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nexus magazine<br />
SO, DON’T GET<br />
OUT AND VOTE<br />
THEN?<br />
MELISA MARTIN FROM YWRC<br />
—<br />
The election is over and here’s what we at the<br />
YWRC have to say about it.<br />
Firstly, congratulations are in order to John and<br />
the National Party, obviously a well-played campaign<br />
turned out the supporters, and the beauty of democratic<br />
process is that because the Nats convinced the<br />
majority of those who voted, they won.<br />
What hadn’t been predicted is that we would see<br />
almost the same number of non-voters as in the statistics<br />
for the election in 2011.<br />
Despite the efforts of non-profit campaigns ‘Get<br />
Out and Vote’ and ‘Rock Enrol’ a huge portion of New<br />
Zealanders either take no pride in deciding who runs<br />
their country, or they don’t have any faith that there is<br />
a worthy candidate.<br />
Even though polling booths have been open since<br />
mid-September, the number of National voters nearly<br />
equalled the number of people who didn’t bother voting<br />
at all.<br />
Since Election Day, these facts have consistently led<br />
me to discussion on whether someone needs to start<br />
lobbying for voting to be compulsory.<br />
I’m of two minds about it, because I believe you can’t<br />
take away someone’s right to choose.<br />
But I’ve learned that Australia has a 97% voter turnout<br />
because they’re issued with a monetary fine if they<br />
don’t make an appearance at the polling booth.<br />
Their forms still allow for a person to actively make<br />
no political choice, but Australian residents and citizens<br />
are required by law to at least turn up to a polling booth<br />
on Election Day and declare it.<br />
To quote Emma Watson, otherwise known as that<br />
feminist Harry Potter girl: “If not me, who? If not<br />
now, when?”<br />
SPECIAL CONSIDERATION<br />
AND REVIEWS OF GRADE<br />
AMBER CARDALE & LAURENCE MCLEAN<br />
—<br />
Every week our column presents to you some serious shit that us student support<br />
advocates are able to help you with. The fast facts this week are all about what to<br />
do when something with your assignment goes wrong.<br />
If you want to pass<br />
This is what you need to do<br />
Follow this haiku<br />
• If you can’t get your assignment done in time because you are sick or have had<br />
something personal happen to you in the week beforehand then you can ask<br />
for an extension. You should have evidence where possible and talk with your<br />
lecturer first. Some departments have a form to fill in so if you are unsure of<br />
the process talk to your faculty receptionist or come in and see us.<br />
• If your performance in an assessment or exam wasn’t 100% or you missed<br />
it then you can apply for special consideration. But by all means try not to<br />
miss your exam as it is better to arrive and not do so well than to not go at all.<br />
#nogettingwhitegirlwasteythenightbefore<br />
• If you get a mark back and you think that the grade you get doesn’t reflect<br />
the quality of work you can get a review of grade. There are always options if<br />
you’re not happy with something. So turn that frown upside down.<br />
• All of these applications have time limits so you should get them completed<br />
ASAP once you know you need to apply. You need to apply within 72 hours<br />
for special consideration applications and 14 days for a review of grade. If<br />
you have any problems then make an appointment to come and talk with us.<br />
We be dem advocacy angels that you kind of don’t know about but dat can be really<br />
helpful. If you’re not too sure if we can help, quiz us, Laurence loves it. Amber likes<br />
coffee, just saying.<br />
Contact: 0800 AT YWRC or ywrc@xtra.co.nz<br />
Contact: advocacy@wsu.org.nz or 027 2065 011. Or make an appointment at wsu.org.nz<br />
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