Woroni: Edition 4, 2013

Future of Australian Cinema 27

Fat. Fierce.

Aquatic.

11

WORONI The Australian National University Newspaper Since 1950

AJ NEILSON BEN LATHAM

UEFA Fortune Teller 30

NO.4 VOL 65

THU7

Common Thread Hits a Snag

THE 2013 ANUSA Representatives were elected on a platform of engagement, service provision, and financial accountability. However, last Thursday’s Ordinary General Meeting (OGM), as well as the omission of key events and publications that traditionally arrive with the commencement of the ANU academic year, have cast doubt upon the fulfillment of these promises.

ANUSA’s first OGM of 2013 failed to reach the required quorum of forty people last Thursday 14 March. Quorum, as mandated by the ANUSA Constitution, is required to open any meeting of the Association. If quorum is not reached thirty minutes after the stated start time of the meeting, it must be called off and rescheduled at a later date. Thursday’s OGM was scheduled for 12pm and was opened twenty minutes later with only thirty-four students in attendance – six short of the required number.

Despite this fact, reports by ANUSA’s President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Social Officer were presented and passed by those in attendance.

ANUSA President Aleks Sladojevic has reported that quorum was reached for twenty minutes during the meeting. However, no scheduled motions were passed during the meeting due to lack of quorum, calling into question Sladojevic’s claim. The meeting lasted over an hour, the majority of that time taken up by extensive question-

ing of the presented reports by both ANUSA Representatives and general students.

Sladojevic has expressed great disappointment at the low attendance of the OGM, attributing difficulties in raising numbers to “St Patrick’s Day festivities, the promise of live Twitter coverage, or a lack of highly divisive issues in the agenda.” Failure to reach quorum resulted in the inability to pass Constitutional amendments and the Grants and Affiliations Committee Handbook. These must now be delayed until ANUSA’s second OGM to be held in May, or passed at a Special General Meeting of the Association.

The lack of student participation at the OGM places Common Thread’s (the current ANUSA Executive’s 2012 election ticket) “significant emphasis on engagement, communication and transparency” in doubt. Sladojevic responded by saying that ANUSA “promoted the event through all the channels available – Facebook, Twitter, the website and posters.” Approximately four hundred students were invited to the meeting’s Facebook event page; this number is a diminutive portion of the eight thousand undergraduate students that ANUSA represents. Further, tweets advertising the OGM appeared only the night before.

The OGM’s low rate of attendance has also raised questions regarding ANUSA’s utilisation of its newly hired Communications Officer. The

Communications Officer “develops, implements and reviews strategy that delivers ANU undergraduate students communications relevant to them and ANUSA”. The position has been in the works over the last two years in order to keep students “in the loop” and “alleviate communication inadequacies that the Association has experienced”. Initially meant as a seventh elected Executive position, it was decided by ANUSA 2013 that the role was best suited to a full-time position, paying approximately $60,000 p.a.

Despite the employment of a full-time staff member in this position, ANUSA is yet to deliver its traditional newsletter updates, stating that it is currently in a process of review. Run by ANUSA Intern Galvin Chia in 2012, the newsletter was a primary source of communication of ANUSA’s activities to ANU students, and a key mechanism by which ANUSA was able to advertise its campaigns, local events and other initiatives.

Other issues that were raised at the OGM included ANUSA’s failure to provide events and publications that traditionally come with the beginning of the ANU academic year.

In a departure from previous years, ANUSA did not hold the traditional ANU Commencement Address. The ANU Commencement provides a lighthearted opening to the beginning of the academic year. Previous speakers include comedians An-

drew Denton in 2011 and Chris Taylor from the Chaser in 2012. ANUSA states that they didn’t choose to hold the Commencement Address in 2013 because they were unable to find an appropriate speaker in time.

ANUSA has also chosen not to publish a First Year Guide in 2013. Instead, they are proposing to move the information to a web platform, though no immediate launch date has been set. Their publications will include an International Students Guide and Mental Health Guide. The latter is still being reviewed by relevant mental health professionals and is scheduled for publication later this year.

An ANUSA Smartphone Application was another election promise made by Common Thread during their campaign as a mechanism to increase student engagement. It was revealed at the OGM that the project has stalled while ANUSA reviews pricing options. It has budgeted $15,000 for the app’s development. According to Sladojevic, ANUSA is “committed to providing value for student money and delivering the app this year.”

A redeeming feature for this year’s ANUSA has been the continuation of First Year Faculty Camps in 2013. However, due to poor ticket sales, many of the camps were downsized or comArticle continues page 2

WORONI EDUCATION PULL OUT INSIDE

NEWS// 2

Common Thread Hits a Snag Continued

NEWS BRIEFS

Article continued from page 1

DAVID TUCKWELL North Korean Nuclear missiles Tensions between North and South Korea have further escalated this month following a nuclear test by the North. The test drew widespread condemnation and prompted the U.N. Security Council to further tighten sanctions.

Ted Baillieu quits as VIC premier Ted Baillieu quit job as Premier of Victoria and Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party this week.

Replacing him is Denis Napthine, who was elected leader of the Liberal Party in an internal party vote. Mystery surrounds the precise reasons behind My Baillieu’s resignation.

bined. This was despite a significant advertising campaign by ANUSA, which according to VicePresident Tasman Vaughan, consisted of “College Rep[resentative] attendance at most first years lectures, email[ing] of camp advertisement[s] to all three thousand new students, a ticket stall in Union Court for two weeks, and online marketing and ticket sales”.

Notwithstanding poor rates of attendance, the majority of feedback from first years and mentors on the First Year Camps has been positive – from “#yolo” to “the best weekend of my life”. Vaughan states that the camps consisted of “a good balance of academic and social experiences”, however “future camps will have to be extensively reconceptualised in light of the lower than expected ticket sales.”

ANUSA 2013, in line with another Common Thread election platform, has focused much of its energy on service provision for students this year. Initiatives include providing undergradu-

ate students with free yoga classes each Wednesday morning, breakfast in Student Space from 8-10am each morning, and a new ANUSA KeepCup in conjunction with ANU Green.

The reports presented at the Thursday’s OGM painted a positive picture of ANUSA’s first few months in office – specifically, much progress has been made by Vaughan and Sladojevic behind the scenes at the University Education and Student Experience Committees. One key achievement in this area has been the ANUSA report on ANU’s Future Researchers Framework, “designed to guide the different levels of research inquiry taken throughout both undergraduate and postgraduate programs”.

Unfortunately, much of ANUSA’s positive work has been lost on the students they represent due to lack of communication, despite all stated efforts to the contrary.

United States increases military presence in Asia Pacific US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that the Pentagon would expand the number of missile interceptors in the Asia Pacific region by 50 percent by 2017. Hagel said the increased military presence was meant as a response to North Korea’s nuclear tests. Some critics believe the real target to be China, claiming the plans to make these installations predate the nuclear tests.

United States Drone War illegal, UN says The Obama administrations use of drones to carry out assassination campaigns is illegal, according to senior UN officials. The drone attacks have been hugely unpopular internationally, and many innocent civilians, particularly in Pakistan, have been killed.

Scale of China’s abortions revealed

New data released by China’s health ministry shows that nearly 330 million abortions have been carried out in China since 1971. Abortions are one of the methods used to curb population growth and form part of China’s one child policy.

In some cases, reports suggest, abortions have been forced on pregnant mothers.

Cyprus to receive bailout Cyprus is the latest country to need bailing out in the ongoing European financial crisis. The bailout, agreed with the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund is set at 10 billion euros. Controversially, the bailout terms set by the IMF require the Cyprus government to sell off state assets and tax its citizens’ savings.

EDITORIAL BOARD Vincent Chiang Josh Dabelstein Farz Edraki Ben Latham Yasmin Masri Gus McCubbing AJ Neilson Cam Wilson

SUB EDITORS Lillian Ward David Tuckwell Dong Hyun Suh Dan Rose Sinead O’Connell Rob Selth

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Campus News Canberra News Comment Features Life & Style Reviewed

Josh Chu-Tan Renee Jones Brad Harvey Kristen Augeard Ross Caldwell Alice Desmond Tom Scott

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Sport Radio Radio Podcasting Photos Website Video

More Dirty Secrets

TOM SWANN

LESS than a week after selling the entirety of its shares in Metgasco, the ANU has refused to release documents regarding the rest of its investments in coal, oil and gas, despite requests filed by the Environment Collective under the Freedom of Information Act. The ANU was pressured to divest its remaining holdings in the coal seam gas company just days before community opposition and new regulation on coal seam gas forced Metgasco to cease operations.

The decision was a massive victory for the Environment Collective and student activism, but how much more fossil fuel stock does ANU have on its books? Until the ANU releases documents on its remaining investments in fossil fuels, students will be kept in the dark.

In early 2013, the Environment Collective requested documents about the ANU’s holdings in Metgasco and any other coal, oil, gas or uranium companies, as well as all environmental assessments of its investments. The requests were made publicly through the Right-to-Know Network under the Freedom of Information Act.

After seeking a last minute extension, the ANU informed the collective that it held no such documents from 2012 about the environmental impacts of its investments. This contradicts previous statements made by the ANU in 2011, that “all ANU investments are made with a consideration of their environmental and ethical impact”.

After a further extension, the ANU has now refused to release any substantial documents regarding investments in fossil fuels. The ANU decided that most documents contain confidential information or “deliberative matter” that is “conditionally exempt” from release.

The university has offered to release one document for a charge of over $500; a Woroni article from 2012 that ANU administration had kept on file.

The Environment Collective is currently considering its legal options for reviewing the ANU’s obligations to students under the Freedom of Information Act. Meanwhile, the ANUSA SRC has passed a 14-1 motion to actively support the campaign. The National Tertiary Education Union has also jumped on board.

Advertising inquiries, submissions and letters to the editor can be sent to contact@woroni.com.au For more content, podcasts and photos, visit www.woroni.com.au

Keep up with us on: facebook.com/woroni Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/woroni PRINTED BY CAPITAL FINE PRINT PUBLISHED BY ANU STUDENT MEDIA

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NEWS// 3

Doubling Up LILLIAN WARD AFTER almost a year of planning, the ANU has finalised its new double degree structure. The new system will see the number of degree combinations offered by the ANU increase from 137 to over 1000.

Instead of selecting from a fixed number of combined degree programs, prospective students will now select from a variety of selections within three different classes of double degrees. The first class are four-year programs where students can combine any two degrees from a list of thirtyfour, including every program listed by the Joint Colleges of Science and the College of Arts and Social Sciences.

The second class is for law double degrees where students can combine any program with a law degree, while the third is a combination of any program and an engineering degree. The degrees in both of these categories will take five years.

The prospective change will simplify ANU’s application process and will offer incoming students a much greater and more attractive range of choices when selecting combined programs.

As Deputy Vice-Chancellor Marnie WarringtonHughes explains, “Instead of saying, ‘Here are all your choices, your only choices, and they’re all pre-locked,’ we’re saying to students, ‘From next year, you tell us. You tell us what you want.’ You get more bang for your preference.”

“We’ve been out there asking high school students across Australia and they’ve all come back and said we love the idea of being entrusted with the choice. The ANU is for the very talented students and, as has come through in the focus groups, you want to do one head degree and one heart degree.”

However there are some doubts as to whether this is a step in the right direction for the ANU.

Although the new process will enhance the flexibility of students’ UAC preferences, it also advocates access to named degrees that provide the same subjects currently available through the Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science program, but with more rigid compulsory courses and prerequisites. This not only appears to place greater value on the named degrees but gives new students fresh out of high school the chance to restrict themselves for four or five years of study.

Questions have also been raised concerning ANU’s ability to timetable students combining degrees from diverse colleges. How will the ANU accommodate students taking courses with extensive laboratory components at the same time as equally extensive language classes? At present, even with 40% of undergraduate students enrolled in double degrees, most students are lucky to escape more than one clash per semester.

However, there is one clear positive outcome of this new structure. As ANUSA Vice President Tasman Vaughan, a member of the organisation committee, relates, “It’s bringing all the key administrators from each of the colleges together, sitting them around a table and making them talk for up to two hours each fortnight.

“At the start of the process they didn’t know each other that well. Now they’re talking and have exchanged contacts, and that process of providing enrolment and academic advice to students is going to improve.”

Whether this will be a positive move for student choice or will only result in a timetabling nightmare is yet to be seen. The system will come into effect in 2014 and there will be information sessions in the coming months for current students considering migrating to one of the new programs.

Another One Bites the Dust

LINDA MA

THE resignation of the well-loved Head of the School of Cultural Inquiry, Professor Jill Matthews earlier this month has ignited debate and recriminations across the College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS) about the proposed restructuring of the Research School of the Humanities and Arts (RSHA) and the merger of the School of Cultural Inquiry and the School of Language Studies, and also highlighted the lingering uncertainty and distrust which persists throughout CASS. Dr Matthews, a pioneering former head of the Gender Studies department who has taught at the ANU since 1984 and Head of the School of Cultural Inquiry since 2011, resigned on March 7, informing her colleagues through a letter that her position was untenable because of her firm disagreement with the impending changes. Woroni has obtained a copy of the letter from Dr Matthews, who is currently overseas, which cited her “conflicted relationship” with Professor Howard Morphy, the Director of RSHA, over his “proposed abolition” of the school. She claimed that matters were at such “an impasse” that the best outcome for the school was for her to resign. The news was featured in a brief article in The Canberra Times on March 8. Dr Matthews did not provide any further comment, but it is understood she will be remaining in RSHA and taking up a researchintensive post.

Woroni has spoken to faculty members throughout CASS who on condition of anonymity spoke about the suddenness with which the news of the resignation broke. One spoke about encountering a colleague when leaving work, with the letter in their hand saying “Have you seen this? Jill’s just resigned”. Many spoke about the high esteem in which they held Dr Matthews, and described her as a ‘close friend’ and ‘great colleague’, ‘deeply respected’ by all her colleagues and staff for her tenacity and determination. “She’s tough”, said one, “a streetfighter, who sticks to her principles no matter what.” Some recalled her days when she led a group of female staff in fighting for greater representation of thethen Women’s Studies program within CASS, and drew parallels with the firm defence of principles that she demonstrated in both situations. All staff whom Woroni spoke with were tense and nervous about commenting on the matter. Members of the School of Cultural Inquiry steadfastly refused to comment.

The resignation has exposed fault-lines within CASS and the RSHA, and refocused attention on the proposed merger which, if approved, has the

potential to generate student and staff discontent similar to that surrounding the cuts to the School of Music last year. Woroni’s understanding of the merger process is that the Vice-Chancellor would first need to approve the merger in-principle, before a committee and a change-management plan could be formulated. The Dean of CASS, Professor Toni Makkai, told Woroni that it was “anticipated that the new structure would be in place

by January 2014”.

Despite the lack of certainty surrounding the plans, rumours are circulating about which departments would be affected. It seems clear that there will be some merger between elements of the School of Art and the School of Art History and that there is a high degree of dissatisfaction about that. “There’s no secret that they don’t see eye to eye,” Woroni was told by sources within CASS. The School of Anthropology was also mentioned as a target of possible changes. There are even rumours that the Research School of Social Sciences could be next in line for a drastic change in management structure. There was some measured optimism expressed, however, by the Head of the School of Language Studies, Professor Jane Simpson, about the possibility of the merger. The SLS was “tired of change” and worried about the bureaucracy of the amalgamated school operating in two different physical locations, but there would be benefits in exploring mutual cooperation between the English and continental European literature and film studies research being conducted in each school.

The apparent conflict between Dr Matthews and Dr Morphy is underscored by discrepancies in the comments they have provided to Woroni.

In her letter of resignation, Dr Matthews claimed that the Dean, Dr Makkai, had “suggest[ed] that I step down as Head of the School of Cultural Inquiry”. This ‘tap-on-the-shoulder’ resignation was not corroborated by Dr Morphy, who instead asserted that she “decided to step down of her own accord”. Both Dr Morphy and Dr Makkai also commented on the proposed merger, justifying it as a strengthening of key research and education strengths within RSHA and reiterating that there would be no job losses. Dr Makkai also noted that “change is occurring all the time”, and the “rightly robust discussion” about the changes had been occurring for the last eight months. She outlined the need to “plan for the future” rather than “react to external pressures like the globalisation of education [and] new developments in education technology”.

COMMENT// 4

Autonomy and the Need for the Queer Space Response to Natasha Seymour’s article “Positive Discrimination Going Undetected Within ANU Student Societies“

STUART FERRIE

SO, a number of people in the past week via Woroni, the Queer Department Facebook page, the Student Representative Council meeting and ANU Confessions have raised concerns that the Queer* Department doesn’t involve straight people and that there isn’t a Straight Space.

These concerns all boil down to autonomy.

Autonomy in the context of the Queer*, Women’s, Disabilities, Indigenous and International Student Departments refers to the fact that all of these departments of ANUSA are that minority exclusively. The membership is identifying or registering as that minority and being a member of ANUSA. There’s no prerogative to engage with the departments you are a member of nor does it mean that they run exclusively autonomous events, but that they do organise autonomously.

I, as well as many active members of each of these departments, agree that autonomous organising is important, as we are the ones affected by the day-to-day struggles associated with being in a minority. The lived experience is of real importance here. That isn’t to say that the role of allies isn’t important: they’re extremely important, however the ability to autonomously organise is also extremely important.

Not to be prescriptive, but I believe one of the best things an ally can do is listen. To be supportive, you do need to know what you’re supporting.

Take for example, equal marriage, it’s great that there are so many supportive straight people, but it’s by no means the only, nor the biggest concern in queer communities. Police violence against queer people has again become a big concern after there were a number of incidents of excessive force used against people after the Mardi Gras parade and the intense policing surrounding the after party. People who don’t present themselves as unambiguously male or female feel unsafe on our campus and after some of the reports I hear, they’re justified in it. Mental illness is still disturbingly common amongst queer people, with a much higher frequency than in straight people.

This is just a sample of some of the many problems queer people still face on a day-to-day basis.

These necessitate a queer-only space to be free of these issues, as the entire wider world is a straight space.

One sure-fire way to get people on the defensive is to flat out condemn the Queer* Department for not letting straight people be members. The departments are not simply social clubs nor interest groups. The idea is to get people together and work together when you all know from experience what you’re facing. As I’ve explained, you’re not a member unless you’re part of that minority and unless you decide that you’re queer, you can’t become a member. Being able to intellectualise the issues surrounding it is important for understanding, however it cannot replace the lived experience. For example, I am not a woman, so I do not have the lived experience to join the Women’s Collective, but I do identify as a feminist and provide support when it’s asked for, not try to push my own beliefs about what women want onto them.

However, there are other avenues to engage with queer politics around the ANU and Canberra. Ally@ANU runs training sessions, the next of which is on the 8th of May, which you can register for. The Diversity Learning Community run a number of events with the collectives. These events are non-autonomous, which you are perfectly welcome to go to. Equal Love are a nonautonomous group who campaign for equal marriage. The AIDS Action Council always want more volunteers to help out with safe-sex packs. These non-autonomous bodies are incredibly valuable

and a way for people who are not queer to help out the queer cause.

Now, to address the issue of the Queer Space.

The Queer Space has existed on campus for much of the Queer* Department’s nineteen year long history but the reasoning why the Queer Space exists still hasn’t changed.

The Queer Space is a safe space for queeridentifying students on campus to escape the homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism of the wider world. Homophobia is a concept most people are familiar with, while transphobia is active discrimination against people who identify or present as trans. Heterosexism is a much subtler form of these: the assumption that everyone is straight and the privilege that comes with that. Heterosexism is the biggest barrier for equality for queer people. The wider world is very much a heterosexist space, so this is why a Queer Space exists.

Despite the way it may seem sometimes, I can’t think of a single queer person who has no interaction with straight people. The Queer Space is only a tiny little room on a very large campus. We have to leave sometimes. There’s always bread there, but I can’t eat bread as I’m coeliac, so I have to leave to eat.

Throughout its long history, queer students have never been seriously isolated from the rest of the wider community solely via the Queer Space and Queer* Department.

In all honesty, it’d be an interesting world where there was no heterosexism or straight privilege.

There’d be no need for a queer space really, although I think it’d still be nice to have one, but by no means necessary. It’d probably be a retreat for queer people to only associate with other queer

Browsing Market Day last week I discovered that the Queer Collective is one of the only societies that turns away some of its eager potential members.

people rather than have to be out there in the wider community, where they’d be totally accepted. Unfortunately, queer people aren’t totally accepted. As I’ve alluded to, there are still structures in place that enforce the gender binary and heterosexism onto all of us.

In response to “Positive Discrimination Going Undetected in ANU Societies”, I’d disagree that it’s “morally repellent and ultimately a huge step in the wrong direction, away from equality.” Going back all the way to the Stonewall Riots, which were one of the founding moments of the queer movements and closer to home, the first Mardi Gras in Sydney thirty-five years ago this year, the organising was autonomous against a rather homophobic world. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since then, but there’s still a very long way to go.

I will concede however that there probably haven’t been as many non-autonomous events as we could run, but it’s the kind of thing that isn’t my decision as we operate under a collective model of organising. It will definitely be seriously discussed though. Our event for International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on the 17th of May will definitely be open to all, but there will be further details to come.

Ultimately what I hope comes out of all of this is that people gain a bit more of an appreciation of why there are Queer and Women’s spaces on campus and why the Departments organise autonomously. We don’t hate straight people, most of them are great in fact. We don’t want them to not exist. We just want a bit of space sometimes.

Queer Department meetings are held at 5pm on Thursdays of even numbered weeks in the Queer Space. For more details, contact sa.queer@anu. edu.au.

Stuart Ferrie is the ANUSA Queer* Officer, however this is not the official position of the Queer* Collective, which as of the time of submission, does

COMMENT//5

The Anonymous Confessional ROSS CALDWELL

I am writing to voice my complaint about two pieces in Woroni No. 2, Vol 65, Thu 22. The first concerns a heading for a piece, written by David Wright, on page 3 and the second relates to a picture of Pope Benedict the 16th which appeared on the bottom half of page 7, as part of a mock job advertisement.

The heading “Benedict Buggers Off”, on page 3, was a clever play on words using the Australian vernacular, which had the effect of creating a “double entendre”, linking the Pope to an act of buggery while leaving his post as the earthly head of the Catholic Church. This was a very poor attempt at humour which had the sinister undertone of linking a celibate man to a sexual act.

On Page 7, the reference to the Hitler youth implied that the retiring Pontiff was a strident believer in Nazi ideology. As you are aware, the Pope’s involvement in the Hitler Youth is well documented and historically attributed to the obligations placed on teenage boys, in Germany, during that period. The sarcastic reference to the Catholic Church as a “forward-thinking, progressive organisation” was churlish. The piece also went on to paint the church as racist and sex-

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Dear David, Thanks for getting in touch with us about your complaint. We are sorry that you have taken offense at our publication. Woroni is meant to engage and stimulate discussion, and even “push the boundaries of good taste” as you mentioned. h To specifically address your concerns; firstly, the heading “Benedict Buggers Off” was not a intentional allusion to any sexual acts and rather just a colloquial phrase meant to appeal to our student audience. Secondly, our satirical advera tisement for a papal replacement was in referg ence to current affairs and not an unfounded attack on Christianity (or on “transgender person, ample figured women and individuals who lead a celibate life”, reference to which was raised

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ist which was deeply offensive and inappropriate. I suspect that the Editor/s of Woroni would not have the temerity to run a similar piece on a leader from the Jewish faith or Muslim faith, for fear of offending members of those faith communities!

I do understand that Woroni does like to push the boundaries of good taste and that it is not a publication that I would recommend to a prudish reader, however, I found that the pieces in question contained more pointed vitriol than humour, which not only sought to deride the retiring head of the Catholic church and Catholics generally, but also mocked some transgender persons, ample figured women and individuals who lead a celibate life.

As Woroni brands itself as the newspaper of the Australian National University, I request that, as the head of the University, you take steps to remedy this situation by making a press release advising that the views espoused by Woroni, in the pieces I have referred to, are not the views of the University and that the University apologises for any offence caused to the Pope, members of the Catholic faith and other individuals who were offended by the piece/s.

Kind regards David Catanzariti

from the Catholic Church’s own criteria). We are proud to say that we similarly satire other religions almost every edition, particularly on our back page.

As ANU Student Media (which publishes Woroni) is an independent organization, we do not represent the views of the ANU and do not claim to do so, rather we espouse the views of our student members. With this in mind, we will not be releasing a press release on this, and furthermore all correspondence regarding should be addressed to us and not the ANU administration.

Regards, Cam Wilson Editor in Chief, ANU Student Media

EVERY so often a website captures the public imagination, and the latest website to have its 5 minutes of fame at the ANU is the Facebook page called ANU Confessions. The idea behind the page is not a new one, but it has resonated throughout the ANU student community. The page offers an entertaining and sometimes heart-warming look into the thoughts and feelings of the people who (supposedly) make up the ANU community. Endless stories about sexual exploits, the occasional phantom poop, and the stresses that come with student life all feature on the page. But like any other form of anonymous expression, ANU Confessions has featured posts displaying racism, homophobia, and sexism.

While these comments are generally met with criticism by the ANU community and are in the minority, the fact remains that the page is a platform for messages that can lead to people feeling unsafe on campus, discriminated against, and persecuted by the greater student body.

Does ANU Confessions share the responsibility for giving voice to messages of malice, or does a simple disclaimer let them wipe their hands clean?

Unlike the everyday Twitter and Facebook abuse that is intended to be offensive, ANU Confessions was not created to spread offensive messages. It just happened to do so. When contacted via Facebook, the reply from ANU Confessions stressed the point that they “believe that it is the community who should have a say on these people… it’s like trial by jury”, and that these messages deserve to be heard as they are a part of our society. They also outlined that they “do not believe in censorship” and that the page was created to be an “objective third party… [and] a direct reflection of the culture that is at ANU”.

While the page may have been started with noble intent, it seems inevitable that there would be a negative reaction from the student body to some messages. According to ANU Confessions, when they started the page they published almost every single confession submitted, and the only ones not published were instances where people were specified by name. This approach led to a public backlash and ANU Confessions

attributed this reaction not just to the content of their messages, but also to the mistaken belief that they endorsed the content in all the confessions posted. Over time, the approach by ANU Confessions towards which posts are published has changed. Despite the original intention of the page, ANU Confessions confirmed to Woroni that due to public backlash they have “ceased posting confessions that are threatening and highly offensive”, but say that there are no confessions they wish they hadn’t published.

The issue of accountability and abuse on the Internet is an issue that has no clear resolution. As debate raged in local national media in late 2012 about how to stop Twitter trolls from spreading abuse and to hold them accountable for their reaction, there seemed to be little anybody could do apart from just ignoring them. Around the world, there have been growing calls for online accountability in the face of increasing reports of cyber-bulling, trolls and abuse.

But not all discussion about online behaviour calls for greater accountability. Earlier this year a German Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Theo Weichert, threatened to fine Facebook for not allowing anonymous accounts as this was in breach of German law. The conflict between anonymity and accountability is made quite complex due to not only the ethical and philosophical arguments involved, but also due to the legal complexities of applying existing laws to the fast-changing environment of the internet. Despite most people being opposed to abuse on the Internet, the likelihood of this being halted any time soon is slim-tonil.

Despite ANU Confessions receiving criticism from individuals about the messages it publishes, it appears that the student community rejects the opinions behind many of the offensive messages posted. Debate is frequent on controversial topics, and offensive messages are often followed by condemnation or ignored. While ANU Confessions has stated that it will start censoring offensive posts, perhaps there’s value letting one or two slip through, if for no other reason than to be reassured that the majority of people at ANU won’t stand for the offensive views of a vocal few.

Does ANU Confessions share the responsibility for giving voice to messages of malice

How to Listen to Woroni Radio: A Step-By-Step Guide

1. Stream www.woroniradio.com.au every Thursday from 12pm, or drop by the Woroni tent in Union Court.

2. Tune in to 98.3 2XXFM every weekday morning from 8.30 - 9.00am.

3. Listen to podcasts at your convenience: http://www.woroni.com.au/category/woronipodcasts/. Voila!

COMMENT// 6

Sitting on the Fence YOHAN IDDAWELA IN an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald on the 5th of March, Professor Hugh White declared that “the choices Australia would face - to fight China or abandon the US - could not be more stark”. Indeed, the immediacy of such a scenario is something that has not received as much attention as it deserves. Such a pivotal strategic decision for Australia appears to hinge on the unfolding of the ongoing Senkaku/Diaoyu island dispute.

The Senkaku Islands, as they are known in Japan, are a set of small uninhabited and purportedly oil-rich islands located in the East China Sea. The history of the Islands’ territorial sovereignty is long and complex. It stretches back to China’s Ming Dynasty in the 14th Century, in which the islands were viewed as constituting part of the Chinese Empire. In the 19th Century, however, the islands became administered by Taiwan until its subsequent occupation by Japan.

Following Taiwan’s occupation, Japan exercised territorial sovereignty over the islands from 1895 after which a Japanese businessman named Tatushiro Koga purchased four of the unclaimed islands from the government in order to set up a bonito fish processing business. Koga’s timing, however, was far from savvy, as the onset of WWII saw his business fail, culminating in the islands’ return to desertion. Following Japan’s surrender to the US in WWII, the islands came under the temporary administration of the US. Ultimately, the US returned the administration of the islands to Japan in 1972, where four of the Senkaku islands were handed back to the Koga family - a move that China to this day contests as being illegal.

Nevertheless, large scale protests outside the Japanese embassy in Beijing were sparked following Japan’s announcement that it would purchase the remaining islands from its private owners on 10 September 2012. In response to the announcement, China immediately dispatched patrol ships into Japanese waters, consequently

serving to further strain the already tense and complex Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations.

Meanwhile, the US reaction to the unfolding events was perhaps best epitomised by former US statesmen Richard Armitage and Joseph Nye who, in their “Armitage-Nye Report”, suggested that China’s territorial claims over the islands are an expression of Chinese expansionism.

In response, thenSecretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, declared that the Senkaku dispute falls within the scope of US-Japanese treaty obligations.

The implication then is that should ChineseJapanese tensions escalate, the US will not rule out military intervention in order to contain the purported expansionism of China.

Nevertheless, despite such warnings, China appears unwilling to back down, as evidenced by its persistent sending of ships into Japanese waters resulting in frequent confrontations with the Japanese coast guards.

Such antagonism between China on the one hand and the Japanese-US alliance on the other poses immense questions regarding the future of Australia’s strategic alliances. While the US has been the historical (and oft-quoted) “great and powerful friend” of Australia since WWII, China’s growing economic influence over Australia may ultimately pose a significant challenge to this traditional relationship. Despite such concerns, Prime Minister Gillard stated that Australia’s National Security Strategy revolves around its relationship with the US - a relationship that she held as being ‘critical to our ability to deter and defeat adversaries’. The question thus remains - if the US invokes the US-Japanese Security Treaty and escalates conflict with China, will Australia stand by the US and risk sabotaging the very foundations of its economic architecture? Perhaps then, Hugh White was right - the choices Australia face could not be more stark.

Such antagonism between China on the one hand and the Japanese-US alliance on the other poses immense questions regarding the future of Australia’s strategic alliances

No Diving Into the Polls ON THE HILL

FERGUS HUNTER

APART from right here, there will be no mention of polls in this column, they are bullshit. It is thoroughly disturbing that the discourse and activity of governing and politicking are dictated in any way by what polls say. The public is fickle, to the point that one week’s poll can seemingly signal that the Government is inevitably doomed, and the next that they are hopeful of turning things around. Commentators indulge in this temperamental behaviour, and don’t bat an eyelid when they nonchalantly contradict their confident assessments from the previous week.

Besides, there’s no need to talk about polls with everything that’s happened this week. Argy-bargy with the media over proposed reforms, controversial discussion of 457 visas, state-level political betrayals, fabricated federal leadership spills and shockingly positive economic news.

The old maxim ‘never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel’ was bravely (or foolishly) ignored by the Government here. The ink may be anachronistic, but the gist remains.

They have very large platforms and don’t hesitate to use them if you ask for it, and nowhere are the platforms and the appetite for retribution bigger than at News Limited. The Daily Telegraph in Sydney had a red hot go comparing the Government to various historical and international regimes that have a reputation for curtailing press freedom, as well as the small matter of the genocide of some tens of millions of people. This out of character absurdity from the Tele was a shock to many who have come to rely on its balanced, intellectual and timeless coverage.

The intent and even the realities of the proposed reforms are nowhere near as draconian as many critics would have us believe. They aim to protect diversity in the media and apply public interest tests to mergers, as well as bolster the media’s ability to self-regulate. Freedom of speech isn’t necessarily affected, our media would still be open, but alarmists would have us believe that if successful, the SMH would transform into the Beijing Evening News. This is due in no small part to the poor

PR work of the Government. The pursuit of this regulation is hitting their political capital very heavily, as well as the PM’s among her colleagues.

If it fails, Gillard will be again weakened inside her own party. And it’s also raising the hackles of the crossbenchers, even former Labor MP Craig Thomson. And for what? Realistically, not much at all. Move and deal with some real and pressing issues. Like Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s, no doubt terrible, fury upon discovering a comparison to Stephen Conroy.

In a fairly obvious attempt to appeal to the drifting base of the ALP, the Government has been talking tough on 457 visas. Tapping into widespread resentment towards these Temporary Business (Long Stay)(Subclass 457) visas has been accused of being everything from xenophobic to populist to anti-business, by everyone from big business to unions to ALP stalwarts. It has also apparently boosted support for the Government. Despite the fact they can only be used when there is a short term skill shortage and jobs can’t be filled locally, and they are limited to highly-skilled work, this kind of ‘Australians first’ rhetoric goes down very well with the electorate. The creator of the 457 program, Neville Roach, claims that restricting it will force businesses to send jobs overseas.

On a state level, within a week of each other we saw the replacement of both the Chief Minister in the Northern Territory, Terry Mills, and the Premier of Victoria, Ted Baillieu. Their replacements, Adam Giles and Dr. Dennis Napthine respectively, achieved these results in basically the same way the Prime Minister did when she claimed the leadership. But, unlike that federal challenge, this will probably be the last we hear about that business.

Aided significantly

by Opposition members, a phantom leadership challenge emerged during the week. A rumour of an impending Rudd spill completely overshadowed some incredibly positive news, with 71,500 jobs added to the economy.

It’s consistently and increasingly clear in thisM political climate that when it comes to the voters,W it doesn’t matter what’s actually happening butf rather what people are convinced is happening. s Australia needs the new paradigm and direc-s tion it was promised in 2010. Parties that showl real leadership and courage of their convictions.G Important policies can be difficult to enact, in factK they regularly are, and that’s no accident. Short-p sighted, populist, poll-obsessed, focus group-driv-a en governance will get us nowhere, and will instead ensure we’re firmly stuck right here, whereE we’ve been for far too long. h N.B. That was, of course, a joke about the Dailya Telegraph. It will forever be a skid mark on thes underpants of society. i

Freedom of speech isn’t necessarily affected, our media would still be open, but alarmists would have us believe that if successful, the SMH would transform into the Beijing Evening News

COMMENT//7

Fat Rich Kid Goes Overboard

EVELYN LAZANAS

JOHN Travolta builds a runway outside his mansion, so he can play pilot with his five private jets.

Oil baron William Koch constructs a complete Wild West town, so he can play cowboy. Michael Jackson’s “Neverland Ranch” serves as a home, an amusement park and a private zoo. And portly old mining mogul Clive Palmer’s pet project is the Titanic II. Girls, hold the Kleenex, I didn’t say James Cameron is producing a sequel to his epic romantic tragedy. It’s just a fat rich kid building a big boat.

It’s nothing to get soppy over.

In a recent interview, Palmer, when asked why he is building the Titanic II, simply replied “why not.”

Palmer wants to ensure that “the tone is right” as the ship will ultimately serve as a tribute to the 1502 people that died in 1912 aboard the original cruise liner.

But let’s not get catty just because he’s filthy rich.

He may own a massive mining empire and be the former owner of the Gold Coast United A-League team, but deep down old Clive is just made of marshmallow. Palmer’s a romantic, a traditionalist. “Titanic,” he says, “represents…the spirit of love. The hope that all men have for peace on earth in our time and goodwill to all men ... The Titanic carries the hopes and dreams of people everywhere”.

I thought it was about ferrying the rich over the Atlantic in consummate style, while the plebs rotted in the bilges? Silly me.

Palmer is also one for authenticity. Passengers

MARK FABIAN

WHEN you arrive at university you’d be forgiven for expecting the next 3–5 years to be filled with sexy escapades, loose nights and many hours spent making out behind Mooseheads. Movies like American Pie and Superbad, TV shows like Gossip girl and Skins, and songs by KE$HA and Katy Perry, among others things, all give the impression that college kids just want to get down and boogie.

And yet the ANU is a fairly tame place sexually.

Even in cess-pits of vice like John XXIII and B&G, hook ups are the norm far more than sex. Rarely are you regaled after a big Thursday night with stories of how X and Y were covertly getting busy in the spare bathroom at ICBM. Games of ‘I have

air conditioning will also feature on the new ship.

There’s been talk about improved safety features – maybe 2 or 3 more lifeboats this time.

With an estimated net worth of $4 billion last year, it’s unlikely that the Titanic II will sink Palmer’s bank account, nor does he appear worried about those who might be a tad leery about boarding such a dubiously named vessel. Already offers of up to US$1 million for passage on the ship’s maiden voyage have been put forward and more than 40,000 people have expressed interest in retracing the fateful voyage from Southampton to New York when work is finished in 2016.

Palmer is also confident in dealing with the consequences of the current climate change crisis. Palmer, an expert on the subject, tells us that climate change may in fact be a positive for the new ship’s fate as “there hasn’t been as many icebergs in the North Atlantic these days” as a result.

Top stuff, Clive.

I’m sure plenty of people will disapprove, claim that Palmer’s plans are in bad taste and whine about how extreme wealth today has become an Thankfully, that ornate staircase Rose strides opportunity for self-gratification. Yeah, so what? down in the movie will also be replicated, along Clive’s idea is a little childish, but I’d rather the fat cats spent their money on ridiculously ambiwith the Turkish baths and smoking rooms.

There are a few substantial differences this tious things that capture the imagination rather time round though. The Titanic II will be built in than on grandiose yet ultimately conventional Chinese dockyards rather than Irish ones and it’s purchases. Thinking of hiring Beyonce for the also going to be diesel powered. Improved pro- kids’ birthday party? Now that’s what I call selfpulsion, an extra deck and the modern miracle of gratification. onboard the replica will dress in the fashion of the period and eat dishes from the original menu, in dining rooms copied from the ill-fated predecessor. Internet access, TV and phones will also be prohibited onboard.

As with the original the first, second and third class passengers will not be able to mingle with each other. Mr Palmer has insisted that he will be travelling third class, dressed in a wig and 1912 garb. (Too far Clive?)

.

There’s been talk about improved safety features – maybe 2 or 3 more lifeboats this time

The DIY Culture Factory

DAN ROSE

THE popular YouTube meme that is the Harlem Shake is a cultural abomination. It possessess no cultural meaning, it lacks creativity in its reproduction, and it fails to fulfill the basic purposes of art.

The production of a Harlem Shake video has all the qualities of a mass-produced consumer product, relying on a simple formula and requiring only the most basic of film-making skills. All you need are a cast, one camera angle, two scenes and a specific song.

A Harlem Shake video contains no autonomous value. There is no deeper meaning, political antithesis or criticism inherent in this product, it only appeals to idiotic notions of “lolrandom” Internet humor. We can compare this, for example, with PSY’s “Gangnam Style”, which also contains elements that are simple and easy to mimic. The dance moves are shorthand for, “We share a like for this product”. These cultural signals are easily transmitted and understood.

The Harlem Shake’s popularity indicates a deeper sickness in our system of mass culture, a sickness that is pockmarked by cheap laughs, a lack of originality and the herd mentality of culture consumers. It represents a style of culture that is predictable. When we see another Harlem Shake video, we know exactly how it will play out and end. What we’re interested in is the twist, the small deviation from the standard that the manufacturer of the video places in their art.

Of course, this phenomenon is not recent or unique. 4chan Internet memes possess the same qualities of mass culture, and before that, we can view Hollywood Spaghetti Westerns, soap operas and dime novels as all doing their bit to homogenise culture.

This is not at all to suggest that the original Harlem Shake is devoid of merit, but there should be greater general criticism of the phenomenon that exists in mass culture that favours this form of bacterial cultural reproduction.

Great cultural works throughout history appealed to ideas like patriotism, alienation, revolution or victory. The copy of a copy of a copy that is the Harlem Shake genre appeals to nothing like these ideas. Instead, it’s a cheap laugh that placates us, a cultural opiate that costs little to produce and only seconds to consume.

Death to the Harlem Shake genre, and death to those who serve up this cultural gruel. There’s an old retort to unfunny morons who endlessly parrot phrases that were once funny – “If you keep saying it, it won’t make it funnier.”

Sex AN(d) U never’, even with third years and members of college social committees (the most uninhibited residents) rarely see stories of elevator quickies or even hook ups with strangers.

What accounts for this? Are we actually just not interested in sex? Then why is popular culture featuring risky business so popular with our demographic? Do we find risky sex distasteful?

Perhaps, but it still floods shows like Entourage, Sex and the City and Californication. Obviously these shows feature older protagonists, but they are popular with us nonetheless.

My suspicion is it’s because 18-21 year olds are a pack of gutless wimps. But more than that, it’s because before we are inclined to go large and

throw caution to the wind we want to confirm our fundamental sexual attractiveness in the secure confines of a long monogamous relationship. Once we know we’re hot shit we’re more inclined to go scampering about town because there is no longer potential to be considered ‘easy’ or ‘cheap’. But by then we’re 23 and have finished uni.

I think this is a shame, principally because the successful relationships I am familiar with all started randomly. Neither party declared their affection from a distance. People partied, started shagging, and eventually discovered they liked each other.

Second, adventure is the spice of life and, when

you’re young, the stuff memories are made of.

The funniest next morning stories are invariably erotic and the most magical events are where you click with someone over a few beverages at a 21st. Those things don’t happen if you don’t take risks. And sure sometimes things blow up in your face, but that’s memorable in itself and with a few years you’ll come to laugh at and appreciate those moments.

The essence of youth is the feeling of invincibility, and that time will heal all wounds and wash away all mistakes. So go and make some!

The author blogs at markfabian.blogspot.com

FEATURES// 8

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FEATURES// 9

Pave ANU and Put Up a Parking Lot!

Parking at the ANU causes students headaches, but can be easily fixed

CHRIS ANTOS

AS political satirist Jon Stewart once said, “Get there early because hope does not park your mother-fucking car.” This rings very true for the students of ANU, who are constantly realising that it is near impossible to find a parking spot on campus if you arrive any time after 8:45am; And none of us are happy about it.

During a discussion with ANU Transport Services, the staff members of the parking division (although very friendly and understanding), were unable to give me an exact figure of the number of permits issued each year. I was informed that there is in fact no limit on the amount of surface parking permits ANU can issue to fulltime undergraduate students and that the parking system is essentially “first-come-first-serve”.

They are aware of the problems that exist regarding this issue and have attempted to remedy the crisis, however their only solution so far has been to exclude part-time students and certain staff members from purchasing permits.

The annual fee for a surface permit is $191.40, although students can purchase permits on a monthly basis in order to avoid one large sum up front - The university (unnecessarily) adds an additional surcharge for this stop-start feature.

Even though students pay for this permit there is still no guarantee that they will find a parking space within the designated zones. The solution for this problem, according to the ANU, is in purchasing a parking station permit, which gives students a designated spot. Not only is this incredibly expensive , but as stated on the website, “waiting

times for parking station car spaces are significant.” Students can expect to wait up to three or four years before they are eligible to purchase a parking station ticket.

So then what is there to do? Well, there is also ability to ‘pay and display’. Obviously, some of the most convenient parking spaces at uni are of this sort. So why would anyone purchase a surface permit in this case? You buy it, only to not find a space in your designated area and then are forced to pay yet again for the display ticket (only if you want to circumvent the risk being fined). You can risk not buying one, but infringement penalties range from $79.00 to $200.00 The parking crisis has become so ridiculous at ANU that students are now making jokes about it on the “ANU Meme” page on Facebook.

Slogans including, “I don’t always park my car illegally, but when I do it’s usually because all the permit spots are gone” and “one does not simply find parking at ANU” were two notable contributions that made me chuckle. However, this really isn’t a laughing matter. Having talked to some first years in particular, a number state that they

have been late to classes or missed entire lectures because they spent so long searching a safe/legal space to park.

Furthermore, and what is possibly one of the biggest travesties of this predicament (after that of the ridiculously low amount of permit spaces available) is the fact that the university itself is fining students for parking in incorrect areas.

Not the ACT government. So when you get to you car 20 minutes after your ticket has expired, it is ANU that takes your money, yet again… The only other suitable definition for this business tactic is “money grabbing”.

President of ANUSA, Aleks Sladojevic, when asked about the parking situation at ANU, somewhat dejectedly replied, “We are fighting a losing battle”. So what can we do about it? We can sit here all day and point fingers at the University, or ANUSA, or continue to abuse parking inspectors under our breath , but nothing will be resolved. Although a number of suggestions were made, ANU for one reason or another, does not consider this a pressing issue.

One suggestion that was made is for the con-

When you get to your car 20 minutes after your ticket has expired, it is ANU that takes your money, yet again… The only other suitable definition for this business tactic is “money grabbing”.

struction of a multi-storey car park. With all the construction currently going on around campus, as well as the copious amount of funding they make each year from permit prices, pay parking and fines, surely they could find the means to add a 5-storey car park somewhere?

Moreover, the University of Canberra provides their students with free parking (not to mention ‘enough’ parking as well). Yet for years, ANU argued that being so closely located to the city, we run the of risk non-university members using our spaces if we made parking free; but every student card tgrants us entry into various rooms and labs over campus. Why can’t this also function as entry into a parking lot for students?

Another plausible solution to provide immediate results could be to merge pay & display parking spaces with permit spots. In doing this, students would be able to park freely provided they have purchased a parking permit and they therefore won’t risk getting booked. Also, visitors or students without permits can park wherever they choose and will not get fined provided they purchase a display ticket. From a business perspective, ANU actually stands to gain even more under this approach.

There are easy solutions to this pressing problem. Most of these suggestions could be thought up in an afternoon. Regardless of what is decided, the one thing that’s certain is the need to pave ANU and put up a parking lot. And preferably soon.

FEATURES// 10

The Demographics Behind Israeli Rejectionism

A

SAMANTHA BRADLEY MODERN Israeli Zionist ideology denies the very existence of the Palestinian state and in doing so also denies the rights of the Palestinian people to their land.

Israel is faced with crippling social problems of its own, and these contribute to a foreign policy that is growing more and more conservative. For the Israeli Right and its allies on the global sphere, the greatest danger to Israel’s future and stability is the unwillingness of the Palestinians to make peace. The Israeli Palestinian conflict does certainly threaten Israel’s security, though not, as the Israeli Right encourage their constituency to believe, because militant and even moderate Palestinians harbour clandestine plans to drive the Jews into the sea. Rather the conflict threatens Israel because of how fundamental it is to the country’s internal politics.

Since 1967, when Israel began occupying the Gaza strip and the West Bank its presence there has played a significant role in structuring Israeli politics. “The Palestinian Question” came to divide and define not only political agendas but also Israel’s own people. Consequently it is a question on which successive governments need to have a strong position, and one that can determine their election by the people of Israel.

In exchange for parliamentary support the Israeli government financially sustains a large and consequentially influential community called the Haredim. The Haredim are the most religious and self-segregated component of Israeli society.

The male members of the Haredim devote their

lives to studying Jewish texts and thus do not contribute to the work force or economy. The female members of the Haredim have, on average, more than 7 children each, and generally lead very family-centric lives, also making little contribution to the work force.

The proportion of the Israeli Haredim is growing. Today they constitute only a little over 20% of the total Jewish population, however, they also constitute over 20% of Jewish people under 20 years old. It is estimated that in 2030 the proportion of Haredim might surpass 20% of Israel’s total Jewish population, and over a third of those are under 20 years old.

According to a recent survey done by Sergio Dellapergola, an academic at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Jewish Israelis, not including the Haredim, are also becoming increasingly conservative. This is reflected in some ways through increasing fertility rates, with each Israeli woman bearing at least three children on average. Fertility among Jewish residents in the West Bank is also at an average of more than five children per woman.

The subsidisation of the Haredim in particu-

lar places a higher burden on the taxpayers. As a result, the largely secular well-educated elites, frustrated by low pay and high taxes have been slowly yet steadily emigrating overseas. This brain-drain has effectively served to lessen the influence of the Left, who were traditionally these secular, well-educated elites. Thus, the political rhetoric regarding the occupation has shifted to the right, pandering not only to the Haredim but also to the conservatives at large, the masses that as in any nation are vulnerable to the Realpolitik and propaganda the regime projects.

The political influence of the Haredim as a group has also been increasing over recent years. In 2003 In 2003 Uri Lupolianski became the first Haredi mayor of Jerusalem. In that election 90% of the Haredim population voted compared to only 32% of other Jewish people. In 1984 Haredi political parties controlled only 6 seats in the Knesset. By 2009 they had 18 seats, which is 15% of the body.

The increasing influence of the Haredim and other conservative Israeli parties is reflected through recent severe policies toward the occupation, and less and less willingness to make concessions to the Palestinians.

It is estimated that in 2030 the proportion of Haredim might surpass 20% of Israel’s total Jewish population, and over a third of those are under 20 years old.

For example, in his 2009 Bar-Llan speech, Netanyahu emphasized the notion that “the root of the conflict has been – and remains – the (Palestinian) refusal to recognise the right of the Jewish people to its own state.” Significantly, the Israeli Prime Minister has also demanded from the Palestinian people: a “demilitarized” Palestinian state, to “overcome Hamas,” to give up the right of return to their homes in what is today Israel, to forsake even internationally recognized and legitimized claims to the city of Jerusalem, and to accept “normal life” in Israeli settlements.

Netanyahu’s Likud Party’s platform also “flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan river” and considers Jewish settlements a “realisation of Zionist values.”

Similarly the former Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party considers the very concept of land for peace “fundamentally flawed.” The programmatic stance of Netanyahu’s coalition partner, Shas, is similarly stagnant and uncompromising, flatly stating, “Jerusalem is not an issue for division” and additionally, that “Shas will work for the continuation of settlements in Judea and Samaria.”

These positions are certainly not reflective of a broad Israeli consensus. They do however demonstrate the rhetoric within the Israeli Government and media, as it panders to the Haredim and conservative majority. Votes and popularity, rather than the safeguarding and enforcement of inalienable human rights and fostering of an eventual peace, being the ultimate objective.

FEATURES// 11

The ‘F’ Word Diving into Fat Politics

AJ NEILSON EACH week at a Melbourne swimming pool, fat girls from all walks of life are donning their floral swimming caps to scull, dive and flip their way past perceptions of what bigger bodies are capable of. These ladies are members of the Melbourne chapter of the “Aquaporkos”, a national organization of fat, femme synchronized swimmers.

Kelli Jean Drinkwater, a model, performer and fat activist, founded the Aquaporkos in Sydney four years ago. A self-confessed mermaid, Drinkwater combined her love of camp synchronized swimming videos as a child with a drive to continue the conversation around fat politics, and create a platform for women to be “Fat, Fierce and Aquatic”.

Drinkwater’s interest in fat activism began at art school over a decade ago. As a photography student, she noted that the images surrounding her did not represent her body, nor how she wanted to perceive herself. She began to model for her own photography as an exploration of fat representation and body politics. Her biggest motivation was creating positive images of bigger bodies. Her work eventually brought her to London, where she spent a decade modeling and collaborating with a number of fashion designers to recreate the image of bigger bodies as powerful, fierce and sexy. Drinkwater returned to Australia to continue the conversation surrounding fat politics, and it was then that Aquaporko was born.

Fat synchronised swimming has existed since the 90s, beginning with a group called the Padded Lilies in Oakland, California. The group was founded by fat activist Shirley Sheffield in 1997, and today stands by the principles of “synchronised swimming, body-acceptance, fat-empow-

erment and fitness at any size”. The group knew that their formation was a political act from the start by refusing to be held back by stereotypes and bias about the capabilities and accepted activities for bigger bodies. The Padded Lilies, and their messages of size-acceptance and empowerment achieved significant fame throughout the US, and their legacy can be seen in the Aquaporkos in Australia today.

Jackie Wykes is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne in Fat Studies, and also the founder of the Melbourne chapter of the Aquaporkos.

She was inspired after hearing Drinkwater speak at the first Australian Fat Studies conference at Macquarie University in 2010. According to Wykes, “Aquaporko is intrinsically political.

It’s about visibility – a group of fat women in flowery bathing caps doing synchronised kicks in the pool is pretty unmissable. It’s also about movement and strength and physical skill and learning that our bodies – which we’re told over and over again are weak and flawed and pathetic – are actually capable. That we can do things that are physically difficult, and that we can do them in a way that is beautiful and elegant and fun and wonderful.”

Wykes is right. Synchronised swimming demands strength, endurance, grace, flexibility and exceptional breath control. While the Porkos are far from being selected for Rio 2014, their routines

would prove extremely challenging for most, regardless of size. Even the simplest of moves (such as The Boost, where you propel yourself head first out of the water without touching the bottom) require a significant amount of physical strength to accomplish. Drinkwater states that all of the Porkos have noticed improvements in their strength, stamina and flexibility. The key realization for most, however, is that their fat bodies are capable of things that they and others thought impossible to achieve, dispelling myths that “all fat people are lazy” and providing a key embodiment of what fat activism is all about.

The mental health benefits of Aquaporko cannot be understated.

Drinkwater states that it is an “incredibly invaluable thing for a lot of members to be able to gain confidence from being en masse and able to walk out to the pool with a lot of other fat girls…[to] have a lot of fun and enjoy themselves and their bodies and not be ashamed”. It allows members to have fun while reclaiming a space that is traditionally isolating and traumatizing for fat bodies. For many, it was the first time they had worn swimwear in years.

In 2012, the Melbourne chapter of the Aquaporkos began preparing for their first public performance. It was this move that inspired Drinkwater to being filming her first documentary – ‘Aquaporko!- – recently premiered at the

Synchronised swimming demands strength, endurance, grace, flexibility and exceptional breath control.

Mardi Gras Film Festival. The film follows the Melbourne Porkos as they prepare for their debut, documenting both the group and personal journeys of many of the members. The film won the People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary at the Mardi Gras Film Festival, and is now gearing up for an international festival tour.

Drinkwater is astonished at the overwhelmingly positive response to the film. She believes that a key point of interest for many is the film’s agenda of reopening the discussion of fat politics. Though not without its critics, Drinkwater believes that the film provides a counter viewpoint to discussions of “fatness”. She argues, “we live in a world where we are dominated by this particular idea of beauty and health that is nowhere near people’s reality. People are excited and refreshed by the critical eye on what motivates the weight loss and diet industry and the social representation of acceptable bodies.”

In a time where the discussion of fat bodies in Australia is heavily weighted towards health issues and obesity, groups such as the Aquaporkos provide a refreshing alternative view – and as Drinkwater states, “fat politics really affects everyone, regardless of their size. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t have personal hang-ups about their size, or what they look like. We all have interesting relationship with their body, which means that everyone is able to contribute to the conversation”.

For information about screenings of Aquaporko!

Visit www.aquaporkofilm.com.

FEATURES// 12

From Dreyfus to Vichy ALICE DAWKINS

France’s dangerous liaisons with anti-Semitism

ALFRED Dreyfus’ name should never have become so well known in France. In the minds of history students today, the name summons images of an ominous era which heralded the beginnings of twentieth century totalitarianism and anti-Semitism. He was by all accounts, an unremarkable captain of Jewish extractions in the French Army. Yet in 1894, he was wrongfully accused of treason by his superiors and unconstitutionally arrested. This single incident awoke an otherwise relatively latent feeling of anti-Semitism in France. Commencing with the outcry of intellectuals such as Emile Zola of the sheer injustice of Dreyfus’ arrest and trial, the nation was divided into ‘Dreyfusard’ and ‘anti-Dreyfusard’ sects. These groups stood to represent the stark contrasts in French society which had existed for some decades; those in favour of Dreyfus were subsequently staunch supporters of liberalism, the free press and widespread equality, the ‘antiDreyfusards’ were typically in favour of the military’s powerful position in society and passionate proponents of the hazily defined idea of ‘France for the French’.

Since the 1789 revolution, France had been plagued by an enduring tension between the ancien régime and the new system, particularly the traditional power blocks of the monarchy, military, and Catholic Church. By the 1890s, a century peppered with instability and the experience

of war with Germany left a nation in a position where such an overwhelming display of extreme French nationalism was all too inviting. The Dreyfus Affair was not the first affront to liberalism in France’s new Republic, but it certainly was one of the most contradictory and corrosive moments in a nation that was founded on principles of liberty, equality and fraternity.

The historian Hannah Arendt argues that the Dreyfus Affair was a preview of twentieth century totalitarianism.

There is certainly some parallels between the anti-Semetic domestic policies of totalitarian France in the 1940s and the ‘anti-Dreyfusard’ mindset during the years of the Affair. Popular animosity towards French Jews was uncomfortably pervasive . It is argued that had Emile Zola, one of Dreyfus’ most vocal supporters, been acquitted at his trial for libel, he would “never have left the courtroom alive”. In the two months alone during 1898, there were 69 anti-Semitic riots throughout France. The locations were diverse, from Lorraine in the east, to Angers in the

west, and Paris in the north. This nationalized animosity had repercussions in the colonies too, with widespread pogroms in Algiers occurring under the complaisant eye of the French military.

The government’s condoning of the military’s anti-Semitic practices in the 1890s occurred in a different context, but took a similar form during the Vichy France years in the Second World War. It is contentious just how much the regime’s leader, Philipe Pétain, really was a product of German fascism, due to a blatantly slavish adherence to the old formulas of not so many decades before; the co-operation of the police, the increasingly military complexion of anti-Semitic mob violence, and uncomfortably strong ties between the military and the government.

In one of the many curious ironies of history, the Dreyfus Affair was a significant impetus for the strengthening of the French Left and the galvanizing of the free press. The role of writers and academics in society became increasingly influential, inspired by Emile Zola’s open letter

The Dreyfus Affair was not the first affront to liberalism in France’s new Republic, but it certainly was one of the most contradictory and corrosive moments

“J’Accuse”, which had transformed the Dreyfus arrest from a piece of political news to grounds for a polarizing ideological offensive. It is argued that the eventual dissolving of the Third Republic in 1940 into the hands of collaborating forces was a direct result from a decline of leaders who were farsighted, active, and politically unswerving enough to counter the high generals and the institutionalized anti-Semitism which accompanied it.

The Dreyfus Affair was never quite put to rest until President Chirac drew the matter to a close by issuing a public apology in 2006. It is a gross and facetious leap to take between 19th century anti-Semitism and 21st century racial profiling, but it is of some concern that the very same administration proposed a nationwide burqa ban in 2003, prompting the debate of just how much the French nation learnt from the anti-liberalist years of the Affair. Just as worldwide Jewish immigration did in the 19th century, France’s widespread colonialism and subsequent immigration has changed the very face of what makes a French citizen. It is particularly timely for a nation which is currently faced with stark integration issues to re-examine the years of Dreyfus, for some of the answers may well lie in the outcries of the Dreyfusards from all those years ago.

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// Cover by Elise Horspool

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Education Reform

TASMAN VAUGHAN ANUSA VICE-PRESIDENT

IT’S probably not a surprise to hear that an education provider the size of ANU has many education reforms and changes underway. However, the University and ANUSA are often not as proficient as they should be in communicating changes so I’ve set out to try and write about what is currently going on in the occasionally exciting, but usually bureaucratic world of ANU education reform.

First some background. The University’s staff spend a hell of a lot of time in things called Education Committees. Every academic College has one, and these Committees all feed into University Education Committee. Policy also gets chucked around in Education Standards and Quality Committee before ending up on the big kids’ (think College Deans and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor) table: the Academic Board. Any major reform gets passed here and those big kids can get pretty narky if they don’t get their way. Luckily, ANUSA’s President has a seat at this table (and all the other Committees mentioned) and is able to keep them all in check, or often make them even narkier then they were before. That’s because it’s the President’s job to bring the student perspective to this group that has tonnes of world-class educational nous, but often less understanding of what its like to be a student in 2013.

Flexible double degrees passed through Academic Board on 8 March and are the biggest change you’ll read about here. From 2014 you’ll essentially be able to combine any two degrees at ANU. Students enrol in one of three groups: Arts, Social Sciences, Sciences and Business Group, Law Group or Engineering and Advanced Computing Group. These groups are designated by ATAR, and once you get in you can go about picking almost any other degree, as long as the ATAR for it isn’t more than the group you’ve been accepted into. If you’re interested, chuck ‘flexible double ANU’ into Google. However, unless you’re in first year you won’t be able to transfer into it so probably don’t bother. What should concern you is the much higher level of knowledge Academic Advisors will need in order to properly assist double-degree students under this new system. It’s no secret that the academic advice system at the ANU is currently inadequate and ANUSA will be pushing to ensure that this is at the forefront of the planning and implementation process. Hopefully a month-long wait for academic advice will be a thing of the past following the implementation of what is a really great new double degree system.

They are certainly thinking about the issues surrounding Academic Advising, as the Academic Advising Charter was recently put before

the Student Experience Committee (ironically named given that it only has two students on it).

The Charter is a great initiative and “is intended to clarify the responsibilities of both academic advisers and students”. However, the suggested student “responsibility” to “meet with an academic advisor at least once a year during your studies and more frequently if you encounter problems or need clarification of your program” certainly isn’t possible under the current Academic Advising system. ANUSA will be pushing to ensure that it is possible and that Academic Advising is properly done and resourced. Any feedback on your academic advice experiences is very useful for lobbying in this area and can be directed to sa.vicepres@anu.edu. au.

Another super-dooper concern is the caps that the government have placed on Associate Degrees and Graduate Diplomas. It seems that the Government’s uncapping of Bachelor Degree places across the country has worked a little too well and Swanny is cutting tertiary education spending in any other place he can. Little did he realise that the biggest impact that these cuts have had at ANU have been in accessing Asian Language courses.

The College of Asia and the Pacific have people champing at the bit to join the Asian Century, but no funds to let them in. The Chancelry is busy lobbying the Government for more money, lets hope they succeed.

One subject you don’t need government funding for is Nobel Laureate Brian Schmidt‘s Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). MOOCs are setting the Chancelry all-a-flutter and they’ll soon be launching Laureate Schmidt’s Astronomy MOOC to the universe. The University is certainly getting their money’s worth out of Laureate Schmidt aren’t they? He also does weddings, birthdays and Bat Mitzvahs.

That’s all from me. If you’re interested in education issues at the ANU then come along to ANUSA’s Education Committee (yes, we have one too) run by your Education Officer, Amy MacKinnon (sa.education@anu.edu.au). For more information about anything else ed-YOU-cation related, get in contact with me at sa.vicepres@anu.edu. au. Also, ANUSA will also be undertaking a survey on what its like to be on Academic Probation at ANU in the coming weeks. Email your President at sa.president@anu.edu.au if you want your experiences heard in the mean time or keep an eye on anusa.com.au for information and so much more.

Education within the ANU

V

Deregulation without Representation

AMY MACKINNON ANUSA EDUCATION OFFICER

IN his widely publicised closing address to the 2013 Universities Australia Conference, former Treasury Secretary and Executive Chairman of the ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy Ken Henry questioned how much of the existing burden of regulation of the higher education sector is necessary. He stated that if it were up to him, he would deregulate university fees. This statement, preceded by Tony Abbott’s promise of a “hands off” approach to the higher education sector and an open call by the head of the Business Council of Australia to deregulate university fees has left many in the sector questioning the future of university funding after the next election.

This discussion is symptomatic of a bigger problem—it isn’t a spontaneous proposal. Australia’s higher education sector is drastically underfunded. In the face of a lack of significant funding increases by government and a push (by the same government) to raise the number of 24-35 year olds who have a Bachelors degree to 40%, key players in the sector have moved the debate from what the government should pay to who should be footing the bill, presenting students as the viable alternative to make up the funding shortfall. But is this really the debate we should be having?

The fact is that Australia’s level of public investment in higher education (as a percentage of GDP) is ranked 25th out of the 29 “advanced economies”. The 2008 Bradley Review of Higher Education found that Australia was the only OECD country in which the “public contribution to higher education remained at the same level in 2005 as it had been in 1995”. These findings were further reinforced by the Higher Education Base Funding Review that found that “commonwealth funding per student place had fallen by 23% in real terms from 1995 to 2010”.

The question arises: While the proposed system of student funded gap-filling is HELP-able (HELP is the new acronym for HECS) it seems to be harmless... right? No, not really.

In light of the recent uncapping of student

places and the subsequent rise in the number of Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) loans issued, debate has been sparked around the HELP system and its cost to the Australian taxpayer.

Currently our national HELP debt stands at $26.3 billion, an estimated $6 billion of which will never be repaid. This coupled with an annual cost of $1.5 billion to run the system and an annual $580 million interest payment is a substantial cost to the Australian taxpayer that would grow inordinately if student fees were increased.

Despite the fact that getting rid of the HELP system would be (electorally) highly ill advised in Australia, on top of the fact that both parties have dismissed the prospect unilaterally, this trend raises significant questions around how and how much you and future students will pay for university.

Even though the doomsday scenarios are a long way off, the prospects of fee deregulation and changes to the way students pay their fees are real ones. With a Liberal government tipped to win the next election, Abbott’s ruling out of a increase to base funding for universities and his failure to discount the possibility of fee increases leaves the large gap in higher education funding looming.

With all of these prospective changes sitting just over the horizon there are things we ought to do so as to make sure our education and the future of higher education funding is safe. In short - we need to kick up a fuss, we need to make noise and we need to let all parties know that higher education should be a funding priority for any future government. For the first time the peak body representing the Australian higher education sector, Universities Australia, has launched a public campaign, which is a sure sign that students should be too. After all, we are the only ones who will protect our own interests and the interests of those that will come after us. We know the reality that university students face and we know what an immense financial pressure university study can be and we are in the best position to communicate it to government. All we have to do is start.

Universities Australia Conference

Keeping Perspectives on Education Global

VINCENT CHIANG

WE obviously want our education to be worldclass - that’s why we are so proud of the ANU’s international university rankings, why we are so proud of the fact that our lecturers are often at the head of their fields. This want seems also to drive many of the more physically international aspects of our education, particularly in relation to programs such as exchange, which students embark on to gain knowledge from a global perspective (or alternatively, so that they have an excuse to go traveling).

What is interesting, however, is that despite our want for a world-class education, and despite our opportunities with exchange and so forth, we seldom discuss how Australia itself actually relates to the international community educationally. When Australian universities implement controversial educational changes, for instance, the ensuing discussion seems inevitably to be focused on how this is good or bad in relation to the status quo in Australia: very seldom do we also get comparisons of the new models with what has been tried and tested in Europe, or Asia, or North America, and very seldom do we ask whether we could learn something from our similarly world-class brethren.

The problem with this is that we could indeed learn a lot by looking more globally. It goes without saying that an understanding of the international educational landscape would do wonders if we were currently policy-makers or educators. Even as students in the system, however, an awareness for Australia’s place in the context of international education could help improve our lobbying, discussion, and even appreciation for our own university system. It could also lead us -to becoming better students.

As an example of what I mean, consider the 0idea of tutorials. It’s probably the case that at the ANU, we take tutorials as they are for granted; they are just things that exist, that we are expect-

unrealistic to suggest that the students in these circumstances do not also feel annoyed by their workload, it seems also implicit in Oxford students’ acceptance of this workload that they understand this is part of the fantastic opportunity that they have been provided with, that being pushed is all a part of attending one of the world’s most prestigious institutions. Perhaps we could feel similarly for our own workloads - or perhaps we could just appreciate that at least we have it better than some poor Britons.

Even more broadly, student culture is another perfect instance of an area where a cross-cultural understanding of university could be beneficial.

In the United States, university newspapers are often daily news publications, more widely-read than even the local city newspapers. This is all driven by a can-do attitude, a feeling by the student body at such American universities that anything is possible, so long as enough thought and work is put into it. I know that I personally find looking to the States incredibly inspiring in my own work with Woroni.

The point of all this is not to say that we should feel depressive about our own institution educationally in comparison to our international brethren: once again, a global perspective on education is important here, as it helps us realise also that overall.

Similarly, there is the issue of workload. At the we are incredibly lucky at the ANU, that we are ANU, we often complain about being overworked a leader in international learning with a very in certain courses (or otherwise lord it over our strong culture of educational achievement and friends when we have courses with crazily ab- incredible opportunities. What I simply want sent assessment) - in fact, certain faculties are told to say is that we shouldn’t stay narrowminded not to provide too much reading or people will either way - we should see things from the big simply not do it - and yet this might be neither picture, to understand reality as it is, to provide appropriate nor productive once judged from a a broader framework for our appreciation of our global perspective. At Oxford, for instance, many university. It is only with comprehension of the undergraduate students are expected to produce international tertiary context that we can make a sizable (often two-three thousand word) essay the most of being at Australia’s National Univerevery week, whilst also doing incredible amounts sity. of readings or problem sets. Whilst it would be ed to rock up to for course credit, that are usually filled with either dead-pan discussion or intensive, crazy-asserted-people-driven debate. But this is not what tutorials necessarily have to be.

In some international universities, such as Maastrich University in the Netherlands, tutorials are primarily student-driven, acting as a contrast to lectures; lecturers are encouraged to prompt very little discussion at all. The result of all this is that tutorials directly address the students’ concerns, and that moreover, students are encouraged to actually do extensive work before tutorials, leading to a more direct engagement with academic knowledge and better educational outcomes

Higher education in a global context

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What edX can do for you

LILLIAN WARD

AFTER all the press over the ANU joining edX for the last few weeks one could be forgiven for viewing their decision to become a participating university in a MOOC as a largely philanthropic one and the specific choice of edX due to a desire for association with the prestige of HArvad and MIT. While these are certainly motivating factors it turns out that the ANU’s decision to join edX was motivated by the three things that drives most of our Chancellery’s decisions; access to research, improving academics and advertising.

In joining the edX consortium the ANU has gained immediate access to the as yet unpublished research on online and on campus student learning gathered by the other edX universities.

In an interview with Professor Marnie Hughes-

Warrington, our Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic revealed that a study out of MIT has discovered that the majority of students in a standard lecture display less brain activity than when they are asleep.

This fact, while potentially unsurprising to many students, is deeply worrying from an educational perspective. It’s access to this kind of research that is fuelling the edX universities desire to overhaul elements of their on campus education. Data collection is on going but could potentially lead to drastic changes in the structure of lecturer-student interactions.

Professor Hughes-Warrington also revealed that of the reported 700,000 individuals taking part in edX courses at present, 40% are graduates

of a tertiary program, 40% are currently enrolled in a university course and the remaining 20% high-school aged, with 5% of these being under 14.

It’s the first and last categories of these participants that the ANU is most excited about. The first provides an opportunity to engage with alumni and possibly attract graduate students and the second gives the ANU a chance to showcase it’s programs to the very best of potential undergraduates.

All in all, in the choice between edX and other MOOCs such as Coursera, which the University of Melbourne joined in 2012, it appears that the ANU has made the right choice, for its self and for its students.

#WTF #HIGHER EDUCATION

AMY MACKINNON

OUR generation is bombarded with statements that the youth of today is immensely powerful, incredibly intelligent and capable of creating change on a scale that has never been witnessed.

However, many of us are becoming increasingly apathetic, frustrated and disengaged with a political system that seems to be stuck in quicksand.

We stare at articles and news reports and wonder what we could possibly do if the things we hold dear like our degrees, or the crucial things that enable us to be at university, were threatened. We are told by the major parties—many of whose representatives received their education for free—that we should applaud the changes they have made for students, despite a rate of youth allowance that is below the Henderson Poverty Line, larger tutorial sizes and dwindling investment in the arts and deregulation of the higher education sector. We are told that we should accept the fact that our university public investment level ranks 25th out of 29 advanced economies (far below the OECD average).

In light of this, have you ever stared across Union Court at the ANUSA offices and wondered WTF do those *insert expletive term to describe a group of people* do?

ANUSA acts as the primary advocate for the undergraduate student body. Its representatives sit on University Council: representing you on over 16 committees within the university, advocate on your behalf to university management and get elbow deep in the acronym-laden and messy world of higher education policy. This level of access to decision-making on campus is unique to the ANU and ANUSA—each committee and council meeting allows your elected representatives to make your voice heard.

However, without your input our voice is an empty one.

You know the issues. You live them every day when you go to lectures and tutorials, pay rent or make hard choices about where your money should be spent. You are the fundamental experts on the state of higher education today—yet it is not your voices that are on the news, talk shows or in the newspaper.

In 2013 ANUSA wants the issues that are important to you to be front and centre in the debate on higher education that is currently underway. As a result, ANUSA is reinventing its Education Committee and as in previous years it will be open to all undergraduate students. However, this year it will take on a model that is more inclusive. Participation requires no prior study of the higher education sector, simply a desire to make university a better experience for all students and a willingness to learn.

2013 is an election year and no party has put forward a concrete vision for the future of higher education in Australia. Consequently, Universities Australia has for the first time launched a public campaign about higher education funding, presenting students with an opportunity to influence the higher education debate from the start of the election cycle.

So stand up and be counted, it’s your future on the line.

The next meeting of the education committee will be on Tuesday the 26th of March in the ANUSA boardroom at 6pm. Find us on facebook at ANUSA Education Committee 2013.

Accommodation Costs As most students operate on a tight budget, the cost of living can be a large burden which may greatly affect a student’s overall university experience

Average weekly rent of colleges ($): Burgmann Bruce Hall Johns XXIII Ursula Hall UniLodge B&G Fenner

$331.00 (catered) $329.20 (catered) $325.00 (catered) $317.90 (catered) From $230.00 $181.90 $175.00

Median household rents in the ACT have risen from $260 per week in 2006 to $380 per week in 2011. This was a 46.2 per cent increase over the five year period, but this increase was the second lowest of all the states and territories after NSW (42.9 per cent) // The median household rent in the ACT was 33.3 per cent above the national median of $285 per week in 2011. Compared with other capital cities, in 2011 Canberra had The highest median weekly rent of all capital cities at $380 (Canberra also had highest median weekly rent in 2006) Average weekly rent in Canberra suburbs: Turner Braddon Belconnen Ainslie Dickson

$260.00 $250.00 $220.00 $200.00 $165.00

Education Issues in Your College Unfortunately due to time restrictions the College of Business and Economics was not able to submit a report.

Education and the Cost of Living National Wage Statistics Currently the full-time minimum wage is $15.96 per hour or $606.40 per week. Meanwhile, casuals covered by the national minimum wage get an extra 23% ($19.63 per hour).

Student Placements & Unpaid Work UNPAID work can include work trials, volunteer work, work experience and internships. It also includes a vocational placement as defined under the Fair Work Act 2009. It is lawful if it is a genuine work experience, vocational placement or volunteering arrangement. Trials are generally used to find out whether a job applicant is suited for a job.

As a general rule, a prospective employee must be paid for any trial work they have performed to establish their suitability for a role.

If you believe you have not been paid for a trial or otherwise mistreated by an employer, call the Australian Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.

Arts RUOHAN ZHAO

AFTER a controversial year in 2012, the faculty is looking to avoid further negative publicity as they continue with restructuring the College. ANUSA will work to make sure that communication channels remain open and that the student body is kept up to date through information sharing.

The main issues this year will predictably revolve around budget cuts. The introduction of the micro-load levy means that all courses with less than 2 students enrolled will be under mandatory review for disestablishment. CASS has the highest amount of these courses and is eager to clean up its course catalogue. Moreover, the recent School of Cultural Inquiry merge has reminded us that the budget cuts are still on the forefront of the college’s agenda and that other vulnerable schools are likely to face change and restructure. It is hard to predict the nature of these cuts; a big challenge is how to appropriately respond and engage the student body so they too are actively on top of these issues.

Honours reform is another major agenda item.

After the introduction of the new Level 8 Austral-

ian Qualifications Framework, CASS is currently conducting an honours reform inquiry which as of yet, has not made any conclusive changes and recommendations. This honours reform is set to come into effect by 2015 and may impact upon many students currently completing their Arts degree.

CASS is currently in a period of transition. With the introduction of new degrees, such as vertical degrees and the incoming flexible double degrees, 2013 will be an experimental year as we see how these new degrees unfold and, in particular, how CASS administration will deal with an increasing number of new and diverse courses and degrees. Despite this, these new degrees will give students choice and control byeond the scope of the conventional combined programs.

Ultimately, CASS is the largest college on campus and highly diverse. No matter what challenges arise, we hope to keep strengthening the links between different schools within CASS and promote co-operation between the students and the College.

Asia and the Pacific ASHLEIGH RALPH NICK HORTON 2013 is already shaping up to be an exciting year for the College of Asia and the Pacific as major changes are being made to undergraduate degree requirements and administrative processes.

One of the most anticipated changes being made is the new Year-In-Asia program. Traditionally, this program was completed as a graduate diploma and involved a year abroad studying at a partner university in the region during the later years of undergrad. Due to regulatory restrictions, this unique ANU program is being brought back into the undergraduate degree. The College has begun a process of consultation with staff and students to determine the best way to run this program from 2014. The new configuration will not be announced until next month however increased flexibility is one of the chief objectives. It has been suggested that the Year-In-Asia program become an honours year or that participating students be awarded a specially-named degree, such as a Bachelor of Asia Pacific Studies (Specialist) or similar. Exciting suggestions include allowing students to study abroad in English, incorporating an internship component for credit, breaking the year into two separate semesters abroad at different stages of the degree and enabling firstyear students to start their CAP degree at a foreign university undertaking intensive language study before they even step foot on the ANU campus.

The exact reincarnation of this well-respected program is still undecided and all students are strongly encouraged to make their opinions or suggestions known to the College via their student reps (sa.cap@anu.edu.au) or at the BAPS review session in the Student Space on Tuesday 19 March 5pm.

All undergraduate degrees at CAP are currently being reviewed to ensure they achieve the intended academic outcomes while improving student satisfaction. It has been noted that CAP degrees are notoriously inflexible, especially for those studying double-degrees, as students are required to have a double major. The College is currently looking into the possibility of allowing stu-

dents to undertake 4-course minors, which would allow for greater breadth of learning and more flexibility in course sequencing. Current majors offered by the College are also being reviewed to ensure that the requirements are pragmatic and that included courses are relevant to the desired learning outcomes. Other issues that have been raised for action include more consistency in course requirements across the College and better academic feedback to students.

CAP will be opening a new student office in early Semester Two this year to facilitate more efficient administrative processes for students. Currently student administration at CAP is managed on a school-by-school basis, which is excessively confusing for staff and students alike. This new student office, likely to be located in the Coombs Building, will become a one-stop-shop for all enquiries. This new office has the potential to grow into a real student hub for CAP students with the possibility of student employment opportunities, office space for College reps and Asia-Pacific related clubs and societies as well as general hangout space. Students will be invited to have input as the project evolves.

The College of Asia and the Pacific is a small, but expanding college which prides itself on its high quality student experience and friendly, approachable atmosphere. It is paramount that students get involved and make their voices heard this year as the College undergoes major review processes and determines the future student experience at CAP. If you want to be able to study a Korean language minor, spend a semester studying in English in Hong Kong followed by an internship in Java and then work part-time in an office job on campus, get involved! Like the ANU Students Association Asia-Pacific Studies Faculty Representatives facebook page, email your CAP student representatives (sa.cap@anu.edu.au) with your thoughts and feedback (about anything, at any time) and read the emails the CAP administration sends you. Get amongst it!

ANTONIJA KURBALIJA KELLY KRISTOFERSON

Law

1. AQF and Honours Reform As in 2012, one of the major issues facing the College of Law in 2013 is ensuring that all courses comply with the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) accreditation standards. Of particular importance is the LLB (Honours) degree, which will require considerable restructure in order to comply with AQF Level 8 requirements and is therefore currently under review. The ANUSA faculty representatives are engaging in ongoing advocacy to ensure that AQF compliance does not come at the cost of the quality and breadth of the educational experience offered to ANU law students and in particular, that students currently enrolled in the LLB degree are not adversely affected by any changes which may be necessitated

by AQF. 2. Class Representatives The importance of regular and ongoing dialogue between staff and students emerged as one of the key issues within the College of Law in 2012.

Following on from 2012, the ANUSA faculty representatives are working alongside the College of Law to implement a more accessible and rigorous mode of staff/student communication through the class representative system. We hope to draw and improve upon the class representative models, which are currently in place in other faculties,

in order to ensure that all students have easily accessible and efficient avenues for communication. The opportunity to provide ongoing feedback to lecturers allows students to play an active role in shaping their learning experience as it occurs and, unlike SELT reviews, allows students to provide feedback while still enrolled in a course.

3. Flexible Learning The introduction in 2013 of a variety of new degree options, including vertical and flexible double degrees, is a welcome reform which allows students greater freedom to tailor their educational experience to suit their particular interests and needs. However, the increase in course options also has the potential to drastically increase the strain on an already struggling timetabling system. The ANUSA faculty representatives are working to ensure that in responding to new timetabling demands, the College of Law places the interests of students as the top priority. In particular, we are advocating for a continued commitment to flexibility in learning. This can only be achieved through the continued provision of options such as compulsory recording of lectures and a variety of tutorial times as well as greater staff awareness and understanding of the demanding time-pressure that most students are under.

Engineering and Computer Science CAROLINE SKINNER SANJAY GOVINDAN

THIS year as the ANUSA reps for the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS), we would like our three main focus areas to be communication, computers and community. We would like to initially focus on increasing students’ awareness of the services that we, as their ANUSA representatives provide and ensure they know who to come to with issues they may have.

We’ve started up a Facebook page that you can find by searching for ANUSA College of Engineering and Computer Science Reps.

One of the main things we would like to focus on hthis year is the optimal use of resources within CECS. This is particularly pertinent for the compulsory engineering courses such as ENGN2217 that needs a software program only available on

n

the fifty CECS Engineering lab computers. We would like to see computer labs that use free software run on information commons computers to free up the computer labs for the use of this specialised software.

Finally we would like to increase our presence at CECS events, as well as those events run by the ESA and CSSA. We are starting this through attendance at the CECS SRC meetings and hopefully for the first time through attendance at the CECS Education Committee meetings.

We are looking forward to the year and hope that it will be a fun one, with some really positive changes and developments in CECS. From your lovely CECS reps Sanjay and Caroline.

LAURA WEY ZAIGA THOMANN

Science

AS young Scientists, Zaiga and Laura wanted to communicate their goals for 2013 as your ANUSA Science Representatives in a table, scatter plot or lab book entry. They settled on these bullet points: 1.Unify the Science Community a. Ensure the umbrella Science Society hosts another successful Science Ball and a Careers Night for members of all individual science societies b.Hold regular meetings with the executives of all science clubs and societies to facilitate jointly hosted events, such as the upcoming Lab Coat Party c.Host luncheons for all Class Representatives in order to increase communication and networking 2.Engage a greater proportion of Science students a.

Increase the visibility and accessibility to the ANUSA Science Representatives i.Come say hi to Laura and Zaiga during our regular office hours from 12.30 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. each Wednesday during the teaching periods in the

Brian Kenyon Student Space ii.Like our facebook page https://www.facebook. com/ScienceReps2013 to stay connected iii.Shoot us an email at sa.science@anu.edu.au iv.Hope you liked our Science Showbags from OWeek!

3.Strengthen existing academic support services a.Extend PAL and Peer Mentoring programs to all first year Science courses and some second year ones too b.Reclaim Drop-in Spaces for students, they’re not just more tearooms for academics! c.Educate Class Representatives about their role and support them with our presence at all Class Representative meetings A quarter of a term in, these projects are well underway.

If you have any feedback or ideas Zaiga and Laura would love to hear from you!

How Does HECS work?

THE Higher Education Contributions Scheme (HECS) assists Commonwealth supported students with an interest free loan for tuition fees paid directly to the university. Students repay their loan through a 4% tax once their Australian annual income reaches $30,000. The maximum rate of repayment is 8% for incomes over $60,000.

There is a 20% discount for upfront payments and a 10% discount for voluntary repayments of over $500. However, because HECS repayments are taken from taxation of income earned in Australia, all graduates who work overseas can avoid the loan indefinitely. SSAF can also be put towards a HECS loan.

You start paying back your HECS debt when your income reaches $30 000 // The minimum repayment rate is a 4% income tax // The maximum repayment rate is 8%, for income of over $60 000 // There is a 20% discount on course costs for upfront payments and a 10% discount for voluntary repayments of over $500.

Youth Allowance YOUTH Allowance is financial assistance provided by Centrelink for Australian residents aged between 18 and 24 studying full-time. For single adults living at home the maximum fortnightly payment is $268.50, while for those living away from home it is $407.50. These students may also receive rent assistance, which is a maximum fortnightly payment of $121.

Eligibility is based on students’ income and assets. For students still dependent on their parents for financial support, their parents’ income and assets are also taken into account. A Parental Means Test is taken to ensure that the parents’ finances are below the threshold – youth allowance payments affected for incomes over $47,815 while payments are withheld if assets exceed $627,000. Business and farm assets are subject to

What is SSAF and How Does it Affect Me?

IN October 2011, Parliament passed legislation a 75% discount. Students are no longer subject to allowing universities and other higher education a parental means test once they are over the age providers to charge a fee for student services and amenities of a non-academic nature. The fee may of 22.

Students are considered independent if they be spent by the ANU on the likes of sporting and have worked for an average of 30 hours per week recreational activities, employment and career for 18 months of a two-year period. Rural and re- advice, childcare, financial advice and food sermote students can prove independence by work- vices.

This year, the ANU will charge the fee of $273 ing an average of 15 hours for at least two years. for full-time students and $136.50 for part-time Working students can earn up to $405 each students—the definition of “full-time student” befortnight without affecting youth allowance paying one who is taking three or more subjects in a ment, but it is increasingly reduced for every dolsemester. lar earned above this sum. Working credits allow While the only students exempt from paying employed students to keep more of their youth allowance in addition to their income by reducing this effect that income has on fortnightly payment.

the fees are Inbound Exchange Students, there is a new HELP loan called SA HELP, which is available to students enrolled in an award program.

The ANU has estimated that it will collect approximately $3.98m in SSAF fees this year. With this money the university has proposed to allocate roughly $1.2m to ANUSA and $1.3m to PARSA, ANU Student Media and ANU Sport. The university has taken the rest of the money as ‘top slice’ funds to provide things such as a student welfare position, ovals maintenance, enhancement of recreational facilities and various admin positions across the student associations.

Full time students are charged $273 SSAF // Parttime students are charged $136.50 SSAF // You can put your SSAF on HECS // The ANU will collect approximately $3.98m in SSAF fees this year // Youth allowance available for full-time students $1.2m to ANUSA // $1.3m to PARSA, ANU Stubetween 18-24 // For students living at home the dent Media and ANU Sport // Remaining funds to maximum fortnightly payment is $268.50 // For subside things like student welfare and facilities. students living away from home the maximum fortnightly payment is $407.50 // Students living away from home my be eligible for rent assistance, which is a maximum fortnightly payment of $121 // Working students can earn up to $405 each fortnight without affecting youth allowance ANUSA’s primary function is to provide support following the resignation of their former officer, for ANU’s undergraduate students, for which the Don Malcolmson, their free legal service is tempayment. porarily unavailable. Meanwhile, guidance can association provides four branches of help.

What Support Services Does ANUSA provide?

The student assistance team is run by Bronwyn Evans and Laurin Milsom and can help students with practical issues as well as providing emergency financial assistance. Located in the ANUSA offices above the Commonwealth Bank, these student assistant officers can offer information about Centrelink while also assisting with applications for and appeals regarding the Financial Aid Fund, emergency food vouchers and accommodation bursaries.

ANUSA also provides legal assistance, however

be sought for students facing disciplinary or academic processes through ANUSA Vice-President Tasman Vaughan.

Finally, the Brian Kenyon Student Space has become a focal point for students on campus, posing as a venue to relax, study or hang out. Open weekdays from 8AM to 5PM, it offers a range of services such as $1 coffee, a second-hand book swap, kitchenette facilities and exhibition space for student artists.

ANUSA can help provide emergency financial assistance // They can provide emergency food vouchers and accommodation bursaries // Help with Centrelink applications and appeals // Provide free legal assistance, however this service is temporarily unavailable // Assist students facing disciplinary or academic processes // Brian Kenyon Student Space.

Education Within a Generation

CHARLEE-SUE FRAIL NATALIE IRONFIELD

The education gap between Indigenous and nonIndigenous Australians is rapidly closing. CharleeSue Frail and Natalie Ironfield share their personal experiences with Woroni.

rate among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Employment opportunities that can be gained through the Australian Public Service Cadetship Program and the CareerTrackers Indigenous Internship Program have assisted many students throughout the completion of their studies. On top of financial assistance, these program have also allowed us to develop as young professionals so that we are prepared for the workforce upon graduation.

Given the low number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering into higher education, and the limited understanding about university within families and communities, support networks are critical for the successful completion of university. There are various Indigenous educational support units within universities across Australia. At the ANU, the Tjabal Centre provides an array of support services that encourage enrolment and retention. Furthermore, each year the Indigenous student collective at the ANU is invited to attend the National Indigenous Tertiary Education Student Games. Last year we met in Cairns with students at universities from all across Australia. This allowed us to build great support networks all across the country with like-minded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

When considering past generations of both of our families, completing school was not a norm, nor was entering into higher education. Thankfully, the emphasis on the importance of education drastically shifted among our families and among the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Today, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are no longer excluded, restricted or segregated from educational opportunities. Rather, we have seen an emergence of pathways and support mechanisms that encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to enter tertiary education, achieve their educational desires and improve their life opportunities.

We have already seen the change that one generation can make. With the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduates expected to double by 2020, a new generation of leaders will emerge to create educational pathways for future generations. A positive change that this nation needs.

HISTORICALLY, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s engagement in the education system was not a positive experience, with a history of exclusion and segregation. This consequently led to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering the workforce at a younger age.

Furthermore there existed a strong culture of institutionalised racism that inhibited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from pursuing their educational aspirations. Over time this led to a significant gap between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population and their educational attainments.

The 1960s marked the emergence of a shift in education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with prominent Indigenous leaders arising, such as -Charlie Perkins, who graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts. This was a positive step, and a much needed shift for our people, who werelong denied the chance to achieve their educational aspirations.

This initial increase in the education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had far reaching effects for the community, and renewed hope among many for a positive future.

By 2010 there were 25,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in total who graduated from university throughout a wide range of disciplines. While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people currently only make up 1.09% of university enrolments, there are signs that this figure is increasing. From 2006 to 2011 there was a 40% increase in Indigenous enrolments in higher education.

As Aboriginal students who make up part of this small, but increasing figure, we are proud to be part of the education movement. Despite the fact that this has been a slow process, we are starting to see positive shifts in education through the entire education system. We believe that in-creases in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university enrolments can be attributed to the great support mechanisms that are available to assist us from the time that we enrol in university, The Tjabal Indigenous Higher Education up until the time that we graduate.

Centre can be found in the Lower Melville Unfortunately financial instability is one of the Hall, Building 12 and is open weekdays 9am to major barriers to attending university, and money 5pm. They can also be contacted via is one of the major reasons for the high drop-out tjabal.centre@anu.edu.au

Financial instability is one of the major barriers to attending university, and money is one of the major reasons for the high drop-out rate

Queer* Collective THE Queer* Department is part of ANUSA that advocates on behalf of Queer* students. The Queer* Department is open to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans*gendered, Intersex and Queer students. The Department runs Jellybabies, the ANU GLBTIQ social club, manages the Queer Space, a GLGTIQ-centric Safe Space, runs Queery discussion groups, and also generally represents the in-

terests of these students. The Queer* Department has a website www.anusasexualitydepartment. wordpress.com and also a Facebook page as well.

The ANU Ally network exists as well to support Queer* students on campus, and provides training for students who want the campus to be a safe place to work or study free from discrimination and harassment.

Women’s Department THE Women’s Collective is a small, non-political group of women who implement women’s policy at the ANU. The Collective meets regularly and is always looking for more women to join! They run both autonomous and non-autonomous events on campus, host collective book club sessions and Feminist movie nights, manage the Rapun-

zel Room (a woman-only safe space), and run advocacy campaigns on campus to raise awareness about the issues that ANU women face. Their website is anuwomensdepartment.com and they have a great Facebook group which you can subscribe to for updates.

Disabilities ANU’s Disabilities Services Centre assists students with a disability to participate fully in their program of study by providing advice and support to minimize the impact of disability in education. Students are required to register with the Disability Services Centre before services can be provided. They offer services such as alternative exam arrangements, equipment and software loans, note-taking for exams, scholarships and bursaries and more.

As well, ANU Disabilities is a collection within ANUSA that is responsible for advocating on

behalf of students with disabilities. They work by giving a voice to students with disabilities to make sure that these students are represented and treated fairly like any other student. They run meetings, share personal stories, and run campaigns on campus. Their 2012 campaign, Spoons, took a personal metaphor and used to engage others on thinking about disabilities on ANU campus and around the world! ANU Disabilities has a website (www.anudisabilities.com) and a Facebook page – check them out!

International Students THE international Students’ Department takes care of the needs of students who come from outside of Australia to study at the ANU. The ISD represents international students to the University, NUS and the Government to tackle policy issues, provide services to make the transition to

university in a foreign country easier (including English language courses, accommodation help, advice on working condition), and also organize social, cultural and academic events including the International Ball, O-Week activities and public seminars.

ANU Counselling Services ANU has the amazing University Counselling Centre, open for use by all students! Located in the building next to the gym, the counseling service is a free and confidential resource for all mental health needs. Trained, professional counselors offer advice and assistance on matters ranging from managing procrastination to dealing with depression at university. In addition to counseling, the University Counselling Centre runs group programs and workshops (such as an introduction to mindfulness), public seminars and a paired walk-

ing program called “Get Up and Go”. As well, there are even online resources such as “MoodGym” and “The Desk” which are online free programs that provide students with strategies and skills for wellbeing. The University Counselling Centre is an awesome and underutilized service for ANU students that deserves more attention! Mental health is just as important as physical health and should be cared for just as much.

FEATURES// 21

Chinese Bigwigs Congregate

Thousands flock to Beijing for the annual NPC and CPPCC sessions SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA

BRENDAN FORDE PUBLIC attention in China has been focused in the past on the so called “two meetings”; the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing.

The NPC is China’s supreme legislative body, comprised of 2,987 delegates. Of those 2,099 are members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with 888 coming from smaller CCP affiliated political parties. Delegates are elected indirectly by provincial assemblies to represent broad geographic constituencies, including Hong Kong, Macau, the People’s Liberation Army and one symbolically representing Taiwan. They come to Beijing for two weeks every year, traveling to the Great Hall of the People to fulfill their responsibilities. This spectacle is a classic element of contemporary Chinese politics. As delegates step

off planes or trains, they are met by the media, usually with light questions on their goals for the coming session. Delegates from ethnic minorities are inevitably dressed in traditional costume, presenting an image of diversity.

As the national legislature the NPC nominally holds significant authority and responsibility including electing the Premier, State Council and President. While the NPC is not quite as irrelevant as the overused term “rubber stamp” suggests, most of the significant steps it undertakes represent ratification of decisions made earlier by the CCP leadership. This is not because the CCP commands a majority of delegates, or because the Chairman of the NPC is a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Party. The dominance of the CCP over Chinese politics and society stems from organization. Delegates are elected to the NPC from Party controlled assemblies; therefore each delegate, whether a member of the CCP or not, has already passed through a formidable gauntlet of screening and control. The prospects for a delegate to challenge the prevailing consensus at any point are dauntingly discouraging.

Despite these concerns the NPC has undergone

some notable changes. While not possessing the full range of rights and powers of their counterparts in democracies, delegates to the NPC have incrementally been given a greater role in policy formulation allowing them to bring popular concerns to discussion. Bills have been amended, even rejected by delegates (such situations may reflect subtle political machinations at play).

Among the delegates are migrant workers who are at the forefront of China’s development. Elections for some office holders are increasingly open.

While the CCP aspires to retain an ultimate veto, the scope for the participation of delegates has shifted.

Another less quantifiable change comes from Xi Jinping. Before the end of this session of the NPC Xi will be elected President of China.

Li Keqiang will be elected Premier. As part of a process in which each member of the Politburo Standing Committee meets with a provincial delegation to the NPC Xi was televised meeting with those from Shanghai. Leaning forward in his seat he took notes as each delegate spoke to him. This behavior is somewhat atypical of a CCP leader; usually the delegates take notes. We will never know what he wrote but Xi clearly took a less

While the NPC is not quite as irrelevant as the overused term “rubber stamp” suggests, most of the significant steps it undertakes represent ratification of decisions made earlier by the CCP leadership

dominant role in the meeting. He appeared to tell a joke at the end. This behavior was repeated by Xi in other conferences with delegates, including the meeting with those from Tibet. Another influence of Xi on this session has been the campaign of austerity.

Delegates to the NPC have normally travelled to Beijing first class staying in five star hotels. Such extravagances were reportedly prohibited this time. Citizens have posted photographs carefully scrutinizing standards of transport and displays of luxury brands online. A series of photos comparing the same luxury accessories of delegates from last year’s session to now seemed to lend credence to the conclusion that the austerity campaign has begun to take effect.

The other meeting taking place is that of the CPPCC. Founded before the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the CPPCC is largely an advisory body, with representation from a range of different groups. It is notable for including many prominent non-political identities as delegates, including celebrities and famous sportspeople, and the 11th Panchen Lama. A member of the Politburo Standing Committee inevitably serves as chairman. As an advisory body the CPPCC has less influence than the NPC. These two bodies may come to play a crucial role in any future political changes. As delegates to the NPC are increasingly empowered they may have greater oversight of the activities of the CCP leadership, becoming more receptive to the public will when formulating legislation. Such changes seem distant now but they are not inconceivable.

FEATURES// 22

Who Will Watch the Watchmen?

The NSW Police Force needs to be held accountable, like everyone else

JACOB SMIT WE all know that claims of excessive police force are often made by those who receive the full brunt of what can only be a humiliating experience.

However, the addition of video footage makes it difficult to dismiss such complaints against NSW police as unfounded. While we must always be critical of video footage uploaded on the internet, what is evident from a YouTube video is that during the last Gay and Lesbian Mardis Gras, a large policeman threw an 18 year old Jamie Jackson into the footpath.

The sickening sound of his face hitting the concrete is clearly captured by the video. While Jackson is whimpering, the policeman stands on Jackson’s back and looks around at the crowd, who are witnessing the event in shock. There was another claim of excessive police force at the event, when Bryn Hutchinson alleged he had been “thrown to the ground” after he disobeyed a direct police order not to cross the road in Darlinghurst at the parade. While it is a crime to refuse to comply with/contravene a reasonable order from Police, was the police response of throwing Hutchinson to the ground and handcuffing him appropriate in the circumstances? What was the context of the video?

The video of Jackson being thrown to the ground apparently misses the scene where Jackson attacks police officers. This aside, the available footage graphically depicts one police officer suddenly flipping Jackson over his shoulder and standing on his back for at least 20 seconds. Perhaps the most disturbing piece of the film is the repeated demands from another police officer for the camera-man to stop filming. Why did this police officer want the camera man to stop filming? Did he fear it would be used out of context?

Or did he know the action was wrong?

At a protest march organised by the Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH) marched to Surry Hills Police station on Friday 8th March, almost 1 000 activists demanded government intervention. It is surprising to learn that NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and the Police Minister Mike Gallacher both deny the need for

an independent inquiry into the claims of police misconduct. Instead of calling for an independent inquiry, the NSW Government attempted to assuage the public with reassurances that the NSW Police Ombudsman will provide oversight to ensure the integrity of the investigation. After what can only be described as a damning report from the Ombudsman regarding the death of Brazilian national Roberto Laudisio-Curti last year, it is strange that the NSW Government believes that internal police investigations are adequate. Moreover, why has no action been taken to address the Ombudsman’s concerns?

In the Ombudsman’s 51 page report on Laudisio-Curti’s death, Ombudsman Bruce Barbour highlighted that NSW police’s internal investigation unit tends to rely on reports from the Coroner before it investigates the “lawfulness and reasonableness” of the conduct of officers during critical incidents. Barbour further describes examples where NSW Police “shirks its responsibility”. Indeed, Barbour highlights that it was not until the day the Coroner handed down its findings that the officers involved in the tasering of Laudisio-Curti had their taser certification revoked. It appears that until an outside body stated that there was a real problem with those particular officers using tasers, the Police finally relented and took action.

The NSW police created a situation of extreme risk in the 8 month period between Laudisio-Curti’s death and the Coronor’s findings by allowing the four involved officers to retain their Tasers.

Barbour found it extraordinary that “not one NSW Police Force officer seemed to have formed the view that some of the involved officers may have acted inappropriately.” Indeed, it was only

after the Coroner released its critical findings of the NSW Police that the NSW Police Integrity Commission announced that it will investigate allegations of police misconduct or even criminal conduct by those officers who ran down and tasered Laudisio-Curti.

The Coroner’s report into the death of Adam Salter is similar to the Laudisio-Curti investigation, in that the policemen and women involved in the shooting wantonly misled the Police Inspector and the public. Their inaccurate evidence also had the potential to mislead the Coroner.

In November 2009, Adam Salter was shot dead by police while Adam was experiencing a florid psychotic episode, and was cutting himself with a knife in his Lakemba home. After the shooting, the NSW police made statements alleging that Salter was a dangerous, madman who attacked police and his family with a knife.

After an internal investigation, the Police recommended the officers involved in the shooting be awarded formal commendations. After this, an embarrassing report from the Coroner (handed down in October 2011) found that the Police internal investigation was “a failure and a disgrace.”

Only a month later the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) commenced an investigation into the incident. In August 2012, with a public hearing by the Commission, it was revealed that the NSW Police Force wantonly misled the public about the reality of the incident. The 10 day public hearing closed on 7 September last year, and a final report is yet to be tabled in NSW Parliament.

While no one was killed in during Mardi Gras, the complaints question whether an internal investigation will really help change the image of

Any apparent police misconduct cannot simply be brushed aside with a reassuring statement of an “internal investigation”

violence the public increasingly ascribe to the Police force. It further makes one wonder: how the Government can deny the people’s democratic right for transparency and accountability in public office.

With the recent Ombudsman’s report and the Coronial Inquest into the death of Adam Salter, why has nothing been done by the O’Farrell Government about perceptions of Police inappropriately abusing their power? The statement by State Premier O’Farrell that all will be well with an internal investigation belittles the seriousness of the complaints made.

Police are not just an ordinary public service provider; they are the first point of criminal justice, with specialised powers and exemptions to allow them to carry out their law enforcement function. These include the ability to deny the right to liberty and freedom, and the empowerment of police with the ability to detain and question. These powers are exercised with a significant amount of discretion. Therefore, any apparent police misconduct cannot simply be brushed aside with a reassuring statement of an “internal investigation” the system urgently needs external control and adequate accountability.

Professor Senevirante, an expert on police complaints mechanisms at Nottingham Law School, highlights the problem with internal investigations as the ingrained culture of “group loyalty militates against officers testifying against each other.” Professor Maurice Punch (LSE) also highlights that Police will often “bend the rules” in order to secure high profile convictions. Like any citizen, individual police officers are subject to the criminal law and can be prosecuted for crimes they commit in the course of their duties.

An independent, community based investigatory body is urgently needed for public confidence to be restored in the NSW Police force. Without this, reports of police brutality may increase in frequency and severity as violence goes unchecked.

LIFE & STYLE// 23

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Under African Lies

UP IN THE AIR

e w p t o ” e t ISAK BLIXEN r WHEN you go travelling and eventually con. verse with some locals, soon enough the inevitay ble dialogue regarding nationhood and context o emerges. However, rare it would be to find an , equally interesting transaction when the desti- nation is South Africa (or anywhere in Southern Africa for that matter), the locals are either a) “black” or b) Afrikaans and you are an emigrant of the nation. Truth being told I answer as such, “I’m from Australia, but I was born in Johannesburg.” Fellow companion asks curiously, “When

did you leave?” I take my last breath and resign myself to the judgement that prequels “1994…”

Now, as an Australian citizen, 19 years later with Apartheid well and truly “reconciled”, many of us are still branded as cowards and betrayers by our former comrades. The “blacks” assume you were scared that their parents were going to murder you or start burning your farms in the Transvaal, and the Afrikaners are pissed off that you didn’t stay and help fight against the now “they-told-us-so delinquent” African National Congress (ANC). The reason we left was very loosely orientated towards the former accusation.

Crime was getting unusually bad and middleclass outer-suburb Joburgians weren’t quite on the bandwagon of getting four metre high walls erected around their land, along with electric wires, a panic button, a few underpaid security guards and five untrained Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Alas, crime was synonymous with daily life and got worse, perhaps even reached unprecedented heights in

the last decade. Despite the fact that crime is still a part of a South African’s existence, it is not all there is to their existence. Via media and ignorant transnational whispers, the country (and generally the continent itself) has been branded with a terribly unfashionable and unjust stigma. There are stories one can tell of the kind of lives people live (from the rich in Bryanston to the poor in Hillbrow), which would disgust and appal I’m sure - in any case a person with friends or family there will know what I’m referring to. What makes it all the worse is what’s said about the transgressive state of politics that sanctions the nation and what’s not said about South Africa’s lifestyle, people, landscape and diversity.

It is not uncommon to be heading to Southern Africa for the first, second or third time and still hear from family and friends “You’re going to Africa? Why?! You’ll be assaulted or murdered!”

This is not an exaggeration. Meanwhile over in South America somewhere your friends are held

For the majority, any other destination is more desirable than Africa, apparently

at gunpoint for their iPhone and a comparable circumstance is simultaneously inflicted upon acquaintances in India. But for the majority, any other destination is more desirable than Africa, apparently. I’ve travelled almost all of Southern Africa and to this day there is still not a continent nor a people that I love more. I’ve felt safer in downtown Joburg, hitchhiking in Botswana… even getting bitten my mosquitos in Mozambique, than I have walking around Kings Cross in Sydney. Admittedly I’ve been very fortunate having avoided any real danger in my time there.

I guess I just hope that one day we’ll be able to discuss travelling in Africa with friends the same way we’ve conversed about experiences in Bali or Bangkok. When people know and understand the place better and acknowledge the reality of circumstances there first, before either a) signing up for live below the line thinking their making the slightest difference in the world or b) writing their friends eulogy before they’ve even hitched their flight to O.R. Tambo, the world may seem a better place. This is complex and rarely does one speak on the topic without contradicting themselves (myself included), but it’s worth wondering – why such a trouble with Africa?

Canberra Gig Guide MARTIN PEREZ OZ hip hop staple Drapht will be playing the Zierholz at the University of Canberra on the 21st of March. Supported by N’fa Jones, Seven and Mr. Hill, the show starts at 8 and tickets are $28 through Oztix.

Canberra legends The King Hits take the stage at the Phoenix Pub once again this month. Bringing their distinctive brand of rockabilly infused surf rock, these rock ‘n’ roll veterans really know what they’re doing – and they’ll be doing it from 9pm on Saturday the 23rd of March.

Hip hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash will be playing a DJ set at Transit bar on the 24th of March supported by Jemist, Buick, MGO and Goldfinger. A true great of the hip-hop pantheon– this one’s for all you true hip-hop nerds out there.

Tickets through Moshtix, doors at 4pm.

A touring mini-festival called Hits and Pits brings a fairly eclectic mix of bands representing a few different punk sub-genres. Most notable amongst the lineup are A Wilhelm Scream and Good Riddance from the states, as well as Jamie Hay and Jen Buxton from Newcastle and Melbourne. The show is at ANU Bar on the 27th

of March, tickets can be bought for $80 through Ticketek, doors are at 8.

17 year old electronic musician and producer XXYYXX will be performing at Hippo Bar on Thursday the 28th of March. All the way from Florida, this guy is infuriatingly talented for how young he is; he’s been likened to The Weekend, Clams Casino and James Blake. Tickets are only $20 pre-sale, doors are at 5.

If you’re a fan of Ska revival you’ll be pleased to hear Australian band The Resignators will be launching their new CD at Transit Bar on the 4th of April.

COMMENT// 24

In the Defence of Vanilla Sex WET WITH WORONI

BRAD SHOLL Wet with Woroni is our new regular sex column! Cruder than a teenage boy and more salacious than 120 Days of Sodom, it will shock, arouse and disgust you. WARNING: This article discusses sexually explicate material and may be distressing for some readers.

I want to get drunk, brag about how many people I’ve fucked, as well as to scope out whether the cute girl with piercings is down to suck face when we go for a “talk in the backyard”. Thankfully this first world problem has been solved with man’s greatest invention “never have I ever”, which is a

game in which people get together to share their (mostly, sexual) experiences in an effort to bond.

Upon this game started, I’m presented with a smorgasbord of depraved carnal acts. Talk of multiple participants, fetishes and weird locations. There’s this perverse feeling of Cold Warlike competition as these just-developed nation states vie for feelings of supremacy through tales of their accomplishments. And much like the Cold War, most of it is bullshit and makes everyone just feel uncomfortable. It seemed like everyone was sexually literate to a level beyond our years, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was … well, wrong.

65 million copies sold of infamous Fifty Shades of Grey indicates that unusual sexual acts are now, well, fairly usual or at least on our minds. Porn stars are now A-list celebrities, and often crossing over into mainstream cinema.

The taboo on sex has been overturned and obliterated but have we gone too far and down the – no pun intended - wrong route?

I’m no sexpert but I’ve experimented. I’ve tried every move in a Karma Sutra book, I’ve choked and been hit, and I’ve been with my girlfriend’s

best friend while she watches. Once, I got a handjob in Hancock library just so I could make the pun.

I know the excitement factor to exploring the unexplored. The alluring promise of a nirvana of sexual gratification is always there – so maybe I should try putting my cock what has traditionally been an exit-only territory, if only to have done.

It seems that people are doing it for the wrong reasons. Much of the sexual adventure – particularly the ridiculous things like – is justified because “it sounds cool” meaning that it sounds cools when it is told to others.

Some sexual acts seem to exist for the sake of existing rather than actual pleasure. Other times, experimenting is used to shake up a stale relationship. News flash: a boring significant other is STILL boring even if he dresses up as your ex-military father who never validated you.

That’s not to say that every sexually-honest person has to stick to the Day time television formula of sex: missionary, lights off, bra on, sheets up, and then a cut away after thirty seconds to a

Much of the sexual adventure – particularly the ridiculous things – is justified because “it sounds cool” meaning that it sounds cools when it is told to others

train going through a tunnel and dove being released into the sky. This author thinks that this is just as inauthentic as pursuing sex to tell your friends about.

Fuck it, I’m happy to be into “normal, vanilla sex’” There’s a reason the majority of people follow the mainstream: because it feels good and its get the job done. The Beatles, the denim jeans and cheeseburgers of this world ain’t perfect for everyone but they do work for most.

So yeah, I’m firmly in the “Justin Bieber” school of fucking because I’m fine with earning the scorn of horn-rimmed and cynical Arts students to enjoy the rapture of millions of screaming preteen girls … if you follow the metaphor.

It comes down to a basic question – why have sex? If you want to procreate, then there are pretty strict procedures on how to mash bits for that result. Some want to others to know about their sex lives, largely through insecurity.

However, if you want to enjoy a moment (or few consecutive moments if you’re one of those lucky kinds) with a friend or friends: newfound or long-term, young or old, whatever gender – it doesn’t make a difference. What matters is that for that instance, it’s for each other and no one else. No wonder sex loses its magic when it used as a tool to sell deodorant rather than the celebration of the beautiful, fleeting instance where humans appreciate and care for each other.

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LIFE & STYLE// 25

It’s Time for “Slut” to Take a Walk STILETTOS AND A SOAP BOX

SAM BRADLEY

Stilettos and a Soapbox is our new regular column discussing some issues which relate to the modern feminist and some which don’t.

THERE is a character on my news feed who posts sporadic, irrational and amusingly dramatic statuses concerning the numerous hindrances she encounters in her daily happenings. However, often reading these small ravings adds humour to my otherwise dull lectures. They also regularly make me a little bit angry. One of her most consistent complaints? Sluts. They’re texting her boyfriend, driving too slowly, wearing glasses they don’t have a prescription for (just curious – is this a thing?), eating tuna in the library, getting misspelt tattoos and making duck faces.

I guess I wonder if, in her as well as other likeminded folk’s eyes, there is some kind of stringent dichotomy within the female species. That is, we are divided and opposed, all of us, into a permanent “sluts” v “not-sluts” state. I also wonder if the deeming of “slut-dom” - that is, the state of being

a slut - is permanent or only temporary. A.k.a, should you, gosh, eat tuna in a public space, can you later redeem yourself and remove the tag?

The alternative is that it is a kind of permanent branding - obviously 200% subjective, yet very stagnant once placed.

The word slut just generally irks me. A lot.

I make this as an open statement to every girl who throws the word around, in wilful ignorance, as a kind of benign insult. You are unknowingly complicit in your own subjugation. I address you en masse, and somewhat passive-aggressively.

Slut is a term that perpetuates the idea that men have a monopoly on sexual pleasure and that a woman’s entire worth lies in her sexuality.

It places a deconstructive social value on notions of female “purity,” ensuring archaic idealisations of virginity and innocence remains entrenched in society.

The ubiquitous purpose of the word “slut” is to control women through shame and humiliation. It denies her right to ownership of her own sexual fulfilment and choices.

Calling a woman a slut enforces the sexual double standard of boys and men partaking in sexual behaviour freely, and with limited moral consequence. Meanwhile girls and women can only partake when it is part of a transaction that includes “true love” or marriage.

Guys don’t get called sluts. If they do it is preceded with the “man” affectation and is a gesture of affirmation more than anything else. Men sim-

ply aren’t judged like women when it comes to their sexuality. There is no one word, let-alone concept, which signifies a male-slut in a derogatory sense. At its core, slut is a word that, for the same behaviours, punishes women and rewards men.

Significantly, it is also a dangerous word because of the greater social implications it can have. At societal level, women are constantly told not to dress or act like “sluts” lest they be inviting unwanted sexual advances. This perpetuates the very dangerous myth that the way a woman dresses encourages sexual assault. It also continues the practise of blaming the victim rather than the perpetrator.

In some cultures, the word slut can mean life or death. The same underlying principles of shame, control and honour can manifest themselves in violent and extreme control of girls and women. Thousands of women are killed and mutilated by family members, stilted lovers and/or admirers every year, due to the perception that their behaviour was somehow inappropriate.

Women are stoned to death and doused in acid under a double standard that affords men the space to commit the same “sins” without a single eyebrow being raised. These practices often taking place under a particular understanding of a religion, or within a culture, that construes a woman’s “honour,” that is, her virginity and sexual purity, as the entirety of her worth as a

Slut is a powerful word.

It’s more than a harmless, replaceable insult

human being.

“Slut-shaming” can have other ramifications still. Most girls and women taper their actions and outfits to an extent on a daily basis to avoid accusatory glares. The consequences of slutshaming, for many girls victimised by it, can be detrimental. On an individual level, girls who are the victims of this type of bullying can suffer ongoing effects for years: influencing both their own self-perception as well as how their peers treat them.

Mostly, slut-shaming is a blatant and socially acceptable illustration of the misogynistic impulse to control and police female sexuality. It is a very subtle and powerful social tool. One of the most effective ways to keep a group (women) under control is to divide and conquer. In a world that reliably portrays women as isolated and competitive, this is easily achieved. Our culture excels at making women the tools of their own undoing.

Slut-shaming by other women is simply one of those tools readily deployed. We live in a world that sends out some incredibly confusing messages. Women are celebrated for dressing like “sluts” to sell almost everything, then shamed and humiliated for doing it within other contexts.

My point is this - when you call a girl a slut you are reinforcing ongoing gender divisions and antiquated double standards. You are undermining the autonomy she has over her own body and her own sexuality. You are denying the value she has as both a human being and an individual.

“Slut” is a powerful word. It’s more than a harmless, replaceable insult. Not even that girl texting your boyfriend deserves it. After all, he is capable of making his own choices too.

COMMENT// 26

ANUSA OGM

UMA PATEL

IT was the first Ordinary General Meeting of the year and it looked like ANUSA borrowed the set of I Dream Of Jeennie to celebrate. There was an emerald blue couch, a white tent, a red rug and only a little bit of magic. They had either expanded into interior decorating, courting Disney for a sponsorship deal or hoping they could use Jeenie to wish them a few more friends.

Friend-finding was the theme of the day and the meeting opened by revealing the meeting’s Twiter hashtag “#ANUSAOGM. In-case anyone forgot, it was conveniently placed on the carnival style billboard that was wheeled over for the occasion – just below “Free Breakfast” and above “Happy Week 4”. The desperation was capitalised with the block lettering.

The rest of the meeting was a friend-finding mission; quorum for a general meeting is 40 students, ANUSA only made it to 34. They were six people short of being able to vote on any decisions, which meant that all they could do was tell people what they did during the summer and answer people’s questions. That’s not how you win friends but they had already fallen down the cyclical drain hole with no Jeenie to get them out.

After the President and Vice-President both spoke and failed to attract more listeners, the Treasurer rose to take the mike. It was an obvious acceptance of defeat; it’s a universal truth that you don’t win friends by reading out numbers from a spreadsheet. He started by saying “Hi guys” as energetically as possible, as if was trying to disguise the numbers and line items that followed. The crowed quickly dispersed, proving once and for all that Canberra is a very lonely place for a treasurer. The price cereal and sausages was mentioned and just as everyone was about to leave for lunch ANUSA brought out the big guns.

The Social Officer took the stage. Getting ANUSA friends was in her portfolio description and she tried to prove it by talking about the number of students that volunteered during O-Week. “My job as Social Officer is to make sure you guys are having a really fun time.” You could see the metaphorical dagger shoot through the Treasurer’s lonely heart. His job as treasurer was to use a calculator and that is a one-person job. He sat half a meter away from everyone else with his head down, listening to how social the Social Officer was trying to re-invent the bbq with her assembly of volunteers.

There a useful prop to prove her point, s a bbq already being set up five meters away, Sending people along to go gorge themselves was a natural, not so nutritious way to close the very Ordinary General Meeting and accept that they weren’t going to gather anymore comrades, no matter how hard they tried. If only they had asked Jeenie to bring them some students, fun numbers or a tissue to wipe away the Treasurer’s tears.

A k t g c e A a

The Post-Acne Revelation™

BORIPAT LEBEL

To all zit faces, I feel your pain. We are the offspring of Darwinism gone wrong, or as I like to call it “Darwin-is-vain” – how did you miss that one out you Big Zit! While there is plenty of research on acne and its negative psychological impacts on the individual in an appearance-focused society – the findings are very bad, like psychopath bad – there’s hardly a line published about the positive aspects of this hormone-related skin condition.

It’s a sad truth that any attempt at positivity in this raging battle against Propionibacterium acnes is a step closer to a suicide note. But, there are in fact many long-term perks to having an acnestrewed face/body. For starters and future reference, we can always proudly hand out an old photo of an acned-we to a person who has just called us “ugly”, and correctly point out to him/her in a triumphant voice, “now that’s ugly”. But why settle for a small triumph? Read on for more positive excerpts from The Post-Acne Revelation™.

Acne makes us strong. Our mental health becomes tougher, such that our iron will creates a shield against the imagined radioactivity emitted by the alpha population. Our physical health becomes stronger, as so many acne scars and the attendant fibrosis covering the acne-prone zones make our facial skin practically impenetrable – think, The Hulk.

Acne makes us responsible. On the one hand, being self-conscious leads to wrist cutting, but on the other hand it’s a flashing orange light warning us to take responsibility for our own appearance. In growing up with this awareness, acne veterans are more likely to dress up, exercise, eat healthily and commit to rigorous skincare than are the oblivious pretty faces. Most of these people wear sheepish Ugg boots and only wash during eclipses anyway.

Acne makes us resilient. As any acne survivor will tell, living with acne is kind of like being in a marriage. You fight and stall, smooth over and breakout, then you divorce and it’s all over, YAY: until you meet up again, have a one-night stand, and end up with a volcanic landscape. The battle against pimples is a long and expensive process Very much like a separation settlement in court, it requires determination, perseverance and a good divorce attorney. In our case we like to hire Benzoyl Peroxide, a charming fellow who gets under Propionibacterium acnes’s skin.

But, there are in fact many long-term perks to having an acne-strewed face.

Acne makes us wise and successful. Since normal social activities are cut down for diseased people, the eruption allows us to spurt in a more productive, albeit “shaded”, direction. We practice makeup covering to a professional level and hide our faces behind computer screens. Thus, an accidentally geeky idea can grow into a blockbuster corporation – Mark Zuckerberg was literally covered in zits.

Acne makes us better human beings, on the inside. After being apathetic for so long, we develop overt kindness, sympathy and empathy for fellow sufferers of acne and cancer, for people

with missing limbs and for harpooned whales, towards ladies with erectile dysfunctional boyfriends and finally towards the lactose intolerants, the bullied geeks, the Greeks, and Lindsay Lohan; you name it “We feel your pain, sister”.

Acne makes us fashion-conscious. To distract the gaze of friends from our unsightly exterior during conversations, we wear flashier clothes, ditch the “my eyes are up here” nonsense and silently thank friends for talking to our breast. This taste for fashion will progress with us way past zit prime time. In other words, acne victims have a head start in the world of dress-to-impress.

Acne makes us appreciate Taylor Swift. Before acne raped our faces, most of us listened to Justin Bieber; but suddenly puberty hit us spot on the T-zone, and no longer could we connect to this “baby” face. Our acne attacks lead to a drastic change in musical taste, leaning towards the “rolling in the deep” end of the spectrum of popular songs; this is when Taylor Swift comes into our miserable lives. Taylor Swift churns out songs about breakouts…breakups, whatever, at the same rate our faces pumps out whiteheads; her songs are really depressing, and she totally gets to us.

The Post-Acne Revelation™ is a revolutionary guide to improved self-esteem. It is brought to you by Dr. Estéem Launder, head scientist of the immensely profitable research facility Proxy & Gambler®, a multi-awarded* leader in the fight against the pizza-face syndrome, Propionibacterium acnes. The complete Post-Acne Revelation™ is available exclusively in print and e-form through Amazon and on the shelves of the L’OL-it’s-réal® section at your local supermarket – Zit Zapper® sold separately.

REVIEWED// 27

Riding on Cloud Nine WATCH // MOVIE Cloud Atlas Andy Wachowski 2013 LILLIAN WARD

ANYONE who’s seen the trailer for Cloud Atlas knows that that this is an ambitious film. It attempts to weave many different plot lines and genres into a cohesive film with a relatively small cast of lead actors, and it condenses David Mitchell’s book of the same name into 172 minutes.

Amazingly, it works. Tom Twyker’s and Lana and Andy Wachowski’s film is lyrical, visually mesmerising and brilliantly acted. It succeeds in translating a book that many readers may view

as unfilmable while preserving the essence of its story.

The success of the film rests on its script, structure and casting decisions. The screenplay is excellent which is not surprising considering its heavy reliance on David Mitchell’s acclaimed source text. There are, however, significant differences between the book and the film, most notably in the film’s other standout features, its structure and its casting. Instead of viewing each narrative line one by one, Cloud Atlas switches between them almost with every scene change.

This is made less jarring by the casting of its actors in multiple roles, their familiar faces easing the transition. The film is also wonderfully edited and scored to make each cut as smooth as possible.

One aspect that doesn’t help this process and the major failing of the film is its makeup. For a film that requires such an incredible suspension of disbelief in its audience it is regrettable that the casting of actors in multiple roles has resulted in some of the least believable makeup, particularly aging makeup, of the last five years. While some of the film’s makeup is wonderfully executed, like that of the purebreds of Neo Seoul, others such as the aging makeup of Fingersmith and Bae Doona in a red wig with green contacts create almost disturbing images.

The actors continue valiantly despite this to give uniformly brilliant performances deserving of their almost three hour showcase. Tom Hanks, Jim Broadbent and Bae Doona are particularly notable and characterise their many different

characters very well. Occasionally the audience may find themselves wondering if Halle Berry is actually capable of acting different characters, but as she isn’t really called upon to do so, it never becomes an issue.

From the promotional material, one could be forgiven for thinking that Cloud Atlas is merely a mash-up of ever other blockbuster from last summer. The beauty of this film is that the stories seem to flow into each other effortlessly and that though there are six different genres, each with enough material to be their own feature, they come together in one cohesive film. Watching Cloud Atlas is a pleasure and this reviewer defies you to finish it without increasing your faith in humanity a hundred times more than any other multiple plot line film to come out of Hollywood.

The Future of Australian Cinema APOLLO

EMILY MCKAY Apollo is Woroni’s regular column in which our reviewers offer comment and opinion on cultural questions beyond our individual reviews.

CROCODILE Dundee is Australia’s all-time most successful film, grossing over $47 000 000. In it, we see the tough and outdoorsy Mick Dundee travel to New York where the supposed differences between Australian and American culture are used for comedic effect. He uses his whily Australian outback skills to save the day. This idea of

Australia and the other has proved to be an easy plot point in some of Australia’s most successful films. What was the last Australian film you saw?

The Sapphires? Chris O’Dowd is Irish. Red Dog? Josh Lucas is American. Rogue? Michael Vartan is American. Moulin Rouge? Ewan McGregor is Scottish. Fern Gully? Robyn Williams is American. Sanctum? Ioan Gruffudd is Welsh. Did you even know these films were Australian productions? It’s as if we need an international star to add some credibility or culture shock to our films.

Back in the seventies, it was popular for Australian films to feature white Australians getting lost in the bush, coming to terms with their new yet ancient home (eg, Walkabout and Picnic at Hanging Rock). In these more recent films, we’ve swapped the lost Australian with the lost international star dealing with culture shock here. I don’t know about you, but I for one am more likely to see an Australian film if a) I don’t know it’s Aus-

tralian; or b) it has an international star.

We get confused when an Australian actor done good comes home to make a local film, like Cate Blanchett in Little Fish or Toni Collette in Mental.

If we can’t understand why our stars would want to appear in Australian films, how can we expect the international markets to take our films seriously? The Kelly Gang is arguably the first feature film ever produced, not just in Australia, but in the world, and yet from these promising beginnings Australian cinema has fallen behind the rest of the world (though our horror films continue to be brilliant).

So where do you look to now? Do we look to the seventies and eighties with its ocker films and art films? With its ozploitation films that inspired Quentin Tarantino?

Or do we look to co-productions? State governments do a huge amount of the funding – and it’s difficult to get funding from elsewhere in Austral-

If we can’t understand why our stars would want to appear in Australian films, how can we expect the international markets to take our films seriously?

ia. I know a filmmaker who has been blacklisted from filming in Victoria because despite being a Queensland resident he attempted to gain funding from the Victorian government by pretending he lived there – something he had to do in order to get his movie made. Funding in Australia is difficult, and the people doing the funding seem unwilling to take risks (hence the prevalence of low budget Australian social-realist films). Filmmakers can look towards private investors, or they can look elsewhere. Lore is a new Australian/German coproduction – filmed in Germany, starring Germans and spoken entirely in German.

The film is quiet, intense and wonderfully acted – but where has it been screened? The screening I went to was very busy, but it was free. Very few Australian films get a wide release today, even one as critically acclaimed as Lore. If wonderful films like this don’t make money at the box office then how will Australia be able to continue making them?

Whether it be more emphasis on advertising, more emphasis on distribution, or more emphasis on stories that want to be watched by an international AND local market, something has to change.

REVIEWED// 28

Oz the Great and Powerful

ELISE HORSPOOL

WATCH // MOVIE Oz the Great and Powerful Sam Raimi 2013 SAM Raimi is mostly known for his work on the Evil Dead and Spiderman franchises, but this will be his first venture into family targeted film. Oz the Great and Powerful is the Disney prequel to L. Frank Baum’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the much-loved 1939 film adaptation The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland. For Raimi’s first try at family film, it’s a pretty good one.

The prequel is set in 1905 Kansas, twenty years before Dorothy travels to Oz. True to the 1939 film, this movie starts in black and white before we descend into the vivid colour of the land of Oz. The film was clearly made with the intent of most of the audience viewing it in 3D, with gigantic flower bulbs and razor sharp splinters almost coming out of the screen. The aesthetics are a glittering homage to what we remember from the 1939 film as children. The CGI blends well and looks realistic but is still blindingly colourful. The flying baboons would terrify the pants off most adults as well as children. The yellow brick road, Emerald City and munchkins all return. The only notable things missing are the famed ruby slippers which seemed to have been forgotten.

The film features a fairly strong cast with three leading actresses and James Franco in the male lead. Franco is generally typecast, but for some reason he fits this role perfectly. He plays a blundering but ingenuitive ‘magician,’ Oscar Diggs, who makes his wages by performing at a travelling carnival. The film is based around the familiar trope of whether he is a good man or not. He gets transported to Oz where he is found by two witch sisters, played by Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz, who do look stunningly alike. Later on we meet the famous Glinda the Good, played by the lovely Michelle Williams.

Rachel Weisz is convincingly witty, sarcastic and dry as the elder sister, Evanora. Mila Kunis plays the more impatient and naïve Theodora, the Wicked Witch of the East who is charmed

by Oscar. Michelle Williams as Glinda is sugary sweet, but knows more than meets the eye. The three of them are mesmerising to watch. The dazzling costumes add that extra cherry on top aesthetically, allowing the three actresses to fully embody the classic good and bad witches.

Also very enearding are the supporting cast:.

Finley, the flying monkey voiced by Zach Braff, and the China Girl, voiced by Joey King. The film would not have been the same without them.

They are both created by CG but done so well in conjunction with the voice artists that they provided both comic relief and heartfelt counsel.

King gets a special mention because of her ability to emulate a sweet little china doll one minute and then a sassy teenage girl the next.

Most people would have rolled their eyes at the thought of a prequel, but it is a truly enjoyable return to the Land of Oz. It could have been a ridiculously cutesy film, but Raimi manages to keep it tasteful, child- and adult-friendly. The humour is dry and in some parts, the kids definitely won’t get it. But it still manages to hold the balance between the adults and children. It is a truly enjoyable experience to watch and while some might say it is tarnishing the classic adaptations and L. Frank Baum’s novel, it is also letting the younger generation (and the elder one) enjoy a much loved classic with a twist.

Artists in High Places

LISTEN // GIG Tallest Man on Earth 2013 LUCAS MIRANI ELENA TJANDRA HE’S not a physically imposing man, but “The Tallest Man On Earth,” aka Kristian Matsson, elevated our spirits when he dropped by Zierholz Brewery at the University of Canberra for his Australian tour. The Swedish singer-songwriter treated us to a poetic evening of mellowed tunes and folk guitar that could only be described as pure bliss.

A long line had already formed around the outside of the bar by the time we arrived at 8pm, but concert-goers were more feverish with anticipation than irritable about the late start. As we slowly rolled around to the door of the newly refurbished University of Canberra bar, we were met with, dare we say it, friendly bouncers. In fact, the UC students we met in the line were also friendly! Whatever stereotypes there may be about UC were forgotten as we continued to meet interesting and cultured students throughout the show.

The night kicked off with an alternative indie band playing in the background as we sampled Zierholz’s locally handcrafted beer. We were

unsure who the band was or whether they were introduced at all, but it added to the informal atmosphere of the relaxed evening. The bar was completely open with benches outlining the multi-dimensional space. Simple wooden floors and warm lights provided a comfortable setting for a chat and a wind-down with friends waiting for the main show.

And then it started.

Kristian Matsson just came on. Sauntered on, if you like. He entered the stage without any announcements, flaring of lights or the fuss of bigname artists with large concerts. Matsson began with the popular number “King of Spain”. The audience was immediately drawn in with his rough Dylan-esque drawl and charisma. Matsson’s strangely American accent conjured images of the travelling folk artists of the ‘50s and ‘60s, a new age Johnny Cash telling narratives embedded in song. True to the description, Matsson is a self-acknowledged indie-folk artist. He attempts to explore the meanings of his life in a unique way that rejects mainstream conventions.

Each song was played precisely as it had been recorded. Matsson played a mix of songs from his 2012 album There’s No Leaving Now as well as incorporating older material such as “A Thousand Ways,” “The Gardener,” and “Where Do My Blue Bird Fly”. Although playing to a crowd, Matsson’s performance was an intimate affair between the individual, his voice and his gui-

tar. At one point, the lights turned white behind him, illuminating his bohemian cotton shirt as he played to his people.

The real standout was the encore. After the main performance, the crowd was mesmerized and clapped furiously. But before any choruses of “one more song,” Matsson re-appeared playing “The Wild Hunt” and a cover of Paul Simon’s “Graceland”. Matsson made “Graceland” his own, infusing in Simon’s up-beat tune with emotion and adding a surprise appearance from Matsson’s singer-songwriter wife Amanda Bergman, aka Idiot Wind.

The initial anticipation of the excited crowd became a soothed and entranced quiet at the end of the performance. The Zierholz Brewery also played a huge role in constructing the atmosphere. We could not help but think ANU’s refectory could learn a few tips from the cleverly designed and lit bar.

Although the night was a huge success, the over-enthused photographers continuously asking for photos were a sharp distraction from the chilled nature of the show.

We go to some concerts for the spectacle. For some, we go to sing the songs that marked the anthems of our youth. But others, such as the Tallest Man on Earth, are about the no-bells-andwhistles performances that simply let us appreciate music.

Splitting the Atom LISTEN // BAND Atoms for Peace 2013 ROBERT SELTH IT’S often intriguing to hear what kind of music is made by the leader of a distinctive, iconic band, when he or she is working in a different context.

Two years after what seems increasingly likely to be the final Radiohead album, The King of Limbs, Thom Yorke has released a new record with a new band. The group is based on the partnership of Yorke with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, and they’re called Atoms for Peace. But don’t be fooled – despite the name on the cover, this record is not really the work of a new band.

Instead, it’s the de facto follow-up to Yorke’s own solo debut, 2006’s The Eraser. None of the other musicians in this collective has made his mark on the album; Amok, as it’s called, is Thom Yorke through and through.

Now, Radiohead fans who were scandalised at the thought of Yorke working with Flea will probably be relieved to hear this. In fact, however, the problem with Amok is not the presence of Flea.

It’s the absence of Ed O’Brien, Philip Selway, and Colin and Jonny Greenwood – that is, the rest of

Radiohead. Listening to Amok is like listening to Morrissey’s solo work after the break-up of the Smiths: it may be good music in its own right, but mostly one is struck by its narrowness and insularity compared with what came before.

Yorke’s style is essentially a densely layered form of electronica, based on intricate arrays of tape loops. It’s much less about melody than

It’s much less about melody than about shifting, rippling patterns of sound, and the rhythms that are woven through them about shifting, rippling patterns of sound, and the rhythms that are woven through them. The Radiohead frontman’s fascination with this aesthetic was evident on In Rainbows and dominant on The King of Limbs, which is largely why the latter met with such a lukewarm reception from many of the band’s admirers. But on The King of Limbs, Yorke’s percussive patterns sounded warm and

elegant because they were augmented by the contributions of Jonny Greenwood and company.

They made the record sound human. Now that Yorke has been given free reign, his creations feel more like academic exercises than full-blooded pieces of music.

There is one very good song here: it’s called “Ingénue,” and it’s a haunting, pulsing shuffle that demands to be heard again and again. The rest of the album varies between the mildly compelling and the frankly uninspired. Yorke’s vocals, drifting listlessly between the clicking and skittering beats, are often the only element in the mix that sounds human. For the first time in his career, the paranoia and hostility that characterise his lyrics come across as irritating, irrelevant and selfabsorbed. There’s an unshakeable sense of navelgazing about the whole experiment.

Producer Nigel Godrich, who has worked on every Radiohead album since The Bends, has stuck around for this one. His is the only recognisable presence on the album besides Thom Yorke’s; but he appears to have done nothing except cater to Yorke’s every instinct, bringing little of his own imagination to the project. Together, he and Yorke have constructed a set of technically accomplished songs that feel strangely inert. All in all, it’s a forgettable footnote to Thom Yorke’s achievements, the heart of which continues to lie in Radiohead itself.

REVIEWED// 29

Ballads by the Seaside LISTEN // ALBUM Push the Sky Away Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 2013 TARA SHENOY AUSTRALIAN Nick Cave has dragged the Bad Seeds by the teeth through fifteen albums and thirty years of musical evolution to consistent acclaim. Their newest album, Push the Sky Away, is a sharp detour from the garage rock of Grinderman.

Simple arrangements, like the lone gloomy guitar of “Mermaid,” triumphant strings of “Jubilee Street” and rumbling bass of “We Real Cool” evolve into aggressive string and keyboard climaxes. Anger swells into oblivion, evoking a sense of terror that undercuts hungry biblical allusions scattered throughout.

A modernist storyteller, Cave offers redemption with all the madness of a violent drunk. The sinister bass of “Water’s Edge” is as unsettling as his hostile lyrics, as it offers a tribute to a murdered prostitute. The elegy stretches over the

loops of a plaintive violin, for promiscuous city girls that “dismantle themselves by the water’s edge” with “legs wide to the world like bibles open.”

His menacing baritone in “Higgs Boson Blues” is ruthless. It smirks, grabs collars and thrusts its tongue down throats, growling “here comes Lucifer with his canon law and a hundred black babies runnin’ from his genocidal jaw.” Muscular percussion forms a sleazy accompaniment to the sprawling stream of consciousness, as Cave makes fractured references to disease-ridden missionaries infecting the savages – in the same thread as Miley Cyrus floating in a swimming pool.

Bizzare and surrealist, the visceral poetry complements the cinematic ballads to paint a modern tapestry of extraterrestrials. The young lovers of “Water’s Edge” break each other in haste while the aimless adrift in “Mermaid” slip between fingers and dissolve into sea.

Admittedly, Nick Cave’s larynx may never be immortalized in the same manner as Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash. However, with him at the helm, the powerful narrative and grim composition of Push the Sky Away make it the life buoy keeping Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds afloat.

Biffy Clyro LISTEN // ALBUM Opposites Biffy Clyro 2013 SAMUEL GUTHRIE LET’S start this review and end it quickly, okay?

Biffy Clyro’s sixth studio album, Opposites, is the best rock album you’ll hear in 2013. Go forth and get either your digital or dexterous digits on it.

I’m serious, you should just take my word for it ... you can stop reading now.

Still here? Well, then I guess I can admit a level of personal investment. Having first heard Biffy’s fourth album, Puzzles, in late 2008, a wealthy back catalogue and a new release sustained me through my tilt at the 2009 HSC. The radio-friendliness of their fifth effort, Only Revolutions, left an incomplete taste in the discerning listener’s mouth. I’m certainly not one to deny evolution in the sound of a beloved band, but the simplicity of much of this last album left much to be desired.

Luckily, Opposites delivers not only a double album (The Land at the End of Our Toes/The Sand At the Core of Our Bones), but a synthesis to the problems which have plagued an increasingly popular band. For the aficionados out there, the

newest release combines the instantly enjoyable surface of Only Revolutions with the insanity of recent B-side releases (“Lonely Revolutions” and “The Missing Pieces”) and the depth of their third album, Infinity Land. Moreover, Opposites debuted at #1 in the UK, but don’t expect much of it to receive Triple J air-time.

How do I explain this to the unacquainted?

Imagine jagged riffs which can only be played at full volume whilst air-guitaring as you shout lyrics written by Dr Seuss on acid – such as the first single from the album, “Black Chandelier,” the insane “Little Hospitals,” and the heavy “Stingin’ Belle”. Slower tracks you’ll find yourself coming back to after your third or fourth listen: “Opposites,” “The Thaw,” and “Accident Without Emergency” (the closest thing to “Justboy” that Biffy have recorded since their first album, Blackened Sky). Oh, but don’t let me forget to mention the tracks which blend these qualities, the opening “Different People,” the new, brass sound of “Spanish Radio,” and the instant joy of “Victory Over the Sun”.

There’s something intimately disquieting about the realisation that your favourite band’s newest album is their sixth. Do I have to behave like an adult now? Will each new song be a decibel quieter? No. Go listen, there’ll be nothing else like this in 2013.

SPORT// 30

Football Fortune Teller v.2

JOSHUA CHU-TAN

QUATERFINAL time of the UEFA Champions League has sprung onto us yet again and the excitement as always is second to none. With the draw just finished and all the games having been set, the football fortune teller is back for a version two to predict (to the best of my ability) which teams will be in the semifinals of the most prestigious club competition in Europe, and arguably, the world.

JOHN GOLDIE

Super’s Men

KICKING off round three, the Waratahs finally saw some success with a win over the Melbourne Rebels. The first half involved an exchange of penalties, but by half time the Rebels led 16-6 after Ged Robinson stole a shifty try from the front of a lineout five metres from the line. It took until 20 minutes into the second half for the Waratahs to start playing exciting rugby. Israel Folau was instrumental setting up Bernard Foley and then Tom Hooper in succession, capped off in the 75th minute when substitute front rower Paddy Ryan slipped through an invisible gap in the defence to cross for a third NSW try. Former Waratah Kurtley Beale recovered some dignity for the Rebels, scoring a consolation try on full time, but the final score stood at 31-26, the first success for the Waratahs’ new coach, Michael Cheika.

Up in Brisbane, the Reds defeated the touring Wellington Hurricanes 18-12. Most notably, Digby Ioane pulled out an act of singularly impressive athleticism when he surged across the line and into the corner in the 23rd minute, before the two defenders could drag him out; the instant replay showed his boots and shoulders both within a hairsbreadth of the touchline. However, probably in spite of rather than because he looks like a pissed off Zeta with his new moustache, the try was awarded. The touch judges were on overdrive, and the less fortunate Hurricanes were denied two five pointers over the course of the game, the first for a boot scraping into touch, the second for an unassuming knock on preceding a messy play. Round 3 also saw a big upset in New Zealand, when the Auckland Blues defeated the Canterbury Crusaders 34-15. It was the first time the Crusaders have conceded four tries since 2005.

In round four the Waratahs were demolished by a stampeding home side here in Canberra, a spectacle I had the distinction of witnessing firsthand. It was clearly going to be an interesting night as an away team supporter when the stadium commentator announced over the loudspeaker for the Brumbies fans that “a win against the Waratahs is a win for humanity.”

Appalling discipline at the breakdown saw Brumbies flyhalf Christian Lealiifano put away

9 points from penalties for the home side inside the first 10 minutes. Brumbies superstar flanker David Pocock tore the ACL in his left knee 12 minutes in, putting him out of selection for Australia during the upcoming British and Irish Lions Tour. However, his replacement was prodigal son, and Wallabies flanker George Smith, who returned to Australia from his Japanese club during the off-season. Needless to say, things continued to go downhill for the Waratahs.

In the 25th minute the Brumbies forward pack tore open the NSW defence with a punishing rolling maul, sending Ben Mowen over for the opening try. The home side followed up in the 33rd minute when fullback Jessie Mogg calmly slotted a very professional grubber between two Waratahs as he was being thumped off his centre of gravity by the defence. Lealiifano turned on the gas, anticipating the move, and picked up the try with plenty of space.

With two minutes left on the clock, Jessie Mogg went for a run from the Brumbies tryline before offloading to substitute Robbie Coleman ten metres from halfway. Coleman found himself with fifty metres of ground to cover and the stadium rose to its feet as he put on a chip-and-chase. The bounce was good and he crashed over the tryline with Waratahs winger Lachy Turner latched to his jersey. The triumphant Brumbies walked away with four tries, a bonus point, a 35-6 victory over their greatest rivals, and remain undefeated for 2013.

Elsewhere in round four, the Queensland Reds conquered the Melbourne Rebels at home, 26-13, with off-field mates and fellow Wallabies James O’Conner and Quade Cooper playing opposite one another in the no. 10 jersey at flyhalf.

In South Africa the Port Elizabeth Kings were humbled by the Durban Sharks 11-21, and defending champions the Cape Town Stormers only just held onto victory over the Waikato Chiefs, 36-34. Next game to look out for: Brumbies vs. Bulls, 30th March at Bruce Stadium.

Quarterfinal 1: Malaga CF vs. Borussia Dortmund As always it seems, there is a new team in the quarterfinals and this year that team is Spanish side Malaga CF. Being more impressive is that this is the first time that they’ve ever been in the competition itself. Malaga finished on top of their group ahead of AC Milan. Their group was easier than Dortmund’s however and their round of 16 matches proved to be more difficult as they lost 1-0 to Porto in the first leg.

Resurgent German giants Borussia Dortmund has finally ended their long wait of fifteen years to make it back to the final eight of the tournament. Their European record this year has been quite phenomenal. They have yet to lose a game and out of the eight games played to reach the quarters, they’ve won five and drawn three and finished ahead of Real Madrid in the group stages.

They reached the quarters with a 3-0 home win against Shakhtar Donetsk at home after drawing with them 2-2 in the away game. Interestingly all of their draws have been away from home so that could be a concern for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Prediction: Borussia Dortmund wins both legs and progresses.

The stadium commentator announced over the loud-speaker for the Brumbies fans that a win against the Waratahs is a win for humanity

Quarterfinal 2: Real Madrid CF vs. Galatasaray A.S. Reigning La Liga champions can consider themselves somewhat lucky to be in the quarterfinals this year, ousting Manchester United in spectacular, albeit highly controversial manner. With a shocking red card to United winger Nani, Madrid were able to open up and score two goals in quick succession with the one man advantage whereas before the card, they were finding it very difficult to break down the stern United defense. Jose Mourinho’s team of superstars have drawn three and lost once on their road to the quarters this season. They haven’t had problems scoring but they have yet to keep a clean sheet thus far.

Burak Yilmaz has proven to be the differential for Galatasaray scoring eight goals in the competition so far. After a rocky start to the campaign with losses to Man United and Braga, Galatasaray has not lost since. They progressed

on aggregate against German side Schalke with a impressive 3-2 win away from home. The Turkish side’s away from has suprisingly been much better than their home. All but one of their wins have been away from home.

Prediction: Real Madrid wins both legs and progresses.

Quarterfinal 3: Paris Saint-Germain vs. FC Barcelona FC Barcelona made it to the last eight in this year in a spectacular fashion. Overcoming a surprise 2-0 deficit to AC Milan going into their home leg, Barcelona pulled out all the stops to whomp the visitors 4-0 at the Camp Nou. Both games they’ve lost have been away from home and they haven’t been the constant footballing force we’ve known them to be so far in this season’s competition.

PSG has also ended a long wait of eighteen years to make it to the quarterfinals. Being the new “loaded” club in Europe has paid dividends as they have only lost one and drawn one so far on their road to the quarters. They breezed through the group stages but survived a scare against Valencia in the round of 16 only progressing through a late Ezequiel Lavezzi goal. They’ll need their start striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to be on form if they stand any chance against the Catalan giants.

Prediction: 1st leg draw at PSG. 2nd leg Barcelona win. Barcelona progresses.

Quarterfinal 4: FC Bayern Munchen vs.

Juventus Bayern Munich are again involved in THE tie of the quarterfinals. The German giants are currently dominating in the Bundesliga, twenty points clear at first place. However, their European form hasn’t been amazing. After a impressive 3-1 win against Arsenal in the first leg of the last round, they lost at home 2-0 barely scraping through to the elite eight Juventus, like PSG and Dortmund, haven’t progressed this far in a while (seven years) and so they’ll be looking to make it worthwhile. The Italians are also have a convincing lead at the top of their domestic league and unlike Bayern, they have had great European success thus far. After drawing the first three games, they have won every game since. Granted, with all respect to Celtic, Juve drew the easiest game in the previous round, but this is a team that has been firing on all cylinders.

Prediction: 1st leg Bayern Munich win. 2nd leg Juventus win. Bayern progresses on aggregate.

SPORT// 31 ON THE BALL

Pre-Occupied MURRAY ROBERTSON

FRED STUART

Hey Mick : Pick Me!

AUSTRALIAN Cricket Fans at the moment are not entirely sure how to react to the current fiasco that has taken place over the past summer and now on tour in India. The culture of Australia’s national sport at an elite level is under question.

Not only are there off-field dramas grabbing headlines but also there are more concerning onfield performances from the majority of the team to worry about.

A dissection of the off-field issues may shed some light into how this team is failing to show any form coming into a back-to-back Ashes tour.

The Australian public is hungry to regain the urn but with the current test side’s form, many will hope the inevitable can be avoided or delayed long enough to form some suitable excuses for our English/South African rivals.

The current selection panel’s (which includes the coach and captain) decision making is showing an awful lot of resemblance to that of the English team management of ten to fifteen years ago. Having an English father you come to understand why they are so grumpy and whiney. At the first sign of failure the axe is sharpened and its out with the old and in with the previous failures or a newcomer (whose been working hard and they “want to show the faith”). For example the revolving door that has been operating since Warney’s departure had, until recently, been stopped by Nathon Lyon. With one poor performance in India it seems it was a good idea to bring in a bloke averaging around 100 over three tests and a new bloke who comes in looking like an above average park cricketer. They did take more wickets than Lyon, but that was after two players scored more than the Australian team did in two innings. The current state of Australia’s selection policy is confusing to many and without any consistent approach. The best move is to pick a team based on talent and stick with it. Only when it is obvious that a player’s technique is not becoming of a test match cricketer will it be time to move them on.

The best case of this is Phil Hughes. Despite his numerous chances and his supposed recreation he still has a technique not suited to the longer form of the game. A technique great for the shorter forms of cricket as most bowlers find it awkward to pin him down but at test level, bowlers have all day to wait for him to nick the ball into the slips. It’s not surprising to hear rumours that selectors wanted to shelter him from the South Africans. If drastic changes aren’t made then England can cash in a cheap wicket for them in pretty much every innings of the Ashes.

Although, I do sympathise with those in charge

At first sign of failure the axe is sharpened and it’s out with the old and in with the previous failures or a newcomer. of performance at Cricket Australia. The standard was created by a team of cricketing demi-gods.

They have created expectations that are almost beyond the abilities of a current world XI and the Australian public has still yet to come to terms with it. With hindsight in the one team the best spinner and pace man bowled together with the best wicket-keeper batsmen smashing blokes everywhere and BSB (best since Bradman), Punter, casually going about his business.

The only player with any sort of memory (and magic) produced by that team is the man in charge, Clarkey. Apart from his bowlers it looks like he is taking the Indians on his own. Clarke leads his team by example, producing some of the best runs in world cricket. Interesting to think the

Australian public wanted Shane ‘the dummyspitter’ Watson as the Australian captain twelve to eighteen months ago. Despite Watto backing down from retirement talk, his true colours were shown when he showed dissent towards his fellow leader and it still doesn’t change the fact that he’s Australia’s most overrated player.

Clarkes runs are vital to the teams performance but it has created a lot of pressure amongst the other batsmen in the team. There is greater concentration of power with Clarke, as he sets the standard amongst the team and other players will be trepidatious to question the direction of the teams culture and selection policy. You can choose whether or not to believe the rumours surrounding Hussey’s retirement, but it is an indicator of the concentration of power that now lies at Clarkey’s feet. With the potential that players will face sanctions for disagreeing with their captain it will create an even more undesirable environment for players to air their concerns and potential solutions to fix the unstable team culture.

Cricket Australia has to take a hard look at the structure they have in place for developing players to a test standard. They have indicated that they want to be number one by 2015, but this will require more than quick fixes. If they want to focus on being the elite in the test arena than the top twenty to thirty players need the incentive to be developing their skills for that environment. State cricketers with half the talent of the current test team can earn similar money to those above them in the food chain. They haven’t achieved this by getting better at their red ball skills, but by improving their skills to become more adaptable for the shorter forms of the game. If cricketers around the country have the support as well as the incentive to be better test cricketers they will be hungrier to get Australia out of its current rut.

THANK god the pre-season competition is nearly over and the disorientating effect that it has on teams prospects for the year ahead can stop. No disrespect to Brisbane or Carlton, who vie for the NAB Cup this Friday night, but in ten weeks time the importance of the NAB Cup will be nada.

Former Swans Premiership Coach Paul Roos famously told Jarrod McVeigh in a pre-season game to “go forward but don’t kick a goal.”

The pre-season competition holds a purpose that varies for every team. The top teams from last year will put games into their kids, looking to add to their depth. The middle tier clubs will aim to take that next step by taking the competition too seriously, Brisbane fall into this category. The clubs at the bottom of the ladder will have something to prove, they will invariably field a strong line up while also getting time into their younger players. Port Adelaide’s last gasp victory over Premiership fancy West Coast can be attributed to the latter purpose, yet it does little to explain GWS and its capitulation against Essendon on Friday night at Manuka Oval.

This author and his entourage of Hawthorn, Essendon and Sydney supporters, plus a few who were dragged along, were genuinely excited for a good night of footy. Instead, we witnessed a bloodless massacre. The pumped up Bombers, no pun intended, only need to play half an hour of scintillating football to cut GWS to pieces. Excusing the fact that two of the Giants best forwards were watching from the sideline, it was a pathetic display. Coach Kevin Sheedy may be one of the best spokespeople in Australia, yet perhaps he should concentrate a little bit more on his players, rather then the media. While the footy was dull entertainment, the food situation at the stadium threw up endless possibilities. Such was the variety that this author spent half the game either in a queue for food or eating his purchase, a night to remember.

After this weekend’s carnivale finishes, the real deal is here. Hawthorn are yet to win a preseason game, yet are odds on favourites to go one better than last year. Sydney are still waiting until round one to wheel out their full ensemble, while Geelong, West Coast and Collingwood are all looking deceptively good. In what promises to be one of the closest AFL seasons in recent history, the form of the Premiership aspirants in this years NAB Cup should literally do nothing for the avid supporter, like being at a Guy Sebastian concert.

THE MODERN PIXIE GIRL

LEILA PACKETT Frankiepolitan is a guide to love, lust and dating for the modern pixie girl who would like to conceal the fact that these are the only subjects she actually wants to read about in a magazine.

Readers who feel pressured to be sweet and quirky by docile icons like Zooey Deschanel will love the incorporation of craft and shit into explicit sexual material.

So I’ve been getting a few questions about what exactly a ‘pixie girl’ is. Granted, these enquiries have mostly been coming from the harsher sex (meaning males, despite what Michelle Bridges may have you believe while watching The Biggest Loser this week) but I thought it might be useful for us all to reflect on exactly who pixie girls are.

For hundreds of years, society has been telling us that in order to be ‘feminine’ we should be cute, sweet, and sensitive. But ever since Germaine Greer told us all that we should be grabbing life by the balls and fucking anything that moves, the messages on how women should behave have been rather mixed. Magazines like Frankie tell us to love baking and knitting and send home made cards to our grandmothers, while the likes of Cosmopolitan practically recommend giving blowjobs to strangers on public transport.

The need to be one type of woman or the other or the other ended with the evolution of the Pixie Girl. The pixie girl is effortlessly Zooey Deschanel in the light of day but her evil twin Katy Perry when night falls. She is as adorable as Charlotte from Sex and the City, with Samantha’s sex drive, Miranda’s bluntness, and Carey’s shoe collection.

She doesn’t know which character from Girls she is, because she’s all of them. She’s girlier than Ashley and sluttier than Mary Kate. Basically, she’s Taylor Swift.

This all might seem a bit confusing. But pixie girls have been around for longer than you think.

The first may have been Tinkerbell in 1953, a dreamlike magical fairy on a ruthless mission to fuck her boss. Or perhaps it was Audrey Hepburn, who convinced the world that Holly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s was just a wide-eyed fashion loving nymph rather than a thinly veiled nymphomaniac. Regardless, pixie girls are everywhere and you probably know a few. She’s your friend who always surprises you when she says she got fingered in the Meche bathrooms last night, despite the fact that she does it every week.

Maybe it’s her colourful cardigan collection and obsession with adorkable stationary that disarms you every time?

Until next time Leila

#230

I have a confession that I’ve kept to myself for years. Every time I sit in a lecture I look around and laugh at the other suckers. Tutorials are particularly exciting, as the smaller tutor to students ratio will mean that there’s a better chance that they’ll discover my dirty little secret. When the exam convenors ask us to pick up our pens for writing time, I find it hard to hold in laughter at their attempt to control us, to tell us each how our lives. I get a twisted satisfaction out of the knowledge that I’ll probably never get caught. If they ever find out, I’ll go to jail a happy man knowing that I lived my life free and never gave a single fuck.

You see, I never got my pen license.

But. I. Use. Pens.

Anyway.

Dear Agonies, After spending yet another romance-free night out in Civic, I’ve been re-evaluating myself as a sexual prospect. I’m not ugly, I can carry a conversation and I take care of myself but not to a owns-more-toiletries-than-you extent. There is one thing I can’t do – I can’t dance. My moves are much closer to Michael J Fox than Michael Jackson. Sometimes when I dance up to a girl, they draw me in close, touch my face tenderly and say “Do you have medication for your epilepsy?” What can I do?

Yours, Too Right Feet

My dear Too Right Feet, Well, well, well, it seems like an upstanding gentlemen can’t pull everything of! What young lassie is going to want anything to do with a rigid young gentleman like yourself?

It would be vein to think it’s only you who is hard done by! Why, all of us were latecomers to one thing or another. There’s no point being testy - you just have to suck it up. Listen to your body, feel the music deep inside you go for it when you feel the beat pounding!

Yours, Agony Aunt TRF, Mate, dancing is easier than my missus after a few Jack and Cokes. None of this “feel the rhythm” business – that’s just what the Frogs want us westerners to think. Here’s how you bloody do it; step one is to grab some piss. No respectable bloke should caught dead without a cold one unless he is a) getting married b) having a root c) on his way to get another (and even then it’s frowned upon.) Step two; put on a tune.

Tunes are restricted to; bands named after an animal, songs that only have words four letters or less in length, and Billy Joel. Step three is simple, just mouth the words to the songs, sweat profusely and point at people in the room. The sheilas will be on you like stink on a pig.

For the love of a fresh tinnie, Agony Angus

This Week’s Question: How Should I Treat Other Cultures?

This Week’s Advice From: Judaism.

Advice From Religion Jamie Freestone, Mathew McGann & Todd Cooper Would you be willing to remove your foreskin from your penis and stop eating pork to join the faithful?*

No

G oB a

No

o

o

N

N

ck

s Ye

Did you return 25 centuries later to find this culture cosily settled in Jerusalem?

Is the other culture geographically proximate to the Holy Land?

Yes

Segregate them and claim what’s yours.

Ye s

o

Yes

N

Are you one of God’s chosen people?

Chill out and become over represented in the arts, comedy, industry and science in the country you find yourself in.

Read this flowchart very carefully and think again.

Are the Canaanites, Amalakites, Amorites or people of Lachish occupying fertile land or mildly insulting you?**

Or

Did Midianite women lead you to sexual sin?

Yes

Exterminate them.***

*Genesis 17 **1 Samuel 15, Joshua 10, Deuteronomy 7 ***Keep the virgins to indulge in sexual sin with. (Numbers 31)