editor s’ letter.

Dear reader,

It is eight minutes to midnight and I’m sitting in the UTS Vertigo office on the third floor of Bon Marche. I’ve recently begun a new diet. It is called the MSG diet. I want to tell you that MSG stands for something hip and healthy. It actually stands for monosodium glutamate I’ve been eating microwavable Shin Ramyun for the past twelve hours.

At present, I am equal parts anxious and excited. In a few hours, the magazine which you now hold will be submitted to the UTSSA General Secretary, then on to the Director of Student Publications, on to our printing partners, and back to us, who will in turn hand it over to you, dearest reader, in anticipation of your earnest judgement. Soon after, it will sink beneath the clamour of tutorials, club socials, assessment deadlines and cryptic enrollment procedures, to later be examined in a moment of solitude by curious people like yourself.

The recurring theme of our first print issue is akin to that of the new university year – total, joy-ridden disarray.

Our Student News category is something of a who’s-who guide to the institution that is UTS; from your representatives in the SRC, to the clubs, societies and pillars of support at your disposal. In Politics & Law, we head straight into the rugged terrain of the Australian political landscape, as Vertigo observes the nation’s most ambiguous opposition leader. Arts and Lifestyle endows readers in a pilgrimage of feast from Lakemba to South Korea, before Society and Culture allows for a moment of tempered reflection on the history and future of Mardi Gras as well as the media’s memory of the late Cardinal Pell. Creative Writing brings a healthy dichotomy of short stories from UTS’s young writers before the visually enriching work of the university’s design contingent enlivens the Showcase section.

EDITORS:

→ Joseph HathawayWilson: Editor in Chief

→ Arshmah Jamal: Managing editor

→ Fiona Wang: Showcase Director

→ Angelique Birrell: Politics + Law Editor

→ Axel Connell: Creative Writing Editor

→ Bronte Skinner: Student News Editor

→ Claire Matthews: Arts + Lifestyle Editor

→ Yvonne Hong: Society + Culture Editor

→ Gökcę Çaliskan: Student News Editor

DESIGNERS:

→ Siena Zadro: Art Director

→ Mary Morrish: Designer

→ Sapphire Goldberg: Designer

We hope that something in Volume One is an inspiration to you, regardless of where that inspiration may lead you. Embrace that magic feeling of nowhere to go but everywhere at your fingertips. The start of the new year tastes like uncertainty.

MSG, meanwhile, tastes like fatty acid. Farewell, dear reader. The time has come for me to break my diet.

In friendship,

Joseph and the UTS Vertigo 2023 editorial team

Beneath the tower: UTSSA office bearer reports The Student Representative Council

11

Student Clubs Spider Webs Bronte Skinner

17

What we wish we knew in first year

Gökcę Çaliskan and Ayesha Baig

23

How to: Lakemba Ramadan markets

Arshmah Jamal

13 In case you’ve just enrolled: Your guide to UTS support services

Bronte Skinner

21

What’s up with Chris? Breaking down the NSW leader of the opposition

Mariam Yassine

27

Travel tips for Seoul

Yvonne Hong

33

No pride without protest: the past, present and future of Mardi Gras

Jacqui Adams and Claire Matthews

37

Touchy subject: Why the media can’t afford to tread lightly around Pell’s legacy Joseph

39

49

Imperfect Life

43

The Butterfly Farm

47

53

Horoscopes

55

PRESIDENT Nour Al Hammouri

INSTAGRAM: uts_students_association

FACEBOOK: The UTS Students Association

Welcome to UTS – congrats on making it in; you’re going to love it here. Now, what is the UTS Students’ Association? The UTSSA represents, supports, and advocates ALL students at UTS. We’re a student-led service directly responding to your needs, whatever they may be. Our work is led by our goals of wanting to ensure that your time at UTS is as enjoyable, easy and smooth as possible. Vertigo will help you explore the multiple arms of UTS and the services of the UTSSA , which include but are not limited to; Bluebird and NightOwl, Bluebird Pantry, Student Advocacy Service, Collectives, Vertigo and a few of our campaigns that the UTSSA will focus on for 2023. Looking after the UTSSA (alongside everything I’ve just mentioned) is the President's job. Me. (and of course the rest of the executive team).

Hi! I’m Nour Al Hammouri, an Advanced Science (Pre Med) student. As well as being the President of the UTSSA, I’m also an intern here at UTS, primarily focusing on Multiple Sclerosis. As President, it is my aim (and job) to be elevating your voices and bringing your ideas, opinions and needs to the decision-making tables. Hopefully, through discussions, we will be able to enact the change that YOU want to see. The work of the UTSSA is only a reflection of what you want the University to look like. After all, you are paying to be here, so it is only fair that it reflects your needs and wants.

Historically, we’ve seen a lot of demand from students to establish and build student-focused services like Bluebird Brekky, Night Owl Noodles and, recently, Bluebird Pantry. This demand still continues; therefore, we’ll continue to prioritise it and build on it. There are a lot of structures within UTS that students just aren’t satisfied with, and for that reason we’ll continue tackling and demanding an improvement in the systems that disadvantage students. But to be able to effectively and accurately respond to what students want to see, we need to hear from you directly. For that reason, we invite all UTS students to join us where we work. We will provide you with the platform to directly raise your concerns.

To keep up to date, I highly recommend following the Students’ Association on Facebook and Instagram. You can also sign up to our mailing list, where you’ll receive direct information from us on when our next SRC meetings are.

See you there!

: ILLUSTRATIONS BY SAPPHIRE GOLDBERG & MARY MORRISH

GENERAL SECRETARY Will Simmons

Hi! I’m Mia Campbell, the Welfare Officer for 2023 and a third-year Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Science (Applied Physics) student. The Welfare Collective has a broad range of focuses, including mental and physical health, socio-economic disadvantage, academic support, safety on campus, and affordable and adequate student housing amongst other areas.

In 2023, the Welfare Collective will work towards and advocate for: the improvement and expansion of student counselling services; holding UTS accountable to the commitments of the 2022 Student Partnership Agreement in relation to sexual assault and sexual harassment policy; streamlining the process of applying for extensions/special consideration; expanding class and resource availability to better support students who are working full-time; addressing the culture of socio-economic, racist and sexist discrimination within classrooms, especially in STEM fields; and expanding Bluebird Brekkie, Night Owl Noodles and the Bluebird Pantry.

If you’re interested in getting involved with the Welfare Collective, we’d love to see you at our meetings! To keep an eye out for when they’re

I’m Will Simmons, your General Secretary for 2023. We’ve had a productive start to the year so far, and I am very keen to see what the Union willl achieve this year. This year will be a big year for students with the University Accords and the Voice to Parliament, so I encourage every student to be involved in the UTSSA campaigns to help fight for a better future.

Over the past month, I’ve been working hard on the UTSSA 2023 Handbook. The Handbook is a guide to UTS and your Student Union. The handbook is free and available across the campus; I highly recommend picking one up.

Welfare Officer

Mia Campbell

INSTAGRAM: uts.welfare.collective

FACEBOOK: UTS Welfare Collective

EMAIL: welfare@utsstudentsassociation.org