disregard for student media altogether. The ultimatum provided by Shirley Alexander places the university’s official student publication in a no-win situation, wherein it must adhere to the personal preferences of an outgoing Deputy Vice-Chancellor or suffer the consequences. Perhaps the most insidious feature of the budget reduction, however, is Alexander’s total indifference towards the autonomous processes which form the basic tenets of student unionism. Management’s refusal to approve the UTSSA’s requested budget, in a period when SSAF revenue has returned to pre-pandemic levels, signals a clear cut contempt for both Vertigo nPt. 5: Findings and conclusion and the right of students to make decisions on matters about themselves. So, where to now? While Alexander may be stepping down, she recently revealed that a “benchmarking review of comparable student publications” will be undertaken with the aim of helping the UTSSA improve what Vertigo delivers” (let’s hope they check out the University of Sydney’s Pulp, the creation of which was inspired by Vertigo). UTSSA President Anna Thieben has requested that at least one Vertigo editor is included in this process. She is yet to hear a response. Between now and then, it’s up to UTS students to make clear their wishes to Management. God forbid, they might end up making our decisions for us.
‘Zoom fatigue’ by Anna Lei Higher Education Support Amendment (Abolition of Compulsory Up-front Stu dent Union Fees) Bill 2005 Higher Education Legisla tion Amendment (Student Services and Amenities) Act 2011
1. 2. 3. 4. SLASHTHE 17
Vertigo in crisis after funding ‘denied’ The NUS Versus Freedom of Association
parting gift: a list of “relevant” student content published by Vertigo since 2021
‘UTS renter rich-list: the most expensive suburbs around campus’ by Joseph Hathaway-Wilson ‘UTS Stupol 101’ by Erin Ewen
‘Top 3 modern facilities around campus’ by Sevin Pakbaz
‘3 night stand with Respect.Now.Always’ by Olivia Mathis and Sevin Pakbaz ‘5 myths about uni: debunked’ by Tessa Pelle ‘5 things my VisComm degree taught me’ by Emilia Tortorella ‘A conversation with Amanda White: UTS senior lecturer’ by Erin Ewen ‘A conversation with Nour Hammouri: President of the UTS Palestinian Youth Society’ by Sevin Pakbaz ‘A systematic review of the university food court’ by Clara Atkin ‘Beneath the tower, the beach’ by Joshua Green ‘BTS with UTS: SRC reps meet with the university’ by Anna Thieben ‘Breaking down Atilla’s anti-racism statement’ by the UTS Ethnocultural Collective ‘Challenging racism with comedy: the first ever UTS PoC review’ by Hebah Ali ‘Fast cuts to FASS courses’ by Joey Chalita ‘How to make friends at uni (for people who know nothing)’ by Andy Lee ‘How to nudge UTS into saving the world’ by Miranda Crossley ‘Humanities degree fee hikes hurt us all, here’s why’ by Ella Smith ‘In conversation with Andrew Parfitt’ by Joseph HathawayWilson and Joey Chalita ‘In conversation with UTS startups’ by Sevin Pakbaz ‘Lust Slut’ by Frances Harvey ‘Motion passes: UTSSA set to partner with UTS Executive in controversial new agreement’ by Joey Chalita ‘Never cross a picket line’ by the UTS Education Action Group ‘Notes from a 2020 Graduate’ by Dylan Crismale ‘Pandemonium within the pages: book recommendations with UTS Litsoc’ by UTS Literary Society ‘R.I.P. environmental subjects’ by Melissa Sukkarieh, Damien Nguyen, Anna Thieben, and Finn Billyard ‘Silicon Valley Girl’ by Alice Winn ‘The Casual Vagrancy’ by Joseph Hathaway-Wilson
Note: this list does not include any of our content about Australian politics, the economy, pertinent social issues, popular culture, student lifestyle or the work of UTS alumni, which may also be relevant to our readership. No sir. This is your cut-and-dry, strictly-about-UTS, Shirley-Alexander-approvable con tent only (at least we think it’s what she wants, we’re not entirely sure tbh).
‘The questions you’ve always wanted to ask: Socialist Alternative’ by Alice Winn ‘Things I would tell my first-year self’ by Josh Hortinela ‘The ultimate guide to making friends at uni’ by Emily Dwyer
‘Unmasking universities: leveraging a pandemic’ by Charlotte Sheridan and Eve Cogan ‘USyd SRC and Honi Soit stand in solidarity with UTS Vertigo’ by Joseph Hathaway-Wilson
‘Vertigo campaign strengthens as UTSSA, NUS declare support’ by Joseph Hathaway-Wilson ‘What the hell is the Student’s Association?’ by Joseph Hathaway-Wilson
Evlin DuBose: Yeah, my name is Evlin. I was an editor and video producer for the 2020 Vertigo team, and I later became the 2021 DSP.
V: And what legacy did you want to leave on the magazine?
Past
ED: Vertigo in 2019 was so involved on campus. They had been printing beautiful issues and I had classes with some of the editors. Lily Cameron was one of the fiction editors, and she encouraged me to go for it. At the time, I was dealing with a lot of other stuff and I didn’t feel like I was capable of becoming an editor because it’s a big commitment. But then I went to the closing party at the end of the year, and the fact that there was such a presence on campus made me realise that maybe I could do this. I mingled with people at the info night that they hosted and then I kind of fell into one of the groups that ended up being the 2020 team.
ED: We had very long conversations about that. Ultimately, we wanted it to be a very fun and expressive place for all students. We had an engineering student on the team who didn’t know what she was capable of or what she wanted to do, so that really opened our eyes to expanding the scope of the magazine while also being very expressive and playful with what pieces we chose and the design that we went for. One of our volumes was called ‘Trash’ and was just the designers breaking as many designer rules as possible — Comic Sans everywhere — and they probably wouldn’t have had that opportunity in an assignment. So it was a great room to play but also a compassionate space as well, where we could use the platform to advocate for things that mattered, like Black Lives Matter, Indigenous voices, and queer rights.
Vertigo: Do we want to give our readers a quick introduction of ourselves?
V: What about you, Angela? AJ: I always wanted to be a contributor, but I was always too much of a coward. It wasn’t until I was stalking someone on their LinkedIn and they said that they were previously an editor of Vertigo that I jumped on Vertigo socials, and found out that info night was that night. I was like, “Oh, this is destiny”. I knew that 2021 would be my final year at uni, so I thought: fuck it, why not? I really had nothing to lose, so I tried and then formed a team, campaigned, and somehow won — sorry, Joey.
Ghostsof
V: Evlin, what sparked your interest in Vertigo and what was your dream when your ticket ran to edit the magazine in late 2019?
JC: (Laughs) Thanks, but it all worked out.
Interview with Joey Chalita, Evlin DuBose, and Angela Jin by The Ghost of Vertigo Present
ED: Were you on the losing side of the 2021 Election?
SLASHTHE 18
Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, centres around Ebenezer Scrooge, a selfish and cold-hearted miser who goes about making little kids’ lives miserable while they try to spread some cheer. The children beg the man to spare some change, but all he does is jeer and flaunt his wealth in their starving faces — until he is paid a timely visit by the ghost of Christmas past. Today, in the Vertigo office, the ghosts of our very own past gathered to spread their wisdom.
Angela Jin: Alright, I’m Angela, I was one of the 2021 editors and I’m the 2022 DSP. Joey Chalita: Hi, I’m Joey Chalita, and I’m the current Editor-in-Chief for Vertigo 2022.
JC: Yeah, we lost by one vote. ED: Oh, I remember that actually! We were like losing our minds in the 2020 Facebook chat. We were all so concerned about who would inherit our baby.
So, it’s not like UTS management is inept and unenthusiastic when it comes to the arts.
V: Did you feel that the UTSSA during your term was supportive of Vertigo?
V: What interactions did you have with Shirley Alexander during your terms? ED: I remember she had a lot of complaints, particularly about the design. Personally, I never once spoke to her directly. We always had the UTSSA President passing along the nonsense directives from above.
V: Before we wrap up, what does the perfect Vertigo look like for you?
AJ: A stipend for the DSP would be good. Right now it has no compensation whatsoever.
SLASHTHE 19
ED: Oh yeah, accessibility was a big thing for us too. You just reminded me of the multimedia aspect of Vertigo that we really wanted to push before the pandemic. There was Vertigo TV, and you guys also started the Vertigo podcast that was wonderful to listen to. We even had a library exhibition for our second issue. Yeah, that was super fun to do that stuff and the library staff were so supportive of us being able to do that.
AJ: I’m not sure how it was with your team Evlin, but no one in my team had any experience with student politics, and we were very, very upfront about that, which might have been a bad idea. We kind of said to the UTSSA, “Hey, we’re happy to have you guide us, we have no experience,” and they might have taken advantage of that because they immediately started intimidating us by saying, “No, never approach Shirley, you must talk to surely Shirley through us”. They would always come back to us with the results of our proposals saying, “Nope, wasn’t successful”, and we eventually couldn’t help but think, “Did you even try?”. We were very aware of how much power the SA had over us, so we were afraid to push back. So yeah, we never dealt with Shirley directly.
JC: That’s an excellent point because as a reader, those were two of your most noteworthy moments. ‘Trash’ is my favourite issue from 2020 — it was amazing, especially how you guys just went off the rails experimenting and showing people what Vertigo is. Also, yes, that penis spread was confronting, but it also encapsulated the zeal and passion of the magazine and the potential for students to express themselves. You wouldn’t see that Sydney Morning Herald because we’re not the Sydney Morning Herald. So, those were standout moments for us.
1 Vertigo editors are constitutionally required to meet a non-fiction quota of 50%, half of which must pertain to UTS student life.
ED: Oh, we definitely did not feel supported even if there was some in the background. I think we were surprised when, towards the end of the year, Sam Silcock (UTSSA President 2020) stepped in between Shirley and us as much as he did. I remember we were arguing to have ‘Trash’ printed after lockdown and we kept asking if we could speak to Shirley directly. He was like, “Don’t do that, she will assume control over the magazine if you do that”. Previously, there had been zero communication between us and the UTSSA. There was an incident with our Black Lives Matter stickers and another incident with our issue ‘Body’ in which we essentially had a giant penis in the centrefold of the issue. It was an illustrated penis — it was making a comment about queer male gazes — but you would have thought we had printed literal porn by the way that the SA carried on. We ultimately had to get our DSP, Georgia Wilde, to step in on our behalf. They were silent from then on out, but they frequently used their power and the constitutional bylaws, which often didn’t exist, to censor us and get us to do what they wanted.
V: So, what was your vision for the magazine Angela?
AJ: I don’t think I’ve had a formal conversation about this with the SA, but we were saying that if anyone should dictate what the quota1 covers, it should be Evlin, not the General Secretary, who had no interest in Vertigo and who doesn’t have an editing background.
AJ: I was really pushing for interfaculty involvement. While campaigning, you realise how few people know what Vertigo is, but I really wanted to get it out and make more of a name for it on campus. In terms of content, we wanted to produce something very universally relatable.
JC: It also doesn’t make sense that you guys have less power than the UTSSA General Secretary or the President in determining student issues.
ED: I would love see a revival of the podcast and also Vertigo TV I think that would be really cool, but it obviously comes down to money and the time that the student editors can afford to dedicate. I would love to see a more independent Vertigo that had a better control over their own budget.
by Jacqueline Adams SLASHTHE 20
SLASHTHE 21
SLASHTHE 22
SLASHTHE 23
b LIGHTTHEOFDYINGTHE 24
Locked away in the UTS tower is an elusive and omnipotent council. We call them Management, and if you listen closely you can hear their corporate laughter echoing around the campus walls as they slash your subjects and overwork your tutors. They are governed by one, all-powerful document. The UTS 2027 plan. Like the mysterious council themselves, the 2027 plan is difficult to find and even more challenging to understand. But, as students paying thousands of dollars to this institution, it is within your rights to know how UTS is actually run. In my time as President of the UTS Students Association I’ve done a bit of digging, and I’ll do my best to break it down for you.
i 00 7 Notes PbylanAnnaThieben2027 on the
The UTS 2027 plan was introduced in 2018 before COVID-19 completely reshaped the university sector. A complete document of the plan is impossible to access; however, if you visit the university’s website, you can see a lavish graphic design detailing the breakdown of the plan into five key initiatives (refined from eight listed in the initial launch): 1. Lifetime of learning 2. Connected research 3. Our distinctive identity 4. Sustainable partnerships 5. Working together These all sound good in principle, and they do go some way towards guiding the university to be inclusive and sustainable with high educational outcomes. However, only insofar as these initiatives are profitable. In fact, the key goal of this plan is not to increase student learning outputs or improve the quality of education but for the university to be debt-free by 2027. 1 Obviously, this is where the plan begins to unravel for students and staff. Even before the university could use the excuse of the pandemic to employ cost-saving measures, they had created UTS 2027 as a justification for cutting staff and expenditure to increase their profits. 2 “The aim of the project as outlined in the November 2020 Blueprint was to achieve approximately $100 million of sustained savings across 2021 and 2022 to respond to the financial impact of Covid and the need to protect strategically important priorities to ensure future financial sustainability,” reads a statement from the NTEU’s UTS branch. Hundreds of staff cuts and voluntary redundancies in the past few years were justified with the 2027 plan. In fact, they have made $43 million per year ongoing savings through the Voluntary Separation Program undertaken in 2020 which they now speak proudly of. Even though our university actually made a 10.7% surplus as a percentage of revenue they achieved last year.3
If Management left their board rooms for a second and stumbled into a tutorial or an online lecture, perhaps they would realise how little this surplus means on the ground. Not to get technical, but the workforce cost as a percentage of revenue for this university decreased 11% in the past year, beating their cost-saving targets by 8%. Our increasingly casualised staff are left to fulfil the roles of multiple employees, completing unpaid work after hours to get our essays and reports marked. This is unsustainable for staff and a significant detriment to your education. From larger class sizes, to long waits for E-Requests, to limited feedback for assignments and less time with your academic staff. Our education is being sacrificed at the expense of profits. And Management knows this.
1 & 2: The ‘Fit for 2017 Blue print’ — NTEU-UTS Feedback 3: UTS Council Meeting Report LIGHTTHEOFDYINGTHE 25
*queue evil laugh* UTS 2027 is the product of the corporate university model which embodies a managerial approach to producing, and selling education. We know that this is not what is best for students. In fighting the 2027 plan, we are fighting back against the notion that management controls the university. With 97% of National Tertiary Education Union members at UTS voting to take action this semester, the time to call out management is now. Staff are fighting for salary increases, job stability, casual employment improvements, union rights, transition leave, and much more. Ultimately, the fight is for better learning and teaching conditions.
When your staff are on the picket line this semester, they are actively opposing this plan. Stand with them to prove that the staff and students are the backbone of this institution, not Management. We should be at the centre of how it is run. After all, their master plan means nothing without someone to impose it on.
Vertigo funding (obviously) by Clara Atkin To be honest, when I hear of “funding cuts”, I only really care when it directly affects me. As a FASS student, I was saddened by the funding cuts to my courses, which were seen in less face-to-face hours, and as an avid-breakfast lover, I mourned the loss of Bluebird Brekkie...
AiringLaundryDirty
: Your Guide to UTS Funding Cuts
And you probably know the cuts that affected you. Finding a master list of all the cuts UTS have imposed is very difficult. Surprise surprise, they do not publish this in a neat little document for anyone to find. Surely this must be because they couldn’t find anyone with enough time to collate all this for you! Have no fear, UTS! Here is our attempt at collating just some of the recent funding cuts we have experienced recently.
If you want to find out more about this specific issue, check out ‘The Coroner’s Inquest’ by Joseph Hathaway-Wilson.
LIGHTTHEOFDYINGTHE 26
Each year, the newly elected team proposes a budget — funds they expect to use to produce the magazine. This budget includes a stipend, printing costs, purchasing fonts, google services and so on. The UTSSA then goes through each section and decides how much to grant. The 2022 Vertigo team went through this process, and our budget was approved at the beginning of this year by your student body. Despite this approval, which guided us to allocate our funding for the year, UTS management stepped in to revert funding to the level it was last year (this is a round-a-bout way to say our funding was essentially cut). As expected, that dramatically shifted our funding allocation, leaving us with just enough money to print this issue.
However, despite the challenges everyone has experienced over 2021, UTS achieved quite ‘positive’ results, including seeing “External Research Income” increase from 2020 and a surplus due to mysterious asset sales and withholding expenditure.
Funded by your Student Services and Amenities Fee, this program provides students with a free dinner twice a week during each semester. But does anyone remember the long-lost Bluebird Brekkie?
Some of us have experienced funding cuts to our courses, had lectures moved permanently online, and had “reversed learning weeks” where we have had to teach ourselves. Supposedly this is because of lower enrolments, particularly from international students, which has led to overall less funding available for these particular faculties.
LIGHTTHEOFDYINGTHE 27
This year, we did not see the return of the beloved free yoghurt and muesli combo. This was a massive loss for many university students, but especially on-campus boarding students who lost two meals a week. Due to cuts towards the program, the UTSSA were unable to run both free food services, so Bluebird was put down.
Academic Course Cuts
If you have ever hung around Building One on Tuesdays or Thursdays between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., you’ve probably witnessed the hoards of starving students waiting to be served by the one and only:
Bluebird Brekkie was the sister to Night Owl Noodles, operating two times a week to provide a decent breakfast for students coming into university for free since 2011!
Bluebird Brekkie (aka Bye Bye Birdie)
Night Noodles!Owl
Since the beginning of 2020, some courses have had funding cut, while others, such as the following, have been discontinued completely (note that many of these courses are still in the process of being phased out):1 ◆ C03047 Master of Education (Research) ◆ C02050 Doctor of Education ◆ C03018 Master of Arts (Research) [Humanities and Social Sciences] ◆ C02034 Master of Arts (Research) [International Studies] ◆ C02019 Doctor of Philosophy [Communication] ◆ C02039 Doctor of Philosophy [International Studies] ◆ C02041 Doctor of Philosophy ◆ C02020 Doctor of Creative Arts ◆ C03044 Master of Creative Arts (Research) ◆ C04298 Master of Digital Information Management ◆ C07125 Graduate Diploma in Information Management ◆ C09082 Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of Education ◆ C04307 Master of Education (Learning and Leadership) ◆ C11255 Graduate Certificate in Education (Learning and Leadership) ◆ C10264 Bachelor of Global Studies ◆ C10415 Bachelor of Languages and Cultures ◆ C11208 Graduate Certificate in Executive Business Administration ◆ C10235 Bachelor of Accounting ◆ C11215 Graduate Certificate in Public Leadership and Management ◆ C11194 Graduate Certificate in Paediatric Nursing ◆ C11195 Graduate Certificate in Clinical Teaching ◆ C11196 Graduate Certificate in Neonatal Nursing ◆ C11201 Graduate Certificate in Acute Care Nursing ◆ C11259 Graduate Certificate in Human Fertility and Assisted Reproduction ◆ C11116 Graduate Certificate in Perioperative Nursing ◆ C11117 Graduate Certificate in Anaesthetics and Recovery Room Nursing ◆ C11118 Graduate Certificate in Critical Care Nursing Faculty of ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES BUSINESS SCHOOL Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building Faculty of Health LIGHTTHEOFDYINGTHE 28
The reasons for phasing out these courses vary from “lack of demand”, to a “change in direction from the clinical partner” to other degrees “replacing” these, especially in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. This is only a few of the areas of our university that have seen funding cuts – from faculties to amenities, it is expected that cuts will continue. But hey, there has also been funding allocated towards other areas of the university — like a snazzy robot in the library!REFERENCESFacultyofEngineering and Information Technology ◆ C11200 Graduate Certificate in Child and Family Health Nursing ◆ C11192 Graduate Certificate in Information Technology Project Management ◆ C10344 Bachelor of Primary Health Care ◆ C20058 Diploma of Primary Health Care ◆ C20057 Advanced Diploma in Primary Health Care ◆ C04140 Master of Health Services Management ◆ C04246 Master of Advanced Health Services Management ◆ C07048 Graduate Diploma in Health Services Management ◆ C11107 Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management ◆ C04161 Master of Business and Technology ◆ C06060 Graduate Diploma in Business and Technology ◆ C11138 Graduate Certificate in Business and Technology ◆ C04224 Master of Science in Internetworking (Extension) ◆ C04160 Master of Science in Internetworking ◆ C07080 Graduate Diploma in Internetworking ◆ C11145 Graduate Certificate in Internetworking 1: Minutes of Academic Board LIGHTTHEOFDYINGTHE 29
y j SALARIES
j
c LIGHTTHEOFDYINGTHE 32
WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT 34
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? To put it simply, it means that in 2022, American women have fewer rights than their mothers did in 1973. As a result of Dobbs and the abolition of the right to abortion, individual states have from Aston Brown
Photographs
WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT 35
by another decision in the Supreme Court. For the right to an abortion to become an absolute right — that is, safe from future Court decisions — it would need to be codified into federal law, which has not yet been passed successfully. Consequently, the future of the Roe v. Wade precedent and the right to abortion rested in the hands of a conservative Supreme Court operating in an increasing polarised political environment.
DOBBS V. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANISATION Fast forward 49 years, and the Supreme Court heard the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organisation. The case was a challenge to a ban introduced by Mississippi that made abor tion illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Although lower courts upheld that the ban was unconsti tutional and violated the precedent in Roe, the state of Mississippi appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. Upon hearing the case, the Court upheld Mississippi’s ban and by doing so, destroyed the protections afforded to women under Roe v. Wade by removing the constitution al right to abortion. More importantly, the Court gave no regard to instances of r*pe and incest which could result in unwanted, harmful preg nancies. The case of Dobbs marks the first time in US history the Supreme Court has ever ruled to remove a person’s fundamental right.
WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT 36
WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT 37
WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT 38
WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT 39
WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT 40
W e h a d o v e r 5 0 0 s t u d e n t e n g a g e m e n t s w i t h o u r f r e e a d v o c a c y s e r v i c e CALL US ON (02) 9514 1155 NEED HELP? A u t u m n S e s s i o n
CHASING Since 1970, the Earth’s surface temperature has risen faster than any other 50-year period over the last 2,000 years. Since 1900, global sea levels have risen faster than in any century in the previous 3,000 years. In 2019, atmospheric CO2 concentrations were high er than any point in the last two million years. In 2020, there was no detectable decrease in the CO2 growth rate. As it stands, the comfortable habitability of our Earth will dissipate by 2050 unless governments take drastic action to prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5°C.1 So, what are our leaders doing about it, and where do we come in?
TITLESECTIONINSERT 42 WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT
CW: Climate anxiety by Ashley Sullivan
is a frontrunner in failing to take climate action at state and international levels. The gross insufficiency of the Morrison Government to work towards net zero emissions landed us the bottom rung on the Climate Change Performance Index for Climate Policy. 2
The knowledge that climate change will cause irreversible damage and breed unlivable environmental conditions if not addressed by serious slashes to global emissions is not a comforting thought for most. A global study conduct ed by the University of Bath found that three-quarters of Australians aged 16–25 were frightened for the future, with 40% expressing hesitancy to have children due to climate change.6 With far too few decision-makers taking action to prevent the climate crisis, the fight for the protection of the future has largely fallen within the hands of today’s youth. Bearing the brunt of sparking public debate and raising awareness, young climate activists are leading the way in the campaign for environmental empowerment in the face of governmental negligence. After all, the biggest climate change strike in Australia’s history was led by school children.7 Youth organisations like the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network, and Australian Student Environment Network are building the movement for climate justice, yet protest activ ities have grown harder to organise as stricter laws attempt to curb demonstrations. On April 1, the NSW parliament passed the Roads and Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill 2022, which attracts severe penalties of up to two years in jail for protestors who block public roads, rail lines, tunnels, bridges, and industrial estates.8 Similar anti-protest laws disproportionately criminalising activists are currently before parliament in Victoria and Tasmania. After all, is it really surprising that a court system which declared that the Australian government does not have a duty of care to protect young people from climate change harm has no qualms about restricting the rights of climate protestors?
From withdrawing funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to approving the Adani coal mine, it’s safe to say that reaching Australia’s 2030 emission reduction target of a 26–28% decrease was a low priority.
Established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement is an international treaty that guides nations to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Although 193 parties have entered the Paris Agreement, thus com mitting to limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C, the appearance of a united front against climate change falls short at the hands of apathetic leaders, inconsistent policies, and unfulfilled Unfortunately,pledges.Australia
Currently, 2022 marks Sydney’s wettest year to date. NSW has experienced widespread flooding for the fourth time in less than two years. Riverine flooding poses the most significant risk to driving uninsurable homes. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) predicts that continued climate inaction within Australia will lead to increased frequencies of hotter days, rising sea levels, frequent extreme rainfall events, and declining snow depths.3 Basically, without systemic overhaul, the future will look much like a natural disaster movie that occurs incrementally over generations. However, faint hope is on the horizon as the Albanese government recently announced new climate targets to reduce Australia’s emissions by 43% by 2030.4 While this target is consistent with a 2.0°C reduction, a considerable improvement from the Coalition’s target of a 26–28% reduction, the Labor party’s revised commitment to emission cuts continues to fall short of the Paris Agree ment’s goal of 1.5°C.5 As one of the world’s highest carbon emitters per capita, one can only wonder whether this decision represents a meaningful commitment towards a greener future or yet another unfulfilled political promise.
TITLESECTIONINSERT 43 WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT
AUSTRALIA’S CLIMATE AMBITIONS
PROGRESS THROUGH THE PEOPLE
TAKING ACTION In spite of the hurdles and the hope lessness, the fight for climate justice will continue to survive through active hope and hard work. As we demand action and accountability from our governments, politicians who push for renewable energy sources. demand drives the system, so, if you have the means, try your best to redirect your spending towards ethical consumerism and shop consciously. social media to call out industry leaders, your involvement in climate conversations helps amplify the movement. 1. Summary for Pol icymakers — Global Warming of 1.5 ºC 2. Climate PerformanceChangeIndex 3. Climate change in Australia 4. Climate change: Australia signs new carbon emissions target 5. How Analysispositionsthewarmingmuchwouldpartyclimateleadto? 6. peopledistresstochangeinactionGovernmentonclimatelinkedpsychologicalinyoung–newstudy 7. Biggest eStrikeWorkers350,000tralia’sMobilisationClimateinAusHistoryasStudents+#Climat 8. Australia: Climate Protesters’ Rights Violated TITLESECTIONINSERT 44 WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT
Although not Australia’s first prime minister to hold strong religious beliefs, Scott Morrison’s faith was integral to his political identity. His devotion to the Hillsong Church and its founder Brian Houston was known by the Australian public. After allegations involving Houston’s harassment of women surfaced earlier this year, Morrison claimed he had not been to Hillsong in 15 years despite being the guest of honour at a service in 2019.1 Similar to my experience with authority in high school, Morrison used his religious identity to present a virtuous image of himself to the public. He only backpedalled on these beliefs when the nature of religious authority was facing public scrutiny. Scott Morrison’s political aspirations were motivated by the belief that he was called on to lead this country by God. The former Liberal Party leader claimed to receive this message in the form of an eagle painting during his 2019 election campaign, in which he described his win as a “miracle”.2 Morrison honoured this idea throughout his time in office by constantly speaking about his faith in political addresses and attending events like the Australian Christian Churches conference in April 2021.
WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT 46
GOVERNMENTREALITYASSESSINGWORKERS:THEOFASECULAR by Elektra Politis CW: referenceshomophobia,Discrimination,sexual
RAGE
Anthony Albanese’s appointment as Prime Minister may be the catalyst for change as Labor’s new government seeks to abandon Scott Morrison’s focus on faith. This change will particularly impact young adults like myself who experienced a dismissive view of secularism while growing up in the religious school system.
MIRACLE
Australia is a secular country. But what does separation between church and state really mean for us in 2022?
His heavy focus on religion, support of Hillsong,and the presence of other controversies haveall led to Morrison’s current image as a primeminister who failed to maintain Australia’s secularvalues. Political and everyday decisions cannot bemade using the religious dogma of a religion, thataccording to the latest census data, is shrinking.Policy should be made using logical reasoningthat adheres to the Constitution and benefits themajority of Australians. A case that challenged the notion of a seculargovernment under Morrison’s leadership was theintroduction of the Religious Discrimination Bill2022. This polarising bill seeks to prohibit discrimination on the basis of an individual’s religiousbelief or activity in a variety of areas of public life.3If this bill is passed, it will significantly impactthe LGBTQIA+ community as it may limit theiropportunities for employment, education, andaccess to services based on their identity. Inparticular, it will provide religious schools withthe power to reject or discriminate againstLGBTQIA+ students, isolating them fromtheir peers and limiting their educationalopportunities.Asagraduate of a Catholic high school,this proposed law is deeply significant tome. Despite the nature of secularism, theseinstitutions are codependent on Australia’sparliament. State and federal governments fund around 70% of the annual costrequired for running the NSW Catholicschools sector, with parents and theschool community expected to fund theremainder.4 My experience as a student
taught me that religion informs authority. Thepresence of religious authority was reflected inthe practical expectations placed on students.I remember strict and often questionable rulesthat controlled how we could wear our uniforms and other elements of our appearancethat would contribute to a perfect public image.Unfortunately, this insistence on perfection hasnot entirely left my way of thinking. These practical restrictions also led to moreconcrete affirmations of belief, leaving studentswith no choice but to agree with what they werebeing told. We were once split into boys andgirls and were visited by a religious group whoinitially seemed to uplift and empower us aswomen. As the day went on, this group beganto express the importance of practising chastity and avoiding the contraceptive pill as theybelieved it was linked to cancer. Much like thenature of religious texts, this sharing of valuesdid not appear to be a light suggestion. Theywere intended as orders. Even though not allstaff members shared these intense beliefs,I fear that these restrictions would have beenfar more oppressive if we endured the effectsof the Religious Discrimination Bill. It is becauseof my experience in high school that I feel manyyoung adults have a complex and blurred per-ception of secularism, as their life in educationhas often been shaped by its rejection. This blurred perception may become clearer under the direction of our newly appointed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. He spoke in parliament in February 2022 as the opposition leader and warned that the Religious Discrimi nation Bill 2022 was designed to “drive us apart”.5 He described the proposed law as “flawed” and urged against stopping forms of religious discrimination if it is “at the expense of increasing discrimination against others”. This bill is currently waiting to be read in the Senate for the third time. During Albanese’s swearing-in as Australia’s 31st Prime Minister, he decided to perform an affirmation instead of a religious oath.6 He also did not mention Queen Elizabeth II, unlike his predecessor Scott Morrison’s declaration to “serve her”. This is only the second time a prime minister has stated an affirmation, with Julia Gillard being the first in 2010. Religion informing authority is a concept that continues to shape my view of decision-mak ing in this country. Scott Morrison’s leadership only further perpetuated this notion. Although it is still too early to determine how religion will influence Anthony Albanese’s political identity, concrete actions toward a more secular future are needed now more than ever to secure freedom and equality.
1. ‘Disappointed and shocked’: Scott Morrison distances himself from Hillsong pastor Brian Houston 2. It’s time to call it out: Scott Morrison doesn’t care about accountabilitysecular
6. Anthony Albanese Made No Reference To God Or The Queen When He Was Sworn In As Prime Minister
WORLDWONDERFULAWHAT 47
3. Religious Discrimination Bill 2022 4. School Funding FAQs 5. Anthony Albanese warns religious discrimi nation bill could ‘drive us apart’ as Labor pushes for amendments
The Environmental Action Group (EAG) is a collective that acts as a safe pocket for students to raise criticism and complaints about UTS. We work on fighting against diverse issues on campus and channeling frustration into action so we can make Fightingchange!against
Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) proved to be one of the Education Action Group’s biggest campaigns. During the golden era of UTS’s student activism, anti-VSU rallies were said to have gathered thousands of protesters, yet according to sources, priorities have not always aligned in the years following. When National Labor Students ran the UTS EAG, the collective was seen as a lackluster in its attempts to promote solid action in the fight for students’ education. There was an incident where NLS pushed attendees to enter a jumping castle instead of a mass rally and picket line at UTS. Institutional representation is an essential element of democracy. However, society has continually been ignorant of the youth’s voice. When young people are alienated or separated from political institutions, a crucial demographic cannot meaningfully contribute to discussions which will have consequences for their future. Student activism has always been an outlet for student voices. In the past, UTS was said to have been the centre of student activism in Sydney. Ever loaned a laptop for three days? You can thank the 2010 UTSSA for that. Our campus’s vibrant history of unionism is filled with occupations, police raids, protests, and rallies, yet this seems unheard of today. In recent years, the student voice has become significantly passive in the face of student issues. This isn’t to say that students don’t care, but spaces to vent and critique the university have transferred online — for example, the infamous Facebook page UTS Confessions. And although it may feel satisfying to unleash your feelings towards the university anonymously, the reality is that it is rare to see real change as a result. This increased shift online correlates to the impacts of COVID-19 on our university experience and engagement, with many students feeling isolated from their peers. The pandemic has also led to a general decrease in motivation, and among many young people, there is a strong sense of nihilism. For many students, this demotivation made it very hard to be involved in university life, particularly in student activism. It’s also important to remember that many of us haven’t had a ‘normal’ university experience, and don’t actually know what we may be missing out on as there isn’t anything for us to compare it to. On a more bureaucratic note, the bosses at UTS have continuously suppressed student activism and pushed the student union to the shadows. Many students don’t even know the UTS Students’ Association
by Cat Dohertyand Sara Chaturvedi
RECENT ACHIEVEMENTSEAG ACTIVISMOFTHEMEASURINGPOPULARITYSTUDENT RAGERAGE RAGE!RAGE, 48 EAG: E Education
RAGERAGERAGERAGERAGERAGE RAGE!RAGE, 49
If you’re interested in being involved in the EAG, follow our social media pages: Facebook: UTS Education Action Group Instagram: @uts.ed.action.group We hold regular organising meetings — keep an eye out on our Facebook for the meeting event pages!
current campaigns is to bring back in-person lectures from the grave that UTS has put them in. Other universities have revitalised face-to-face lectures after COVID-19 restrictions have eased, so why can’t we? The answer is frighteningly simple — with no actual insight into what students want, upper management has just decided they don’t like them anymore. The EAG won’t stand for this. We have been building a collective movement of students and staff to fight to bring in-person lectures back.
RAGE exists. As student-elected representatives, the UTSSA should be that voice for change. If that voice is silenced, it becomes very difficult for students to work collectively against issues that affect them. On a positive note, the large show of student support for Vertigo in the wake of it being defunded by management highlights the appetite for action among the student body. However, there still needs to be a widespread transformation on campus regarding how we as students work together to instrument change. To do this, we need to express our grievances not just on social media pages but through collective action and activism. Thankfully, there are ways to do this, and they start with the OneUTSSA!oftheEAG’s
GETTING INVOLVEDIN THE EAG
If you’re frustrated about long waits for assignment marks, inadequate feedback, shortened class lengths, and subjects that have been flipped online or cut entirely, massive job cuts and money-saving measures by UTS management is the answer. This has diminished the quality of our education, as your tutors and UTS staff are overworked and often in insecure jobs.
Another main campaign of the EAG is to stand in solidarity with UTS staff, as the timeless statement goes: Staff working conditions are student learning conditions. This involves potential industrial action from the UTS branch of the NTEU (the union for university workers). The EAG will be running a campaign to encourage students to support staff in the event of striking and not to cross the picket line (a.k.a, don’t scab, a.k.a, don’t go to class during a strike!). It is essential to support staff if you want to improve your university and learning experience!
In 2006, the fourth government of Prime Minister John Howard introduced Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) to Australia. VSU allowed Australian university students to dictate whether or not they joined their student union — a drastic change from Universal Student Unionism (USU), which had been a feature of Australian universities prior. USU required all students to pay a union fee as part of their university enrolment; VSU allowed students to decide whether they would join the union. The Liberal Party’s justification for introducing VSU rested primarily on the idea that students shouldn’t be forced to pay fees which they can’t afford and which don’t satisfy their interests. As Education Minister Brendon Nelson maintained: “This is the 21st Century. It’s time students in this country, many of whom come from struggling families, are given the choice as to whether they will part with $500 or $600 to support students’ political representation and services on campus.”
However, the NUS’s current campaign against the Student Services and Amenities (SSAF) is nothing new. If anything, it’s the product of a sentiment that first formed 17 years ago, before the SSAF was even conceived. Allow me to explain.
With staff strikes and fee hikes already occupying the pages of student newspapers around the country, there is no better time for the National Union of Students (NUS) to bring the issue of student union funding to the fore. “There’s an awareness around the sector that something’s got to give,” says NUS President Georgie Beattie. “Student unions and student representation around the country is dying, and it needs to change.” Since its inception in 1987, the NUS has fought for students’ right to welfare and a high-quality education. Now, they’re fighting for their right to fight.
A bit rich coming from the party which increased humanities degree enrolment fees by 113% just fourteen years later. Anyway, in his speech to the House of Representatives, Nelson maintained that he was confident university life would continue to flourish and that students would “continue to join and support political, cultural, sporting and other organisations.” Alas, he was wrong. Multiple student representation and student life organisations soon reported a mammoth loss of amenities, services, and membership fees. Nationwide data suggests that these services collectively lost as much as $166 million, which makes sense given that most students don’t proactively pay university fees unless they’re asked to.1 The unfortunate fact of the matter is: students, regardless of whether or not they are pro-union, benefit from the services that student unions provide. A student who uses essential food services provided by their union (think along the lines of Blue Bird Brekkie or Night Owl Noodles) is unlikely to know that these services exist because of their union, and is thus unlikely to pay their union fees if they aren’t
NUS vs. THE SSAF by Joseph Hathaway-wilson
RAGE!RAGE, 50
The laws around student union fees didn’t change until several years Universal Student Unionism (USU) and Compulsory Student Unionism (CSU) are the same thing! CSU was a term invented and weaponised by the Liberal Party in order to create stigma around Australian student unions (c. 2005).
SSAF: The Histories
While the union being defunded may sound like someone else’s problem, it is a problem which has wide-ranging implications, most of which affect all students in some way or another. These implications include: access to legal aid, access to academic support, the funding of essential food services, the funding of student media, the funding of counselling services, and more.
1. By spreading awareness among Australian students around what SSAF is and what it is spent on (this specific initiative has been pursued relentlessly by the UTSSA. You may have seen their infographics taped to noticeboards and newsstands around campus).
2. By coupling the SSAF campaign with other activist initiatives. While students may be unaware of the ramifications of SSAF legislation, many of us are already riled up about climate inaction, fee hikes, and the funding of their student publication (hee-hee). At this present moment, however, most students are unaware of how these initiatives are enabled by their student union, and thus compounded by the framework of SSAF.
Under the government of Julia Gillard in 2012, Australia was introduced to the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF). In summary, SSAF was a half-hearted lifeline for Australia’s student unions. While it didn’t abolish VSU, it did require university students to pay a fee that supported student unionism to some degree.
However, instead of going to the student union, SSAF money was handed over to university administrators (a.k.a. the senior executive/ the university leadership team/management), who dictated how that money was spent. While SSAF money must be spent on nonacademic student services and amenities, it does not have to be put towards the student union. In fact, at UTS in 2021, only 12% of the $10.2 million accumulated through SSAF was put towards the UTS Students’ Association (UTSSA). The rest of it went to ActivateUTS, sport, and fitness While SSAF may be an improvement from the John Howard days, the lack of USU in the Australian university sector is still hugely detrimental to student unionism and activism. As NUS Education Officer Luc Velez states: “There isn’t this huge groundswell of angry students currently waiting to storm parliament so that they can have better student union structures.” Indeed, it would seem most students aren’t even aware of their student union’s existence, even if they are benefiting from it. So, why now? With the election of the Albanese government in 2022, Australian student unions are seizing the chance to return to a state of autonomy. However, the NUS’s campaign against SSAF is not just a reaction to the newly formed Labor government. Rather, it is a call to arms against the exploitation of COVID-19 (*sigh* why has it always gotta be like this?). During Australia’s nine years of Liberal-National governance, between 2013 and 2022, universities were more or less safe from being called out for blindspotting their student unions. Compounding this, the COVID-19 pandemic provided the perfect opportunity for universities to snatch student dollars away from student representatives (no, I’m not being a raging leftist, the data shows it). Documents obtained from the UTSSA reveal how, between 2019 and 2020, SSAF money at UTS decreased by 1.42% (from $10,359,932 to $10,212,749), and yet funding of the UTSSA decreased by a whole 19.49% (from $1,519,000 to $1,223,000), and then again by another 3.52% between 2020 and 2021, during which time SSAF revenue actually increased by 0.41%. Of the many services funded by SSAF, the UTSSA took on the greatest proportional decrease in funding between 2020 and 2021. Local community radio station, 2SER, copped the heaviest blow, with its funding being decreased by 55%. As dire as the situation at UTS is, the going gets tougher at other universities around Australia. At La Trobe University in Melbourne, a progressive change in governance of the La Trobe Student Union saw its funding decreased from $2.8m in 2020 to $0.275m in 2021. At the University of New South Wales, the SRC is subordinate to ‘Arc @ UNSW’, an apolitical board-led organisation (similar to ActivateUTS), which, according to Velez, “is run as a company, not as a union.”
3.By talking with the people in power. Unlike most student unions, the NUS has direct access to federal MPs with the power to move and pass national legislation. With a new Labor government now in power, this connection could prove invaluable.
51
The University of Adelaide, meanwhile, has implemented a structure similar to UNSW’s, in which the Adelaide University Union (AUU; equivalent to Arc or ActivateUTS) is run by Liberal Party associates, while the SRC — a student-led organisation subordinate to the AUU — is led by a President from far-left political organisation, Socialist Alternative. This has resulted in the complete defunding of the University of Adelaide SRC. For the NUS, the plan to improve student union funding is hindered by the fact that students, for the most part, are blissfully unaware of current SSAF legislation or the ramifications that it has on student life (unless, of course, those students are diligent and informed readers of Vertigo). Their plan of attack has been divided into three separate approaches: The plan of attack
Currently, it is up to over one million Australian university students to raise their voice around the issue. You can sign the NUS’s petition to return funding to student unions using the QR code below, and keep up to date by following them on social media platforms. by SSAF,
“[USU] is quite a politically-weighted term,” Velez says. “Because it was such a heated debate during John Howard’s era, I don’t think there are many politicians who want to put their name to that fight again.”
Run by OneStudentsopportunity (to seize everything you’ve ever wanted) footnote: 1 Higher education report 2008 RAGE!RAGE, 52
Powered
They said change in government means that it is looking likely that new laws around SSAF could be passed in the coming months or years before 2025. Speaking to Vertigo, NUS President Georgie Beattie and Education Officer Luc Velez maintained that they were confident of the Albanese government passing legislation on the matter. The challenge, they say, will be a matter of moulding said legislation to what the NUS and Australian students need, and not a watered down variation of demands.
“It’s also not just about how much funding is going to the student unions, but also what unions the funding is going to, and who con trols those unions.”
NAMESECTION H e l p e d o v e r 2 5 0 s t u d e n t s w i t h p e e r t u t o r i n g www.utsstudentsassociation.org.au /services peer tutoring LEARN MORE A u t u m n S e s s i o n
In moments where girlfriends like Maddy and Cassie manage to stay out of each other’s hair, their friendship is mediated by “girl talk” with men at the centre, or commodity consumption, where quality time entails weekend shopping and mid-week trips to the spa. I would be lying if I told you I’m not dis appointed about Euphoria mostly failing the Bechdel Test (Rue talking to her mother about drug use is probably one of the only exceptions, but then again, this test isn’t even close to being a good indicator of female representation on-screen) — this is a show that has been praised as “cutting-edge” and a “creative triumph”, yet it wasn’t creative enough to serve more than stunted dialogue between its women.1 Mind you, to pass the Bechdel Test, you only need to have two women on your show, they have to hold a conversation with one another, and
In Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton’s best friend protects her self-interests by publicising Eloise’s scandalous secrets. In Emily in Paris, Emily has her eyes set on her friend’s boyfriend of five years despite the abundance of single men walking the streets of France. If we’re talking specifics, this friend, Camille, is the sweet girl who unhesitatingly took Emily under her wing when she was intimi dated and lost in the city. We see their friendship properly sour in season two when Camille finds out that Emily was seeing Gabriel in secret (again).
PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS, REVIEWSMOVIE& 54
Spoilers for CW: Sexual assault, drug addiction, misogyny by Adeline Chai This is evident in Netflix’s releases this year.
To this, Professor Lisa French, Dean of the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, says that conflict within a narrative arc can happen outside an on-screen relationship, without the need for rivalry or jealousy. “I think that’s the kind of argument that male gatekeepers make to say, ‘Your stories are not interesting enough’,” she said. Hear Hear! Men have had many opportunities to see themselves and their mates through an ample selection of movies. Think Superbad (2007), Dumb and Dumber (1994), The Hangover (2009), and quite literally, I Love You, Man (2009). After all, “bromantic comedy” is a genre of its own. However, in films that feature female friendships, conflict-fuelled and reductive portrayals of women are standard fare.
PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS,REVIEWSMOVIE& 55
All of this couldn’t be further from the truth. Firstly, women do like each other. Surprise! Professor Shelley Taylor from the University of California found that instead of resorting to the automatic fight or flight response like most men, women who are stressed calm themselves by bonding with other women. 2 Sure, talking about boys and shopping trips is often part of the parcel of being in a female friend ship. However, if people think that girls have nothing more to bond over than just boys, fashion, or gossip, they’re completely misguided.
Love, as I know it, is being able to fully accept yourself because you are confident that the other person would embrace and encourage it. While I clamour for films to feature more of these mundane but formative moments, it appears that the intricacies of these friendships are not palatable to everyone. An acquaintance said incredulously, “The screen is dominated by exciting things. Ordinary female friendships lack drama, and I’m not sure we need more accurate portrayals because they lack action.”
they have to talk about something other than a man. But I can sympathise with how difficult this might be because, of course, women don’t have much to say to each other unless they’re pining for the same man.
The friendship of Maeve and Aimee from Sex Education is a much-needed exception. Despite their differences, they had discussions about their dreams, privileges, and feminism — as you would with your best friend. They have asked for and received relationship advice, but their conversations did not revolve around men.
For me, romantic love has never been the pinnacle. Everything I’ve learnt about love has come from being around the most incredible women: after a long week or two at uni, I find myself most looking forward to a meal with Xin. When my family was going through a rough patch, Taz sat quietly with me in a park as I uncontrollably cried for three hours. Believe me when I say Jo, my longest relationship to date (she’s been my best friend for 17 years now!) has seen and heard the worst of me, but she’s always been the first person to let me live all of it down. Through them, I know that love isn’t supposed to be disappointing or painful — it isn’t draining and it certainly doesn’t give up on you.
Moreover, the beauty of their sisterhood showed itself in Maeve’s support of Aimee’s recovery from an incident of sexual assault. Maeve accompanied Aimee to lodge a police report on her birthday and travelled to school with her every day as Aimee became terrified of catching the bus. And (get this!) even though there was an underlying tension between Ola and Maeve because of their shared interest in Otis, them coming together to support Aimee shows that there are indeed many things in a girl’s life that are more important than a boy.
Sex Education, a British teen comedy made by Laurie Dunn for Netflix, is anything but conventional — after all, it is unapologetically premised on sex positivity and is doing a better job at sex-ed than most schools nowadays (all while giving a great representation of female friendships/coexistence). Perhaps all of the reviews terming it to be Netflix’s best show will send a clear message to Hollywood that there is a general appetite among audiences for diverse and inclusive Sadly,representation.noteveryone has experienced such positive and uplifting friendships. I know that toxic on-screen female friendships are sometimes representative of one’s real-life experiences — I too have been hurt by a friend or felt jealous of one. However, Hollywood’s frenemy trope is munications and New Media at the National Universi ty of Singapore, says films like Boyz n the Hood (1991) drive the narrative that, unlike women, men have strong bonds with each other at their core. “If men have falling outs with each other, it isn’t framed in the same way. It’ll be around a business deal, or even if it is around a woman, they’re posi tioned as having no other choice, and it being quite a rational decision,” she said. Just like other friendships, female friendships have their highs and lows and are certainly not one-dimensional. Hence, this should be replicated in stories about female friendships. I want to see women inspiring and uplift ing each other to achieve their dreams on-screen. I want directors to capture the steadiness that your girlfriends can and will assure you amid big life decisions. I want to see them have uncomfortable conversations when one friend inevitably crosses a bound ary or hurts another. But I want to see them work through it as many of us do without resorting to pettiness and drama. My friend agrees in his reply to my rant about Euphoria: “If I had a daughter, I wouldn’t want her exposed to a lot of the shit that Hollywood pumps out and for her to think that it’s normal behaviour.” Me neither.
2.
PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS, REVIEWSMOVIE& 56
Illustrations
1. ‘Euphoria’ Is the Wokest Show to Fail the Bechdel Test Biobehavioral Responses to Stress in Females: Tend-andBefriend, Not Fight-or-Flight byJess Prowse
W e h a d o v e r 5 0 0 s t u d e n t e n g a g e m e n t s w i t h o u r f r e e a d v o c a c y s e r v i c e CALL US ON (02) 9514 1155 NEED HELP? A u t u m n S e s s i o n
Sour sour sour sour I pray and pray for the next bite In the mirror I’ve grown so large I’m incapable of any fight. You, an indulgence I cannot afford Your true world swings the fatal blow Who do I pray to? Who do I pray for? And what will I eat when you go? by Eleni Carydis
Smorgasbord
58 PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS, REVIEWSMOVIE&
You told me there is one that’s sweet A personalised hay stack Yet still I chew, still I eat. A smorgasbord in front of me To me it looked an open book, But no ingredients were listed down and You did not know how to cook. I lounge amidst grapes overhung Though my favourite foods are missing here It fills me not, the food is bland A natural condiment; a tear.
I eat a plate of sour strawberries
You urge me there is nothing wrong And plate by plate I am assured, My stomach turns, it feels unwell Food is not something to be endured.
Many think of me as a heart-wrenching monster that replaces all the good parts of life with darkness. A painful ache that brings your memories and failures to the surface, demanding growth and recovery. I wish they understood that I mean well. It’s true; I cling to the most intimate part of your soul to follow any loss, heartbreak, or unfulfilled desire. I purge the anguished chaos that’s too difficult to deal with in the daylight. I provide strength to extinguish the storm of chaos and heal the mental wounds that deprive you of really living. I visit everyone, regardless of age, race, or gender. I’m the tears that pool around your eyes when you think of the last time you heard a loved one’s laugh. The memories of an inside joke with an old friendship that turned toxic. The sting when you hear of someone studying the course you were rejected by. The wishes for a life where you weren’t constantly worried about the future. But here’s the thing — I am not the villain. I do not wish to be the thief of your joyous memories and desires. I only seem like the villain because I demand resilience during weakness, confronting you with unsolicited distress until you gain the strength to uninvite the pain. You don’t have to understand me. You don’t even have to like me. But you must bear with me while I mould you into a stronger version of yourself. I can’t apologise for the hurt attached to my arrival, but sometimes I wish everyone would treat me the way they treat Hope. Hope is greeted with so much positivity. I know Hope is the light-hearted option between the two of us, but it is deceitful. It’ll blind you with optimism. Hope comes with contingencies. A gamble of things working out. And when things fall apart, it flees, forcing me to clean up its mess, crushing you in the process. In this transitory world, you will never need to be afraid of my arrival. When I come to visit, you should not feel upset. Because I’ll sit with you. I’ll sit with you for as long as you need. I will keep you in my melancholy embrace, caressing you with soothing memories that will bring pain before delivering strength. I only hurt you to build you. But I will always be there, a steady companion, a shoulder to cry not on but with. Accompanying you on wyour journey to appreciate life once again.
Strength
Best, All the Sorrow you’ve ever felt before.
Strength
CW: Mental ill-health
Strength
Strength
Strength
Strength
Strength
Strength
Strength
59 PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS,REVIEWSMOVIE&
Strength
Strength
Strength
Strength
Strength
Strength
Strength in Sorrow by Ayesha Baig
Strength in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow in Sorrow
Strength
Strength
The days are much shorter. The darkness lasts much longer.
Violent Winters.
60 PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS, REVIEWSMOVIE&
The feeling of warmth and vulnerability allows my naive body To feel protected underneath the baggy clothing.
The scent of oranges and lemons drives my taste buds wild. The scent of raw, warm flesh drives their taste buds wild.
Poetry Collection by Gokce Caliskan
It’s a well-known fact that these wolves’ senses Heighten from our goosebumped skin. “If your skin is covered, You are no longer bait.” This is an underestimate of their imagination. It is winter; they salivate at the slightest temptation of recalling you. It is winter, and for the wolves, everything is temptation.
Even if I can’t see the flood of memories, Washing itself onshore, The cool breeze allows me to recollect them. Their presence is alive with the rain. Sometimes we are lucky, and they spare us With lewd howls of the wolves. Their calls ring in my ears for weeks.
61 PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS,REVIEWSMOVIE&
Sultry Summer.
The days are much longer. Their patience is shorter. They are tired of watching us create memories. And they are ready for a fight. When the sun sets, they reek of terrifying depravity Yet are quick to growl in denial. Their stares burn my skin There is no sunscreen to protect me from their damage. Leaving third-degree burns on my shoulders as if they forgot what sunkissed meant. We plan escape routes in our minds as we walk past them. Dialogues carved into my mind for a quick response. “I’m waiting for my brother.” “My boyfriend should be here soon.” “My dad is on his way.” These wolves are more likely to spare me when I’m the property of another.
How can they still have time to kill? Us girls are time. Precious but treated at their disposal. Sometimes we are lucky, and they leave it to their imagination. It is summer, and they can’t handle our temptation. It is summer, and for the wolves, Everything is a temptation.
CW: Abuse, violence
YouButIYouYoubeatme,Iflinched.hurtme,butexclaimedthatitwaslove.enjoyedlookingatyourartworks,fromdisgustIcoveredthemirrorsintheroom.wereanartistexpressingyouremotionson my canvas.
The When you touched me, I felt at home. It felt like eight hours of sleep, With the welcome of a warm dream. You made me feel like a snug space, After a stroll in the snow. You are my peace. The heated hugs you captured me with never felt out of place.Even when you grabbed my upper arm And yanked me into your car. You allowed bruises to blossom, On my pale ghostly skin. Drowning me in the blue until my cheeks matched the sky. You allowed cuts and scratches,To carve their way into their new home.All rent-free because you loved helping others.Throwing me into a field of roses,Until the thorns made my blood run in streams.
artof memories 62 PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS, REVIEWSMOVIE&
63 PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS,REVIEWSMOVIE&
There were at least ten of them huddled there, planted by our father’s father back when he was still hungry. round fruit in both hands pulling and pulling hair tangling in the lowest branches pulling and pulling the stems unripe unyielding still green still yellow theysnap roll over our fallen shoulders. We’d toss them towards the lump of bricks with a metal shaft they told us was once a barbeque but had become what tetanus shots are for. rusted sharp edges time to slice juice bleeding down reddened metal sawing spitting flecks of zest sunlit and disappearing the peel the flesh still green still yellow
The halves and slices tumbled down and blacken in remains of coal, left to the insects and rot. No one was eating them anyway.
by Durr-e-’Adan Haque
64 PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS, REVIEWSMOVIE&
Orange trees
the
65 PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS,REVIEWSMOVIE&
we’re lost as soon as the car doors slam picking our way between the fields we thought we’d reach our mothers’ mother before it started but the clouds begin to empty and we’re drowning in the sea of rice houses hover above the fields on stilts that seem too weak but we’re not sure which one is hers the path’s become a stream of mud and those cheap sandals we bought in Meninjau seem desperate to burrow into it we’ve forgotten who decided to leave her out here miles of rain we’ve no choice but to turn back or cross the river a river so milky brown we can’t tell how deep how safe how dangerousperhaps it was she who decided eventually we find a dip and roll up our jeans (not far enough) the water rushes round our thighs and it’s better to cut our feet on the rocks at the bottom than let our shoes pull us under on the other side there’s a man we don’t recognise he says nothing when the water reaches our waists we’re grateful she can’t remember what she survived somewhere floating about this sea of green turned grey and brown with blue she lives suspended rain by Durr-e-’Adan Haque
H e l p e d m o r e t h a n 1 0 0 s t u d e n t s s o l v e t h e i r l e g a l p r o b l e m s CALL US ON (02) 9514 1155 NEED HELP? A u t u m n S e s s i o n
PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS,REVIEWSMOVIE& 67
Directions to make a By Siena Zadro H-fold zine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cut around the perimeter of the previous page Fold the page into four sections Cut along thedashed line in thecenter Fold in half along longest side Fold the two ends in on each other as shown Bring the cover page to the front and enjoy!
NAMESECTION H e l p e d o v e r 2 5 0 s t u d e n t s w i t h p e e r t u t o r i n g www.utsstudentsassociation.org.au /services peer-tutoring LEARN MORE A u t u m n S e s s i o n
SEE HOW SUPERMAN DEALS WITH THE GREEDY HANDS OF LEX LUTHOR! written and illustrated by andy lee 70 PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS, REVIEWSMOVIE&
Recently we’ve been blessed with mainstream media that flips the Superman stereotype on its head with shows like The Boys and Invincible , where a Superman-like figure is the ultimate antagonist. While I enjoy these shows, this form of parody is becoming more redundant as Superman becomes buried in history. Everyone goes through a ‘Superman is boring’ phase, but part of growing up is realising that Clark Kent’s effort to consistently do the right thing with his powers is a quality to admire. The best Superman stories are never about the villains he fights. Instead, his most famous tales examine how a couple from a farm taught a child not to think, “This is what I wanted”, but to reflect, “I could’ve done more”.
Kryptonite isn’t Superman’s Kryptonite. Superman’s one true weakness is his love for humanity, which was instilled in him as a child. On the dying planet of Krypton, his parents delivered their baby to Earth out of love for their child. He was raised and loved unconditionally by a humble couple that encompassed kindness and compassion. While he may grow up to fight giant alien robots across the galaxy, he doesn’t forget to catch up with the motherly waitress from his hometown’s local diner. He, inspired by his adoptive parents, chooses to love Earth unconditionally. In turn, his love interest, Lois Lane, embodies the resilience needed to survive the chaotic world around us, and the fight for truth that exists at any level of society. In contrast, Lex Luthor offers insight into the corruptive power of wealth and the struggle to surpass a god through man-made efforts.
No one ever calls Superman cool. I wonder why? Maybe it’s because he hasn’t been given a solo hundred million dollar budget movie in the past decade that’s been universally loved. Maybe it’s because he is so powerful to the point where it would be a simple breeze (literally) to stop a bunch of criminals from robbing a bank. Or maybe it’s because we’re so used to seeing real-world examples of powerful people doing nothing to help make this world a better place. I think it’s disappointing that most of the world dismisses Superman as a character because he’s “unrealistic”, “unrelatable”, or “outdated” from an era when people believed in fairytales. It sucks that the idea that someone who uses power for good is “boring”. Suddenly, a billionaire with psychological trauma who dresses like a bat is considered more resonant than an immigrant trying to find his place in the world. There are only so many human problems you can escape from through superpowers. Despite Superman’s ability to break the supersonic barrier, Clark Kent is still late for work.
While Superman can save twenty people from a burning building in a matter of minutes, Clark Kent continues to live in the shadow of his father’s fatal heart attack.
71 PHOTOGRAPHSPOEMS,REVIEWSMOVIE&
In Conversation with
Joseph Hathaway-Wilson of Vertigo sits down with Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, to discuss staff cuts, student unions, and your favourite student publication.
M: Student media is crucial not only for our universities, but more broadly, for democracies. Student-run publications have a strong history of advocacy on a huge range of social issues. They hold institutions accountable, especially by amplifying the voices of young people, and there are not many avenues for young people to contribute to public debate like student publications. Vertigo is also a platform for so many UTS students to get their first publishing opportunity, and it’s critical for them to build their experience as writers and go potentially into careers in publishing and writing.
V: On June 1 you wrote to UTS Vice-Chancel lor Andrew Parfitt urging him to reinstate full funding for UTS Vertigo. Why do you believe it is vital that student media is cultivated not only by students but by university management themselves?
ALWAYSFRIENDSHIP,IN 72
“Vertigo is representative of a strong culture of design and media excellence that UTS is known for, so any cuts to a publication like this will impact that.”
FaruqiMehreenSenator
V: One other fallout of the pandemic is the increased focus on online learning. What’s your stance on the digitalisation of learning at Australian universities?
M: When I was teaching at university, I was teaching face-to-face and online. My experience was that to really do justice to online teaching, you need to support the teachers, and you need to provide really good resources to students. It’s not about recording a lecture and then using it over and over for years to come. I fear universities see this opportunity as a cost-cutting exercise when it is the exact opposite. I agree that there should be an option for online learning as it has become much more accessible for so many students. But also, so many students want the in-person experience of university. So many students are feeling isolated and robbed of their in-person experience — some of the students I know have deferred their studies due to being unable to cope with online learning systems. So, it is important to consider the impact this has on students and on lecturers who also must undertake increased teaching hours and are feeling stressed. [Online learning] can only work when there are resources, funding, and support provided.
V: I think it’s an important point you raise about transparency. In an interview with Vertigo earlier this year, Vice-Chancellor Andrew Parfitt justified the high rates of casualisation at UTS by pointing to workforce diversity and saying that a casual contract is largely beneficial, which I found interesting given how many of our casual tutors are having to take on the workload of permanent staff.
V: Australian student unions are financed by the Student Services and Amenities Fee at the discretion of senior university executives. As the Greens spokesperson for Education, what can be done from both a parliamentary and grassroots standpoint to strengthen the independence of student unions in Australia?
M: Absolutely, and on that argument of “people want to have flexibility at work” — it’s not actually the workers that have the flexibility in that situation; it’s the employer who has the flexibility to hire and fire workers whenever they want to. Casual staff have no rights to paid leave and a vast majority want to have security of employment. The amount of money that casual staff are paid for marking is so imbalanced with the amount of time that they spend marking. We must abolish piece rates as well.
M: Before being a politician, I was an academic in a university for quite some time, and I did see, very sadly, universities becoming corporatised and operating as businesses. It happened with funding cuts from the government, but it was also a misguided imperative of efficiency and productivity that saw a huge rise in insecure and casual work. We know now, with enquiries into systemic wage theft in a large number of universities, how inextricably linked wage theft is with casualisation. It’s heartwrenching, because those academics and those researchers really can’t plan for a viable future or even plan for their life. It also has flow-on effects on how universities operate and how learning and teaching is done. I guess one of the biggest fallouts of this casualisation is the impact it has on women. We know that casual workers and particularly women — who are overrepresented as casuals — are really bearing the brunt of what I would call exploitation and wage theft as well.
M: Voluntary Student Unionism was such a step backwards during the Howard government in terms of how students democratically function on campuses. A decade and a half later, we really are seeing the impacts of that in a lack of representation of student voices, less money for clubs and societies, and less money for student life. Student unions do such an incredible job despite these losses, and they keep pushing forward to improve things on campus. The Greens are in full support of the independence of student unions and see it as essential that the Student Services and Amenities Fee is allocated democratically. These funds should be increased, they should be dedicated to student services, and most importantly, they should be controlled and distributed democratically by students.
V: One of the largest fallouts of the pandemic on Australian universities has been the overwhelming casualisation of staff. What is currently being done or can be done by the government to attain greater job security and proper wages for university staff?
ALWAYSFRIENDSHIP,IN 73
Currently, the government is taking little to no action to ensure that staff have secure and safe jobs. What we want is clear reporting requirements of employment statistics, which means headcounts of fixed-term and casual staff, so the public knows exactly what is going on in universities. There should be requirements for universities to set publicly available targets for increasing permanent and secure employment. There should also be improved rights of entry for unions in universities so they can intervene wherever needed.
M: Right now, from the perspective of staff, it is really important to address the issues of casualisation and wage theft at universities. From the perspective of students, it is crucial that we push forward with reducing the burden of debt. The cost of living, for young people especially, is massive. We need to look at how we can reduce that burden — by wiping student debt or by using any other strategy which makes life easier for students. We had free university and TAFE once, and there are many people sitting in parliament who benefited from that. I see absolutely no reason why schools are free, but universities somehow aren’t. It’s all part of the parcel of life-long education, from early learning through to schools through to universities and TAFE — it’s a basic human right. “We know that Australia has such a high cost of living, so we must ensure that international students have equal access to essential facilities and services.”
V: How do you believe Australian universities can better support international students who have been locked out or severely disadvantaged by the pandemic?
International students should have access to safe and affordable housing while they are studying here, and they should have access to travel concession cards and health services — that is the bare minimum that we should be doing.
ALWAYSFRIENDSHIP,IN 74
M: The university of the future, in my perspective, is a place where students flourish and staff have the security and the funds to do research, learning, and teaching of the highest quality. The university of the future is a place where higher education is built on the notion of democracy and equity. In terms of what I want to push forward, we need to look at reversing the uni fee hikes and funding cuts of what I call a very shitty Job-ready Graduates Package. Our universities are also in desperate need of massive new investments in teaching, learning, and research, and that’s something which I’m very keen on pushing the new government for. The university of the future needs an overhaul of university governance, because only by radically shaking up who runs our universities will we be able to shift the balance of power away from the corporate managerial class back to staff and students. Finally, we need to look at wiping student debt and making university and TAFE free.
V: What are the most paramount priorities for The Greens in the sphere of Australian education right now?
V: You recently published a discussion paper called ‘The University of the Future’. In summary, what does Australia’s university of the future look like?
M: It was just atrocious, during the pandemic, the way the government treated international students. These are students who had called this place home. These are students who do all the work that so many who live here don’t want to do. And they were left completely high and dry with nothing, not even a skerrick of support from the Federal government during the pandemic. My office and I were contacted by literally hundreds and hundreds of students who were in real strife. I just think that was disgraceful how that happened, and it can never happen again. Apart from what those international students faced, which was horrendous, I think it has affected the reputation of Australian universities in terms of how international students might perceive it. They pay exorbitant fees, and it was clear they were just being treated as cash cows.
ALWAYSFRIENDSHIP,IN 76
Natalie Kirkowa She is a Cit Comms tutor, and she’s seriously amazing my entire tutorial loved her Alena Radina
SarahBainAttfield
Jeff for heading up Music Biz and dealing with all the drama that comes with running a record label Jeffrey Crabtree Clara Atkin
faculty of arts & social sciences
His lectures and tuts are the only reason i didn’t drop journalism in the first sem He’s such a g and very supportive Martin Newman turned a second major into a major passion of mine :) incredibly caring about student wellbeing and constructive feedback Penni Russon
STAFF
We asked you which of your tutors deserved a little more recognition. Here is what you said.
He is so understanding and willing to genuinely listen to everything you have to say truly cared about students progress and their assignments (also warned a cafe when they served me glass) Sebastian Groundstroem the best subject coordinator ever, she is genuinely so caring and passionate about the subjects she creates cares so much about student progress and voiceeverything you want in a tutor
Dr Sarah Attfield! She is my absolute favourite. She is encouraging and supportive CALE BAIN!!! CITCOMM!! HE WAS THE BEST omg he’s amazing Phenomenal - funny, engaging, sincere Cale Bain for being hilarious and also the most down to earth teacher Cale
While the context of this issue may surround the governing bodies of UTS, we wanted to take a moment out of the doom and gloom to shoutout some of the amazing staff who go out of their way to make our learning experience at university both welcoming and joyous every week... in the weeks when we have classes, that is (*winces in funding cuts*).
Annie Smith! Marketing and customer value. So personable and considerate! Annie Smith Mark Gawn from Future of Work is amazing because his content is critical of casualisation Mark Gawn She was super understanding + supportive while I was struggling with external shit Alana Piper Amazing Tutor, caring and helpful Eleanor Sweetapple David for always being a laugh, straightforward and understanding of me DavidtransdiscplinaryDraytoninnovation her dedication to giving bcii students new learning opportunities Bem Le facultyHunteoflaw made me like my law degree Costa Avgoustinos All round legend Harry Hobbs Not so much a tutor but Luke mathieson from FEIT - literal GOAT sub coordinator Luke Mathieson Made our first semester of engineering so fun and engaging even online LiroyfacultyLourenceof andarchitecturedesign,informationandbuildingtechnology Meg O’Shea is so sweet; great tutor - gives super helpful feedback, and clearly cares about her isstudentsthebest visual narrative tutor Meg O’Shea Nicola is the goat goes above and beyond Nicola Hardcastle That man changed my entire outlook on uni with one summer elective Fionn McCabe Took personal interest in all students and accounts for different learning styles Georgina Hibberd Micke Lindebergh because he is the cutest most bright person Micke Lindebergh Pre press legend who was so nurturing and genuinely excited when we showed our work Alisa facultyCroftof engineering, ALWAYSFRIENDSHIP,IN 77
First they came for the MEDIA 78 ALWAYSFRIENDSHIP,IN ...and you all spoke up.
79 ALWAYSFRIENDSHIP,IN Thank you to those who stood up for us.
Welcome to your spring semester at UTS! I wish to add my voice to the outcry of students mourning the defunding of Vertigo. This magazine is the epicentre of critical student media at UTS, and we must defend it at all costs. Vertigo is funded by your SSAF and democratically elected and run by students. It is in our interest to push for what we want Vertigo to be, not UTS management. I will continue to back the Vertigo campaign this semester and further my negotiations with UTS management to secure more funding for the magazine. As a union, it is important that we are able to do this work, and stand as a radical opposition to management in our fight for the student voice. Unfortunately, a majority of councillors on the UTSSA SRC have voted to sign a Student Partnership Agreement with UTS management, agreeing to work towards common goals. It seems obvious that if management is focused on cutting the funding of our organisation, firing our lecturers, and giving our tutors unstable jobs, our goals are not aligned. I stand in complete opposition to the UTSSA being a signatory to this agreement. I believe it will minimise and brush off our activist presence on campus, making our commitment to standing in solidarity with the NTEU disingenuous. There is no obligation in this empty agreement and, therefore, no material gains for our organisation. Management will continue to do whatever they like, and this document will do nothing to benefit students.
Looking back at semester one, I am most proud of the work the UTSSA did in trialling the Mutual Aid Pantry in Building 2, Level 3a, Room 145. Down in the belly of this corporate, exploitative institution, our community has come together to support each other. It’s been a while since we have had a new student welfare initiative, so getting to build this with a passionate group of students and staff has been amazing.
80
President’s Report Anna Thieben
Exciting news! The pantry will be open for semester two. You should definitely pop in and take some free essentials. We are talking canned food, a leftover meal from a local cafe, sanitary items, laundry powder, and more to come! If there is anything in particular you would like to see in the pantry, if you want to help run it, or you have ANY questions, you should come by or send me an email (president@utsstudentsassociation.org).Tofinishup,letmeaddthatthissemester your staff in the NTEU (National Tertiary Education Union) will be striking. They will be on the pickets fighting for better working conditions to secure you the best learning experience possible. So when you hear about the strike, don’t be a scab and go to uni. Join staff on the picket line, and show where your loyalties lie.
STUDENTS’ASSOCIATIONREPORT
Although the council voted to stand in solidarity with staff at the picket, what does solidarity mean to a council so quick to sign agreements with the same people responsible for hundreds of job cuts?
Assistant General Secretary Report Melissa Sukkarieh
Solidarity means more than not going to class during a strike, standing side by side at the picket line, or passing a motion through council. The SPA explicitly outlines support of each signatory for the UTS 2027 plan. A plan that has been used to justify hundreds of job cuts and “voluntary separations” from 2020 onwards and which will continue to see attacks on staff jobs in the name of a savings account.
General Secretary’s Report
Welcome to another semester everyone.
The SPA offered an opportunity for the UTSSA to advocate for three specific issues we would like included in the agreement, and in turn, receive a commitment from the university to deliver on mutually beneficial outcomes. Undertakings are put in writing and signed off by the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, and student leaders in a very visible form to the UTS community, faculties, and beyond. This is crucial in fulfilling our defining role of being the loudest voice that represents student interests. Explicitly articulating our priorities for students and having this remain in writing for the SA’s foreseeable future is a means of keeping management and the wider university accountable and aware of our objectives as a union. Reflecting on the last semester, I can proudly say that everyone’s efforts from our campaigns to our committees has shown the true dedication of our council this year. I hope to see a continuation of this as we move into the next semester, and I look forward to what is to come!
Signing agreements with management during a strike year entirely undermines our position as a union, and undermines any ‘solidarity’ we have promised staff in the bargaining efforts.
81
The year has been moving at a fast pace as we continue to build, mobilise, and strategise towards our goals and campaigns for the coming semester. In fitting with the theme of the magazine you’re currently reading, it is evident that the campaign at the forefront of this semester is the Vertigo campaign to re-establish a consistent and appropriate level of funding for our magazine. I’ll continue to work towards to the longevity of Vertigo as these past months Vertigo and the SRC have continued to have discussions about the magazine in its current form and funding situation. As we’ve witnessed, the strong UTS community has come together to in conjunction with Vertigo and the SRC to back the complete funding of our student media. On another note, a big theme of the end of semester one was the Student Partnership Agreement. I want to thank everyone that contributed to the SPA following previous deliberations. There were many meaningful contributions on all sides of the discussion and I’m glad to see that through collaborative efforts, we were able to codify our support for staff conditions, funding outcomes, and the results we need to see to remedy SASH on campus.
While UTS are set to make millions in surplus profit this year, 70% of UTS staff still have unstable positions, and the NTEU continues to fight for job stability, pay increases, and against stolen wages.
Sabrine Yassine
In the June SRC meeting, two significant and contradictory motions were passed. The first being an endorsement of the Student Partnership Agreement (SPA), an agreement between the student union and university management, and the second being a motion supporting the NTEU following their recent and exciting vote to take industrial action.
5.Laundry detergent and dishwashing
8.A friend We are located down the stairs to the student kitchen near the food court (CB02.03.120). Our base opening hours are Tuesday Thursday from 12 p.m 3 p.m. However, pop by any time, and if one of our great student volunteers has opened the door, you are welcome to come in. If we are closed, there will be a selection of items outside the door for you to take from and a box in which you can donate products back to the pantry. We will also be holding a series of workshops in the pantry during the beginning of semester. Everything from Urban Foraging, to Zine making, to a simple recipe swap using ingredients from the pantry. For more details, stay tuned to the UTSSA FB
groups/2491321207705581/UTSStudentsAssociation(https://www.facebook.com/)orInstagrampage(@uts.students.association).•Doyouhaveanideatomakethepantrybetter?•Doyouhaveaworkshopyouwanttoholdwithus?•Wouldyouliketohelpinthepantry?•Arethereanyotherproductsyouthinkweshouldtryandsource?Togetinvolved,joinourFBorgainsinggrouporpopdowntothepantrytohaveachat:https://www.facebook.com/Pleasenote:Asthepantryisanewproject,itwilltakesometimetobuildupandgetsomeregularitemsforstudents.Weappreciateyourpatienceandsupportwhilewegetthisupandrunningandareexcitedtoseehowgenerousthecommunitycanbe. 82
$0.00!
NAMESECTION
bluebird & pantrynightowl
The UTSSA is proud to announce that we will officially launch our BlueBird and Night Owl pantry on campus this semester. Grounded in the principle of Mutual Aid, it is a student-run service offering free food and essential items — no strings attached :) Bluebird Brekkie and Night Owl Noodles have been providing delicious free meals on campus for ten years. But with the COVID-19 pandemic and the current fucked prices of groceries, food insecurity has dramatically increased for students, creating a significant barrier to our success. So, we looked at how we could help. By harnessing the powers of charitable corporate donations, food wastage, and the kind spirit of the UTS community, we have been able to collect a wide range of items to give out to you (free of charge!) in the pantry. by Anna Thieben Our stock is subject to change because it is all donated. However, this is what you are likely to find if you come in: 1.Canned foods (Think tuna, veggies, beans, soup, tomatoes, 2.Freshetc.) herbs and veggies 3.Some nice carbs (Rice, pasta, noodles and maybe bread) 4.Coffee, tea, milk and biscuits
6.Condomspowder (and hopefully other contraception items in the 7.Padsfuture)and even reusable period underwear (come quick before they are all taken)!
NAMESECTION*NEW* Bluebird Pantry T U E S W E D T H U R 1 2 - 3 P M B u i l d i n g 2 , L e v e l 3 ( n e a r t h e f o o d c o u r t )
Adeline Chai: Adeline is a third-year Media Studies and Psychology student. She has been a devoted Swiftie for 12 years. You can find her on Instagram @adelinee_chai.
Anna Thieben: Anna is a third-year EnvironmentalScience student. She is the current President of the UTSSA for 2022. You can find her on Facebook @AnnaThieben.
84
Andy Lee: Andy is a third-year Media Arts & Production and Creative Intelligence & Innovation student. He loves to make all sorts of things and is continuously winging his way through life. You can find him on Instagram @andaelee.
Elektra Politis:Elektra is a second-year Journalismand Writing & Publishing student. In her spare time, she shamelesslywatches RuPaul’s Drag Race and plays guitar. You can find her on Instagram@elektra_politis.
Eleni Carydis:Eleni is a fifth-year Law and PublicCommunication student. She once got handed two free VIP Lilly Allen tickets by a random man in a bar.
Ashley Sullivan: Ashley is a third-year Journalism and Law student. She spends way too much time on Pinterest and gives unsolicited film recommendations every chance she gets. You can find her on Instagram @ashleys.xo.
Clara Atkin:Clara is a third-year Digital & SocialMedia and Creative Intelligence &Innovation student. She loves painting her nails and laughing. You can find her on instagram @claraatkin.
Durr-e-'Adan Haque:Durr-e-’Adan is a third-year Creativewriting student and a first-year Media Arts & Production student. They write fiction, poetry, film criticism, and are the co-creator of GayV Club, a podcastthat looks at representations of queerpeople of colour in LGBT cinema and television. You can find them on Twitter@deahaque.
Aston Brown: Aston is a second-year Media Arts & Production and Journalism student. He also studies Spanish and hopes to go on exchange to Chile. You can find him on Instagram @astonrbrown.
Ayesha Baig:Ayesha is a first-year Journalismstudent. Her nickname has been Bagel ever since a kid in her class pointed at her and said it would be cool if hernickname was ‘bagel’. You can find her on Instagram @ayesha.bagel.
Jacqueline Adams: Jacqueline is a Visual Communications Honours student. Other than graphic design, she’s right into photography, music, and, shockingly, films. She once managed to squeeze 75 movie theatre trips into a year. She’s unsure whether that’s a flex or an admission. You can find her on Instagram @jacquislostnegatives.
bio Contr ributos
Joey Chalita: Joey is a third-year Journalism and Law student. When his head gets filled with super necessary uni content, you can find him walking hour-long distances in an attempt to use exercise as a healthy excuse at procrastination. Or you can find him on Instagram @Joey_Chalita. 85
Shanelle George:Shanelle is a third-year Law andCreative Intelligence & Innovationstudent. She has an unhealthyaddiction to thrifting and lovesto design pieces from second-hand clothing! You can find her onInstagram @shanelle_george and @theclutterspace.
Sara Chaturvedi:Sara is a second-year Social PoliticalSciences and Creative Intelligence& Innovation student. She lovesnothing more than yapping people'sears off about anti-racism, andaccusing the patriarchy for everyslight inconvenience she encounters.You can find her on Instagram@sarapcz.
Joseph Hathaway-Wilson: Joseph is a second-year Journalism,Writing & Publishing, and CreativeIntelligence & Innovation student. Lastnight he had a dream that Dave Grohlwon the Australian Federal Election.You can find him on Instagram@joehwilson.
Gokce Caliskan: Gokce is a first-year Journalism and Writing & Publishing student. During the 2021 lockdown, she read 210 books, resulting in serious damage to her bank account. You can find her on Instagram @whoiscaliskan and @readingwithgc.
Siena Zadro:Siena is a second-year VisualCommunication student. She wastes allher money on ‘70s glassware. You canfind her on Instagram @sienazadro and@zadroscreations.
