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Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong><br />
MoNASH UNIVERSITY STooDENT MAGAZINE - CLAYToN<br />
ISSUE FIVE - <strong>2015</strong>
COLLEGE WAY<br />
ONE WAY<br />
Designated smoking points<br />
56<br />
Clayton campus<br />
NORMANBY ROAD<br />
HOWLEYS ROAD<br />
101<br />
9<br />
NORMANBY ROAD<br />
GARDINER ROAD<br />
CSIRO<br />
CSIRO<br />
CSIRO<br />
SCENIC BOULEVARD<br />
6<br />
8<br />
63<br />
61<br />
8<br />
62<br />
60<br />
58<br />
56<br />
680<br />
700<br />
MARTIN ST<br />
710<br />
E<br />
RESEARCH WAY<br />
ALLIANCE LANE<br />
WOODSIDE AVENUE<br />
BEDDOE AVE<br />
COLLEGE WALK<br />
SPORTS WALK<br />
CHANCELLORS WALK<br />
BEDDOE AVE<br />
RA IMPARO WAY<br />
60<br />
62<br />
BOUNDARY ROAD BOUNDARY ROAD<br />
4<br />
3<br />
4<br />
5<br />
3<br />
15<br />
7<br />
19<br />
INNOVATION WALK<br />
23<br />
5<br />
39<br />
2<br />
5<br />
4<br />
10<br />
12<br />
INNOVATION WALK<br />
10<br />
18<br />
26<br />
Multi-level<br />
15<br />
28<br />
9<br />
Green<br />
Chemical<br />
Futures<br />
23<br />
15<br />
17<br />
21<br />
25<br />
11<br />
11<br />
13<br />
19<br />
CHANCELLORS WALK<br />
10<br />
9<br />
38<br />
10<br />
10<br />
37<br />
12<br />
49<br />
5<br />
39<br />
27<br />
35<br />
43<br />
ANCORA IMPARO WAY<br />
14<br />
20<br />
14<br />
Hargrave-<br />
Andrew<br />
Library<br />
14<br />
20<br />
16<br />
22<br />
13<br />
15<br />
22<br />
17<br />
16<br />
17<br />
16 18<br />
19 21<br />
17<br />
SPORTS WALK<br />
Menzies Building<br />
20<br />
Law<br />
Library<br />
15<br />
6 21<br />
23<br />
20<br />
25<br />
22<br />
48<br />
32<br />
Religious<br />
Centre<br />
CHANCELLORS WALK CHANCELLORS WALK<br />
20<br />
24<br />
22<br />
Mannix<br />
College<br />
21<br />
21<br />
26<br />
28<br />
EXHIBITION WALK<br />
21<br />
23<br />
38<br />
30<br />
40<br />
EXHIBITION WALK<br />
Matheson<br />
Library<br />
13<br />
Robert<br />
Blackwood<br />
Hall<br />
49<br />
55<br />
46 55<br />
44<br />
INNOVATION WALK RAINFOREST WALK EXHIBITION WALK SCENIC BOULEVARD<br />
2<br />
RAINFOREST WALK<br />
RESEARCH WAY<br />
New Horizons<br />
RAINFOREST WALK<br />
3<br />
BOILER HOUSE ROAD<br />
Campus<br />
Centre<br />
ALLIANCE LANE<br />
COLLEGE WALK<br />
1<br />
29<br />
34<br />
36<br />
27<br />
WELLINGTON ROAD<br />
10<br />
1<br />
RESEARCH WAY<br />
21<br />
7<br />
57<br />
24<br />
26<br />
30<br />
59<br />
8<br />
37<br />
45<br />
28<br />
52<br />
64<br />
27<br />
17<br />
29<br />
SCENIC BOULEVARD<br />
42<br />
Tennis<br />
Doug Ellis<br />
Swimming<br />
Pool<br />
36<br />
Monash Sport<br />
ANCORA IMPARO WAY<br />
Hockey<br />
38<br />
54<br />
60<br />
62<br />
Frearson Oval<br />
52–70<br />
COLLEGE WALK<br />
44<br />
42<br />
Football / Cricket<br />
ANCORA IMPARO WAY<br />
Multi-level<br />
52<br />
Baseball<br />
52 54<br />
6 9<br />
Jock Marshall Reserve<br />
7<br />
Football<br />
Football<br />
BLACKBURN ROAD<br />
738<br />
770<br />
DUERDIN ST<br />
Australian<br />
Synchrotron<br />
Free parking<br />
151–195<br />
151<br />
1 30 Ancora Imparo Way<br />
*Next to car park S1<br />
4 At northern end of 15 Innovation Walk<br />
opposite the W2 carpark<br />
7 21 Alliance Lane carpark<br />
*Next to Building 70 carpark<br />
2 Bus loop next to Monash College 5 On Alliance Lane, between 2 Innovation Walk<br />
and 9 Rainforest Walk<br />
*Between multistorey carpark and Building 28<br />
3 22 – 27 Rainforest Walk<br />
*Between Buildings 15 and 20<br />
8 South side of 55 Scenic Boulevard<br />
*Next to Building 67 and Building 61 carpark<br />
6 Next to watertanks 9 Behind 710 Blackburn Road<br />
*Behind Building 202 (next to Building 3)<br />
15P-0650
15P-0650<br />
Cover artwork by Julia Chapman<br />
juliamchapman.com<br />
This illustration is based on Newton’s Apple<br />
Tree, located at the Clayton campus in the<br />
Kenneth Hunt Memorial Garden. This tree was<br />
a cutting from the original tree that inspired<br />
Sir Isaac Newton to formulate his ideas<br />
regarding motion and gravity.<br />
1<br />
Rather than depicting the tree and its history<br />
with the conventional image of an apple<br />
falling on Newton’s head, the artist has<br />
interpreted it in a unique way. It indicates the<br />
impact that Sir Isaac Newton’s theories had<br />
on human history.<br />
Photographs courtesy of Bill Molloy
Contents<br />
Editors<br />
Bill Molloy<br />
Claire Rowe<br />
Jarrod Verity<br />
Design<br />
Danielle Natividad<br />
Timothy Newport<br />
Politics<br />
Bree Guthrie<br />
Hareesh Makam<br />
Kirsti Weisz<br />
Tom Clelland<br />
Student Affairs<br />
Julia Pillai<br />
Kristin Robertson<br />
Rosie Boyle<br />
Science & Engineering<br />
Alisoun Townsend<br />
Kathy Zhang<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
Emily Neilsen<br />
Kelly Pigram<br />
Lisa Healy<br />
Photography<br />
Carina Florea<br />
© Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong> <strong>2015</strong>, Monash University<br />
Clayton, Victoria<br />
As you read this paper you are on<br />
Aboriginal land. We at Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong> recognise<br />
the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung peoples<br />
of the Kulin Nations as the historical and<br />
rightful owners and custodians of the lands<br />
and waters on which this newspaper is produced.<br />
The land was stolen and sovereignty<br />
was never ceded.<br />
Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong> condemns and will not<br />
publish any material that is racist, sexist,<br />
queerphobic, ableist, or discriminatory in<br />
any nature. The views expressed herein are<br />
those of the attributed writers and do not<br />
necessarily reflect the views of the editors<br />
or the MSA. All writing and artwork remains<br />
the property of the producers and must<br />
not be reproduced without their written<br />
consent.<br />
Politics<br />
Student<br />
Affairs<br />
3<br />
Editorial<br />
4<br />
oB Reports<br />
8<br />
Same Sex Marriage<br />
10<br />
Depoliticise the Science<br />
11<br />
Politics and Climate<br />
Change<br />
12<br />
500 Word Challenge<br />
14<br />
The Nanny State: A<br />
Burden or a Benefit?<br />
16<br />
Why we need<br />
Bluestockings Week<br />
18<br />
The ‘How to’ of Honours<br />
19<br />
The Monash vs.<br />
Melbourne Debate<br />
20<br />
Stress now, work later<br />
21<br />
No Porn in the Library!<br />
22<br />
An open letter to ‘Desk<br />
Leavers’<br />
23<br />
What would happen if we<br />
Just Didn’t Pay Back our<br />
HECS?<br />
24<br />
New Semester’s<br />
Resolutions<br />
25<br />
Event Schedule<br />
Science &<br />
Engineering<br />
Arts &<br />
Culture<br />
28<br />
How to 3D Print Your<br />
Perfect Partner<br />
29<br />
Leaf Traits Explained<br />
30<br />
Puzzles<br />
31<br />
What’s Up Doc?<br />
32<br />
The Daily Grind<br />
33<br />
Prosthetics<br />
34<br />
Internships<br />
35<br />
Hand Sanitizer: Friend or<br />
Foe?<br />
38<br />
In a League of their own<br />
40<br />
Art in the Digital Space<br />
42<br />
Meeting Kyra Hannah<br />
43<br />
Post-Postmodern Porn?<br />
44<br />
Monash Dance<br />
46<br />
MUST Container Fest<br />
47<br />
Gig Guide<br />
48<br />
Art Showcase
EDIToRIAL 3<br />
Editorial<br />
London, Edinburgh, Paris, Prato... Clayton. The Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong> team has<br />
been an intrepid bunch this break. While Claire bar hops across<br />
the UK, and our sub-editors have a well-earned holiday, Bill and<br />
Jarrod have been left to explore the character of Melbourne’s south<br />
east. Left to fend for themselves in this cold Melbourne winter,<br />
they have hidden themselves in the depths of the Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong> office<br />
for the holiday period.<br />
We suspect that the rest of Australia must have also been in<br />
hibernation this winter; the puzzling Border Force Act which<br />
came into power, received relatively little scrutiny by the<br />
public and passed through parliament largely unscathed,<br />
with the only opposition coming from the Greens. Instead it<br />
seems most of us were focused on Zaky Mallah’s appearance<br />
on Q&A. The amendment to the Act, which came into power<br />
on July 1 could see immigration workers face two years in jail<br />
for disclosing ‘protected information.’ Protected information<br />
as defined in the legislation is that which ‘was obtained<br />
by the person in the person’s capacity as an entrusted<br />
person.’ Despite covering the swearing in of the Australian<br />
Border Force, the Channel 7 News July 1 bulletin failed to<br />
mention these new measures. The largest opposition to<br />
the legislation came in the form of an open letter signed by<br />
numerous immigration workers who raised concerns that<br />
‘if we witness child abuse in detention centres we can go to<br />
prison for attempting to advocate for them effectively.’ While<br />
Channel 10 News did make mention of these criticisms in its<br />
broadcast, it was ironically secondary to criticisms that Tony<br />
Abbott is using national security as a distraction to his other<br />
failings as Prime Minister.<br />
At least equal marriage received a healthy dose of<br />
attention from the public. If only the Liberals had turned up<br />
to parliament on June 1st then they might’ve also been able<br />
to give such attention to Bill Shorten’s proposed amendment<br />
to the Marriage Act. Given their absence from parliament we<br />
asked the Liberals if they had time to write an article for Lot’s<br />
<strong>Wife</strong>. Instead they responded with questions for us to answer.<br />
Their glorious leader had already made clear his distaste<br />
of ‘lynch mobs’ within the media on one of his monotonous<br />
rants in the party room. It was unclear if he was simply<br />
making a point, or if he was genuine in his call of arms to<br />
boycott all media outlets who hold opposition to the view<br />
that Australia is ‘the best team on earth.’<br />
This opposition to well-rounded debate and involvement<br />
of the community in discussions was echoed in the Prime<br />
Minister’s disinterest in representing his country’s views,<br />
but rather, insisting upon an entirely separate agenda. In<br />
the past, leaders of our country have held to their own views<br />
with great results, but what makes this instance so different<br />
is the stark contrast between Abbott’s views and those of the<br />
majority of the country. once viewed as a helpful neighbour,<br />
our reputation around oceania, Asia and the rest of the<br />
world has steadily declined over the past few years. While<br />
New Zealand and Australia were once were held side by side<br />
in the opinions of the rest of the world, we seem to have<br />
regressed, and our friends across the ditch strive to lead the<br />
world. Ten years ago, would we have imagined so soon that<br />
the campaign for marriage equality would have progressed<br />
further in conservative American states than in our own<br />
backyard?<br />
Another issue to keep your eye on is Monash University’s<br />
potential scrapping of the Berwick campus. Though little<br />
information has been released, the withdrawal of Monash’s<br />
name on Berwick could leave the students there being taught<br />
by non-Monash staff. It also would leave residents in the<br />
outer south east corridor with severely reduced education<br />
options.<br />
But don’t worry, after such displeasing news, Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong><br />
Issue 5 for <strong>2015</strong> has got you covered. We’ll more than make<br />
up for your embarrassment at our country’s current state.<br />
Though you won’t notice any change in quality, you may<br />
notice a bunch of unfamiliar names in this issue - 9, to be<br />
exact. over winter we opened up some opportunities to the<br />
newest members of our community and they responded with<br />
confidence and prowess. Seek out the newbies and give their<br />
articles a read, you won’t go unsatisfied. You’ll also notice<br />
a new stand in South 1, and recordings of articles will soon<br />
go online to allow you to be with Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong> to us even when<br />
you’re eyes are busy. There is no escape. Hibernate with Lot’s<br />
<strong>Wife</strong>.
4<br />
OB REPORTS<br />
OB Reports<br />
President<br />
Sinead Colee<br />
Most of you wouldn’t realise, but every one of your elected<br />
student office bearers continues to work hard fighting for<br />
your rights and continuing to bring you necessary student<br />
services whether we are in or out of semester!<br />
Some of the things I am currently working on are seeing<br />
the university introduce emergency housing for students<br />
who find themselves in times of a need, seeing elected<br />
student representation re-introduced to university council,<br />
introducing a Laptop Library service in the John Medley<br />
Library, helping the university to address the parking<br />
situation on the Clayton campus and preparing and planning<br />
projects for Semester Two!<br />
I’ve also had the oppurtunity to attend both the Network<br />
of Women Students Australia conference and the National<br />
Union of Students’ Education Conference over the semester<br />
in which i gained some really valuable skills and have a lot of<br />
fresh ideas to bring back to the MSA!<br />
Hopefully I’ll see you around at the MSA Re-Orientation<br />
Festival or at the NUS National Day of Action that has been<br />
called for August 19th in response to the current government<br />
trying to re-introduce deregulation of university fees for the<br />
third time! Students have won the battle twice before and we<br />
can do it again!<br />
Ciao for now!<br />
Secretary<br />
Daniel King<br />
Report not submitted<br />
Treasurer<br />
Abby Stapleton<br />
Hi everyone, I hope you have all had a restful mid semester<br />
break. Over the course of the break i attended education<br />
conference which was held in Sydney for a week. The<br />
conference was organised by the national union of students<br />
and provide a multitude of skill building workshops. As<br />
well as attending ‘edcon’ I have organised budget catchups<br />
with all the MSA office bearers, aimed at making sure that<br />
everyone is on track with their expenditure for the year. I<br />
have also been busy planning for the second finance subcommittee<br />
meeting.<br />
Education (Academic Affairs)<br />
Amelia Veronese<br />
Hey everyone! :) I hope everyone had a fantastic break and are<br />
looking forward to Semester 2. Remember if there have been<br />
any issues with your results from Semester 1 you can contact<br />
MSA Student Rights and msa-studentrights@monash.edu<br />
In the break, I have been beginning to organize the MSA<br />
teaching awards night that will be held on Wednesday the<br />
18th of November. It’s a fantastic opportunity to recognize<br />
excellent teaching so if you want to nominate teaching staff<br />
please do so! You can email me at Amelia.veronese@monash.<br />
edu for more information :)<br />
This semester the MSA Welfare Department and I will be<br />
working on increase social support for rural students also.<br />
Hope your semester goes well! :)<br />
Education (Public Affairs)<br />
Sarah Spivak & Mali Rea<br />
Deregulation might not be in the news so much anymore, but<br />
it’s no less of a threat. We’ve been organising another protest<br />
for August 19th! The National Day of Action will have the same<br />
demands, no deregulation, no funding cut and no wait on<br />
newstart. It’s more important than ever that students come<br />
out in support of publicly funded higher education!<br />
Sarah and Mali have just been at the National Union of<br />
Students Education Conference, along with other delegates<br />
from Monash. While at the conference we had the chance to<br />
meet up with education activists from around the country<br />
and plan for this semester.<br />
We’ve also been working on Bluestockings Week (Week 3)<br />
with the Women’s Department and the NTEU Monash Branch.<br />
We’ve finalised our panel for the forum on the Wednesday;<br />
we have Celeste Liddle (NTEU Aboriginal and Torres Strait<br />
Islander Organiser), Jeannie Rea (NTEU President), Rae<br />
Frances (Dean of Arts, Monash University) and Swati<br />
Parashar (Lecturer in Politics and International Relations).<br />
We’re also busy writing questions for the Trivia Night on the<br />
Thursday. Get a ticket from us at mid-year festival, from the<br />
MSA desk or online.<br />
As always if you want to get involved contact us at msaeducation@monash.edu<br />
and like our facebook page, ‘MSA<br />
Education’.
OB REPORTS 5<br />
Environment and Social Justice<br />
Lauren Goldsmith & David Power<br />
Report not submitted<br />
Queer<br />
Viv Stewart & Jarvis Sparks<br />
The queer officers go to canberra!! We took 19 delegates to<br />
Queer Collaborations, the annual student run national queer<br />
conference. A week of attending workshops, learning about<br />
yet another aspect of your own gender and/or sexuality,<br />
meeting wonderful new and different queer students and<br />
nitpicking over motions on conference floor.<br />
Furthermore, we’ve been planning the events for semester<br />
2 and looking at which workshops to include in this<br />
semester’s queer week - week 7. Our weekly events will begin<br />
again in week 1 of so come join us for a drink at queer beers<br />
on Wednesday 4-6 at st. John’s bar to say goodbye to the<br />
holidays.<br />
Women’s<br />
Ellen Perriment & Sophie Vassallo<br />
We’re back for another semester and we’ve been as busy as<br />
ever! Over the semester break we took a 21 person delegation<br />
to the Network Of Women Students Australia Conference<br />
(NOWSA) down in Tasmania. It was an excellent week<br />
that gave us a chance to meet other fantastic people and<br />
women’s officers from around the country as well as being<br />
able to dedicate a whole week to the Women’s movement.<br />
With a new semester starting, we’ll be preparing ourselves for<br />
our two biggest events in this half of the year: Women’s Week<br />
in the second half of the semester, and Blue Stockings Week,<br />
which is being run with the ever appreciated collaboration of<br />
the Education (Public Affairs) department. We’ve got plenty<br />
in the works for both of them and they promise to be an<br />
awesome time. As always, the Women’s Lounge is open and<br />
both Sophie and Ellen, though working hard, always have<br />
time for a chat in the office next door. Have a great semester<br />
everyone!<br />
Disabilities<br />
Andrew Day<br />
Report not submitted<br />
Welfare<br />
Rebecca Adams & Jesse Cameron<br />
We hope everyone’s been enjoying a well-earned break,<br />
hibernating for the winter in front of a fire, with hot chocolate,<br />
a good book... Ahh we wish! We have been hella busy over<br />
at Welfare with exciting plans for semester 2! The usual<br />
favourites Free Food Mondays, Survival Centre and the<br />
Secondhand Book Fair (4th and 5th August in the Airport<br />
Lounge!) will be back. And excitingly some free fitness<br />
classes, more free food (who doesn’t love that?!), some<br />
upgrades for the Survival Centre, and the beloved Welfare Ball<br />
will be some highlights for this semester.<br />
Activities<br />
Tahnee Burgess & Jake Krelle<br />
Activities has had a busy semester. We’ve had more events<br />
than ever before and are on track to have even more<br />
happening the rest of the year.<br />
AXP kicked off at the Bottom End on the 25th of June and<br />
was a great night with cheaper drinks and more DJs on all 3<br />
floors than ever before. Only complaint of the night was that<br />
the last song of the night Sandstorm was cut short. As an<br />
apology here it is in lyric form.<br />
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun<br />
dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dundun<br />
dun dundundun dun dun dun dun dun dun dundun dundun<br />
BOOM<br />
dundun dundun dundun<br />
BEEP<br />
dun dun dun dun dun<br />
dun dun<br />
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP<br />
BEEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP<br />
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
Monash Bikeshare<br />
fun - healthy - convenient - sustainable - affordable - flexible<br />
Available to everyone at Monash<br />
Become a member and use a bike to get around<br />
campus, travel to the train station, grab a coffee, or<br />
ride just for fun! For more information, membership<br />
options, and to register, visit:<br />
monashbikeshare.com/<br />
Career Connect<br />
Chat with us about...<br />
Your job application<br />
Meeting with a careers consultant<br />
Your work rights<br />
Interview tips<br />
Career Gateway jobs board<br />
Career related events and seminars<br />
Student leadership programs<br />
Volunteering at Monash<br />
www.monash.edu.au/students/career-connect/
7<br />
7<br />
PoLITICS<br />
Politics<br />
22<br />
ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH FERN — notafern.com<br />
ARTICLES BY<br />
Cassie Spry<br />
Ben Neve<br />
Ashley Wah<br />
Julia Pillai<br />
George Kopelis<br />
Kirsti Weisz
8<br />
POLITICS<br />
BY CASSIE<br />
SPRY<br />
Marriage Equality<br />
Content Warning: Suicide, physical and<br />
sexual violence<br />
Approximately 10% of Australians experience same-sex attraction<br />
and yet this 10% of the population face discrimination by the<br />
public and by the law.<br />
We are denied basic rights and privileges by our country purely<br />
based on the person we love.<br />
Marriage equality has received a lot of media coverage lately<br />
with international successes and the recent bills to amend<br />
the Marriage Act.<br />
Many have criticised Labor’s recent bill as a knee-jerk<br />
reaction to Ireland’s referendum with some believing Bill<br />
Shorten is just looking to score political points. But with<br />
the recent US Supreme Court decision, there is mounting<br />
pressure on the Australian Government to pass an<br />
amendment allowing marriage between same-sex couples.<br />
The referendum in Ireland was a landmark victory for<br />
LGBTIQ rights with the majority of people in a largely Catholic<br />
nation voting for marriage equality. This had a huge effect<br />
world-wide and has encouraged Australian politicians to<br />
reintroduce an amendment for marriage equality.<br />
Some Australians believe that a referendum could allow<br />
marriage equality to become law with over 62 per cent of<br />
Australians supporting marriage equality, but unfortunately,<br />
marriage is not in our constitution so the best way for us to<br />
achieve equality is still through the parliament.<br />
Politicians are more open to legalising love as a result of<br />
the referendum, with Bill Shorten saying it had inspired him<br />
to act.<br />
The Labor Party has increased their support for marriage<br />
equality since it became party policy in 2011, with a sizeable<br />
part of their opposition to the Liberal Party now based around<br />
this issue.<br />
However, does the Labor Party just support marriage<br />
equality and LGBTIQ rights when it benefits them?<br />
Labor supported the 2004 amendment to the Marriage<br />
Act, which changed the definition of marriage to specify<br />
that it was between a man and a woman and preventing the<br />
acknowledgement of overseas same-sex marriages. While<br />
this did follow Labor party policy at the time, they have only<br />
half-heartedly supported marriage equality since.<br />
Why didn’t Labor change the law while they were in office?<br />
They didn’t support the 2010 Greens bill to amend the<br />
Marriage Act and even when party policy changed in 2011 they<br />
didn’t seriously push for the marriage equality campaign.<br />
In 2012, when another amendment to allow samesex<br />
marriage was introduced to parliament many Labor<br />
members voted against the bill even though they had a free<br />
vote.<br />
The Prime Minister at the time, Julia Gillard, was opposed<br />
to same-sex marriage and it is likely that this could have<br />
scared other politicians into following her and reducing the<br />
number of ‘yes’ votes.<br />
In the last federal election, Kevin Rudd did make marriage<br />
equality part of his platform and said they would allow a<br />
conscience vote. He stated that he personally supported<br />
marriage equality.<br />
This was a back-flip from his stance in the lead-up to the<br />
2007 election, where he said that he believed "marriage was<br />
between a man and a woman."<br />
It is of course possible that he truly changed his view on<br />
this matter, but the timing of this support suggests that he<br />
was primarily seeking votes.<br />
It’s common knowledge that politicians offer voters<br />
incentives to vote for them during election time often in the<br />
form of promised tax cuts or more benefits; this was just<br />
Kevin Rudd’s incentive for LGBTIQ voters and supporters of<br />
marriage equality.<br />
Regardless of whether it was Kevin Rudd’s sincere belief or<br />
not, he exploited people’s sexuality for his own gain.<br />
That’s not to say that people would not welcome marriage<br />
equality in Australia if the politicians’ intentions were less<br />
than pure, but politicising equal love could cause issues for<br />
LGBTIQ people down the road.<br />
Many other issues specific to the queer community that<br />
should be simple matters may be blocked by politicians for<br />
point scoring or because it does not affect the majority of<br />
Australians.<br />
This is another step down the road of politicians<br />
withholding rights until the opportune moment in order to<br />
maintain their power, at the expense of ordinary citizens.<br />
The US Supreme Court decision to legalise same-sex<br />
marriage overruling state laws has been monumental worldwide.
POLITICS 9<br />
"However, does the Labor Party just<br />
support marriage equality and LGBTIQ<br />
rights when it benefits them? "<br />
Australia follows the USA’s lead in a number of decisions,<br />
so this ruling is one of the most effective means of getting<br />
through to our politicians, especially when our many, many<br />
letters, phone calls and media campaigns have apparently<br />
not gotten through to the conservative politicians.<br />
The draft bill introduced in parliament on 1st June<br />
proposed by Bill Shorten was likely a response of the<br />
referendum in Ireland, and will make way for a new bill to be<br />
introduced on 11th August.<br />
This new bill will be brought forward by two Liberal MPs<br />
who are working with independent and Labor MPs with the<br />
support of Greens MPs.<br />
This is a massive step forward for our nation and the first<br />
time Liberal MPs have brought forward a bill in favour of<br />
marriage equality.<br />
It shows that Liberal MPs are in favour of legalising samesex<br />
marriage.<br />
The main thing standing in the way of this bill being<br />
passed is Prime Minister Tony Abbott.<br />
By not allowing a conscience vote on this bill, it is<br />
impossible to pass this amendment.<br />
High level members of his own party support marriage<br />
equality. Among others, Malcom Turnbull has come out in<br />
support of same-sex marriage, yet Abbott has remained firm.<br />
Abbott recently stated that he was the only one left in his<br />
family opposed to marriage equality, which could be a sign<br />
that he may soften his position on this issue in the future.<br />
But until then, this promising bill is doomed to fail.<br />
Labor leader Bill Shorten is strongly in support of marriage<br />
equality and has been for years.<br />
He voted ‘yes’ for the 2012 bill and spoke in favour of samesex<br />
marriage during an Australian Christian Lobby event.<br />
But Labor, even with the Greens and the Independents<br />
cannot pass this bill.<br />
Even if Tony Abbott changes his staunch opposition to<br />
marriage equality or at least allows a conscience vote, LGBTIQ<br />
issues will not be over.<br />
There are some concerned voices within the LGBTIQ<br />
community about the aftermath of securing marriage<br />
equality.<br />
There are many other - arguably more serious - issues that<br />
still need to be addressed and are often overshadowed by the<br />
campaign for marriage equality.<br />
LGBTIQ homelessness is a big issue, especially for<br />
youths. Many have to move out while very young because of<br />
unaccepting or abusive parents, so they end up on the street.<br />
LGBTIQ youth have a much higher rate of homelessness<br />
than the general public, but also find it harder to connect<br />
to homelessness services due to real or perceived<br />
discrimination thanks to 60 per cent of homelessness<br />
services being run by religious organisations.<br />
LGBTIQ people also experience a higher rate of mental<br />
illness, especially depression and anxiety. There is a much<br />
higher rate of suicide of queer youth; however, true figures<br />
are not known due to ineffective data collection and closeted<br />
queer people.<br />
There are higher rates of physical and sexual violence<br />
for LGBTIQ people with 50 per cent of bisexual women<br />
experiencing sexual violence and an average life-span of<br />
transwomen estimated at just 30-32 years old because of<br />
hate crimes and high suicide rates.<br />
Same-sex parent adoption rights are also another issue<br />
that needs to be addressed. It is still illegal for a same-sex<br />
couple in Victoria to adopt a child, although a single parent<br />
can adopt.<br />
There are issues around sterilisations and genital surgery<br />
on intersex children and very few gender neutral bathrooms<br />
available.<br />
And many insults used every day by Australians are<br />
offensive to queer people with the most common ones being<br />
‘gay’ and ‘faggot.’<br />
Many members of the LGBTIQ community, including<br />
myself, are worried that important issues like this will be<br />
lost in the euphoria of marriage rights and that particularly<br />
straight allies will lose interest in fighting less glamorous<br />
issues.<br />
Marriage equality has been a contentious issue in Australia<br />
for years with lot of strong opinions from all sides of debate.<br />
Australians are becoming more accepting and supportive of<br />
the marriage equality campaign with the number of straight<br />
allies growing considerably in the last decade.<br />
With most of the developed nations legalising same-sex<br />
marriage and increasing international and local pressure<br />
on politicians, many feel marriage equality in Australia is<br />
inevitable, but there is still a lot of work to do before that will<br />
happen and, even when it does, the fight for LGBTIQ rights is<br />
not over.<br />
If any of the issues discussed in this article<br />
concern you contact:<br />
BeyondBlue: 1300 22 4636<br />
Qlife: qlife.org.au (LGBTIQ specific online chat and<br />
information) 1800 184 527<br />
Alternatively you can contact the MSA Queer Officers,<br />
Viv Stewart and Jarvis Sparks:<br />
msa-queer@monash.edu<br />
Image Courtesy of: www.flickr.com/photos/nimal/
10<br />
POLITICS<br />
BY BEN<br />
NEVE<br />
Let’s depoliticise<br />
the science<br />
Every night I listen to the PM program on ABC Radio on the way<br />
home from university. Once in a while I hear the confident voice<br />
of the ABC’s so called ‘environment reporter’, Jake Sturmer,<br />
narrating the environmental issue of the day. When this happens I<br />
rejoice: finally a news item about the environment, instead of drug<br />
smugglers, criminals, paedophiles or celebrities. But my elation is<br />
often short lived, for the news stories are usually not long enough<br />
to be of any significance. Mr Sturmer’s reports follow a predictable<br />
routine, in that they always begin with a tagline, followed by a<br />
quote from the government, and end with a critical response from<br />
the ever-whinging opposition. Most of the time it doesn’t even<br />
last for more than a minute. I struggle to recall a time when the<br />
scientific details were ever included, and after the story is over I<br />
often feel frustrated rather than informed.<br />
This style of reporting is typical of most media outlets, and<br />
not just the ABC. Apparently it is more important to include<br />
quotes from both sides of the government than to report<br />
the issue itself. Instead of detailing the very real challenges<br />
climate change presents and the responses to it, news items<br />
generally contain a member of the government defending<br />
their climate policy, and a member of the opposition<br />
viciously attacking it. For issues such as taxation or welfare<br />
this might be appropriate, but environmental issues are<br />
complex and have profound consequences for the whole<br />
nation. These issues deserve better coverage than the<br />
traditional political ping pong.<br />
Take for example the renewable energy target (RET). The<br />
facts about this issue are clear: climate change poses a<br />
threat, too much of our base-load power comes from coal,<br />
and the RET is a strategy to reduce emissions. It’s not hard<br />
to grasp the situation, yet the issue was so politicised that<br />
it became more like a game of veritable political tennis than<br />
a debate. For months the Industry Minister, Ian Macfarlane<br />
wrangled with the senate, the energy industry and his own<br />
party. The government and opposition were bickering over<br />
how many Gigawatt hours to legislate and failed to realise<br />
the purpose of the RET; it’s a market based instrument which<br />
encourages the creation of renewable power sources, not a<br />
bargaining chip in a game of political point scoring.<br />
Another over-politicised issue is wind turbines.<br />
Recently the government appointed a ‘national wind farm<br />
commissioner’ to supposedly scrutinise the possibility<br />
(or as I stress the hypothetical nature) of adverse health<br />
risks arising from living near wind farms. This is despite<br />
repeated reviews and research from the National Health<br />
and Medical Research Council that there is no credible<br />
evidence to suggest exposure has an impact on a person’s<br />
physical or mental wellbeing. If the government can make<br />
such appointments why not create a coal commissioner?<br />
Coal-fired power plants emit sulphur dioxide and other<br />
particulate matter, which do have documented, adverse<br />
respiratory health effects. The appointment of this wind farm<br />
commissioner smacks of a politically motivated agenda<br />
and seems not a decision with any scientific basis. Issues<br />
such as climate change and wind farms should always be<br />
debated, but if parties approach the conversation from a<br />
pre-determined ideological platform it taints what should be<br />
constructive cooperation.<br />
As with all scientific research there is a margin of error,<br />
an inherent level of uncertainty associated with results, and<br />
several politicians have latched onto this fact to pursue their<br />
own ideological goals. Some people interpret the existence<br />
of a lack of complete certainty as a need to overturn the<br />
consensus. Somehow they think that if climate change can’t<br />
be definitively proved, or the risks of wind farms completely<br />
ruled out, they have an obligation to disprove climate<br />
science altogether or exaggerate the health impacts of wind<br />
turbines. This is an irresponsible, entirely unhelpful approach<br />
to scientific progress and political decision making. To<br />
engage in debate is a key part of politics, but argument<br />
should not come before evidence or science. In the case of<br />
environmental issues progress should come before political<br />
motives.<br />
Image Courtesy of:<br />
www.flickr.com/photosbilly_wilson
POLITICS 11<br />
Politics of Climate Change<br />
WAH<br />
BY ASHLEY<br />
F$#k you Tony Abbott? It’s a phrase most of us who spend<br />
any time around campus will be well accustomed to, seeing<br />
it covering t-shirts, banners and posters of various activist<br />
groups. Flyer drops, snap marches, days of action and<br />
protests are the bread and butter munitions in the arsenal<br />
of the modern day campaigner. Why? Because they are<br />
highly visible and entirely measureable: 100,000 flyers, 10,000<br />
protestors, 10 streets blocked- all make terrific front page<br />
news. But are these actions actually producing positive<br />
outcomes or simply fanning a fire?<br />
Where am I getting to with all of this? Am I simply a<br />
disgruntled student sick of being accosted every time I wish<br />
to borrow a library book? And how on earth does this relate to<br />
Climate Policy? The message from the bulk of Gen Y is cleardon’t<br />
screw up the world, it’s our future you’re messing with.<br />
Despite this largely consensus view, the actions being taken<br />
by some of the more outspoken groups of our generation<br />
leave me unsettled. We proceed to jump into the trenches<br />
and launch attacks against the policy makers who in our<br />
eyes are not taking adequate action. Instead of encouraging<br />
meaningful debate over tangible solutions to the issue, we<br />
descend into an ideological and almost tribal conflict.<br />
There can be no denying the challenges we face with<br />
Climate Change are real. The science is damning and the<br />
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say that the<br />
globe is ‘unequivocally’ warming. Yet the Climate Change<br />
discourse is still drawing battle lines and scientific<br />
consensus is being used as a political football. Cold winters<br />
and growing Arctic ice are a victory for climate naysayers<br />
and our retreating glaciers and intense bushfires are fuel<br />
for the greenies. But this isn’t science, its politics. Rather<br />
than seeing these events for what they are we draw lengthy<br />
conclusions about which ideological position can use them<br />
as ammunition.<br />
This is exactly why we need activists and disruptors. Now<br />
more than ever we need groups to break down the divides<br />
in this highly politicised discussion. The true strength in<br />
activism is its ability to be an enabler. Rather than using<br />
Climate action groups solely to protest, I think there is a<br />
huge potential for these collectives to ignite a conversation.<br />
A conversation which excludes no one and where voices are<br />
respected instead of being greeted with an unproductive ‘F U’.<br />
Let me share with you an experience I had a few weeks<br />
ago when I had dinner at a social enterprise restaurant<br />
called ‘Feast of Merit’. Run by YGAP (Y Generation Against<br />
Poverty), all the profits from the business go back into<br />
YGAP’s international development projects. YGAP promotes<br />
the strengthening of local communities by building<br />
their capacity to combat poverty- which is also a key<br />
step in mitigating Climate Change impacts. Whilst not<br />
fundamentally a Climate advocacy group, what Feast of<br />
Merit demonstrated to me was the ability to engage ordinary<br />
people in a conversation about a global issue in a new,<br />
exciting and positive way. Now I’m not advocating for every<br />
Climate activism group to go and start up their own boutique,<br />
raw, vegan popup café. What I do want to encourage is an<br />
environment where innovators are encouraged to create<br />
means of a positive and collaborative response to the<br />
deteriorating Climate Change debate.<br />
As young Australians we deserve to be relentless in the<br />
way we strive for the positive future we want to see, but we<br />
need to be smart about how we voice it. Let’s as a community<br />
engage with policy makers on a meaningful level and I would<br />
implore the policy makers to listen, respect and account<br />
for their constituents in the way they shape this country’s<br />
Climate Policy. If you are a climate activist I dare you, declare<br />
a truce and put down your weapons. Re-arm yourselves with<br />
tools to collaborate and connect. I’d implore our country’s<br />
leaders to do the same, to break down the battle lines, we<br />
don’t have time for inaction and infighting- it’s time to start<br />
a conversation.<br />
"But this isn’t science, its politics.<br />
Rather than seeing these events for what<br />
they are we draw lengthy conclusions about<br />
which ideological position can use them as<br />
ammunition."<br />
Image Courtesy of:<br />
www.flickr.com/photos/mattandkim/
12<br />
POLITICS<br />
500 Word Challenge<br />
BY JULIA<br />
PILLAI<br />
Why Greece were<br />
Wrong to Vote ‘No’<br />
Regardless of which way Greece voted in the referendum,<br />
their economic situation is dire and will take years to recover.<br />
The referendum was really a vote between two unideal<br />
situations; to take a bailout and more austerity measures, or<br />
to refuse.<br />
If Greece voted Yes they would have known exactly what<br />
they were voting for. They would know what areas of their<br />
lives austerity would affect, they’d know how to prepare for<br />
that, they’d also know that there would be money in their<br />
ATMs. Accepting a bailout from the European Union and<br />
accepting austerity would show that Greece is committed to<br />
maintaining its ties with the rest of the continent; this would<br />
make other countries in the Eurozone sympathetic for Greece,<br />
and perhaps make them keen to assist Greece in economic<br />
recovery. Sure, a bailout and austerity measures are a huge<br />
blow to Greece’s pride, however, the No vote has plunged the<br />
country into extreme political and economic uncertainty that<br />
their government and people may not know how to deal with.<br />
It is very likely that Greece could be in a severe recession with<br />
intergenerational implications; it is certainly possible that<br />
Greece could leave the Eurozone.<br />
The economic crisis in Greece is indicative of an issue that<br />
could jeopardise the existence of the Eurozone, and the Yes<br />
vote would have been an opportunity for both Greece and the<br />
European union to make amends of a serious mistake. In<br />
the Eurozone we have a situation where there is a monetary<br />
union (the currency is the same) between countries without<br />
a fiscal union (taxation laws, government spending are very<br />
different). This situation is problematic as you have countries<br />
like Germany with ridiculous surpluses (meaning that they<br />
are not spending as much as they are earning), and there<br />
countries like Greece with similarly ridiculous deficits that<br />
are spending too much while the government is not earning<br />
enough; both situations hinder growth and investment.<br />
The fiscal policies of countries in the Eurozone need to<br />
become more standardised – not necessarily the same<br />
policies, but enough to ensure that countries have healthy<br />
deficits or surpluses. Greece’s taxation laws cannot fund<br />
their superfluous welfare system (for a long time Greece’s<br />
"They need austerity and<br />
extreme fiscal reforms to<br />
overhaul their economy<br />
entirely, and no, increased<br />
tourism through a weak<br />
drachma alone is not going to<br />
renew their economy."<br />
retirement age was 45, which is just as ridiculous as a<br />
retirement age of 70 for the opposite reason), less people are<br />
working, and those who do work only work for a small time;<br />
how does a country build an economy with this relationship<br />
with employment? Regardless of what currency Greece<br />
has, drachma or euro, they need austerity and extreme<br />
fiscal reforms to overhaul their economy entirely, and no,<br />
increased tourism through a weak drachma alone is not<br />
going to renew their economy.<br />
If the European union does not solve issues like Greece,<br />
it will continue to reoccur. The No vote stopped Greece and<br />
Europe from learning, and fixing a broader issue, and while<br />
a Yes vote would mean ordered austerity, the ‘No’ vote will<br />
bring austerity in the form of a recession.<br />
Image Courtesy of: www.flickr.com/photos/environmentblog/<br />
www.flickr.com/photos/popicinio/with/18815885873/
POLITICS 13<br />
This month’s issue:<br />
Greek Bailout<br />
Why Greece were<br />
Right to Vote ‘No’<br />
KOPELIS<br />
BY GEORGE<br />
The Greek referendum on Sunday sent a clear message to<br />
European and international observers that Greece would no<br />
longer tolerate the austerity measures implemented over the<br />
last five years.<br />
61% of Greeks voted ‘No’ to accepting the conditions of the<br />
latest bailout offer, which included further cuts to pensions,<br />
reduced spending on subsidies and defence, and other<br />
reforms.<br />
The ‘No’ vote justified the Greek government’s determined<br />
stance against austerity. SYRIZA and its leader Alexis Tsipras<br />
were elected in January <strong>2015</strong> based on their opposition to the<br />
proposed bailout measures.<br />
A ‘Yes’ vote would have made Tsipras’ position untenable<br />
as it would have indicated majority opposition to his<br />
government’s policies, leading to new elections and more<br />
political instability.<br />
Since the election, the ‘troika’ of the European<br />
Commission, the European Central Bank and the<br />
International Monetary Fund have restricted Greek banks’<br />
access to credit as a response to the election of an antiausterity<br />
campaign.<br />
This essentially forced Tsipras to close all banks from<br />
the 29th of June until at least Wednesday the 8th of July<br />
to prevent a run on the banks. Greeks are limited to €60<br />
withdrawals from cash machines as ATMs run dry across the<br />
country.<br />
The ‘No’ vote is not a rational economic decision, (it<br />
frustrated the troika greatly) but instead it’s a social<br />
decision motivated by the plight of the ordinary people. 25%<br />
of Greeks were unemployed in March and half of all young<br />
people don’t have work.<br />
The Greek people are right to consider that if five years of<br />
the rational economics of austerity have not delivered any<br />
visible relief for the population, then a different solution<br />
should be tried.<br />
The most important consequence of the ‘No’ vote is that it<br />
makes a Greek exit from the Eurozone a real possibility.<br />
When the banks run out of money, which is extremely<br />
likely if no deal can be reached in Brussels this week, the<br />
"There would definitely be a<br />
few months of high costs of<br />
living but free of the Euro,<br />
Greeks will have much more<br />
of a say in the affairs of their<br />
own country. That can only<br />
be a good thing. "<br />
Greek government will need to provide emergency funding.<br />
The problem is the government has no money!<br />
To solve this, the government could print its own currency.<br />
This would run against Euro treaties, basically pushing<br />
Greece out of the Eurozone. It would immediately lose most<br />
of its worth, leading to high inflation for a short time.<br />
This cheaper, more competitive new currency could<br />
quickly lead to higher exports - especially in tourism (which<br />
currently makes up about 20% of the economy).<br />
A resolution to the crisis would also bring an end to much<br />
of the instability on the global sharemarket in the last few<br />
weeks.<br />
There is little risk of Greece becoming the first of many<br />
countries to leave the Euro. Other struggling economies such<br />
as Italy and Spain are much larger countries with centralised<br />
economies and larger industrial bases.<br />
There would definitely be a few months of high costs of<br />
living but free of the Euro, Greeks will have much more of<br />
a say in the affairs of their own country. That can only be a<br />
good thing.<br />
Image Courtesy of : www.flickr.com/photos/124247024@N07/
14<br />
POLITICS<br />
BY KIRSTI<br />
WEISZ<br />
The nanny state: a burden or a<br />
benefit?<br />
A year-long inquiry into the ‘nanny state’ has recently passed<br />
unopposed in the Senate. Libertarian and independent<br />
senator David Leyonjhelm proposed the parliamentary<br />
inquiry, opining that a bundle of laws are ‘overreaching’ and<br />
restrict personal choice.<br />
The broad-ranging inquiry will inspect measures<br />
introduced to restrict personal choices ‘for the individual’s<br />
own good’, examining laws such as having to wear a bicycle<br />
helmet, violent video games, seatbelt laws and lockouts<br />
for pubs and clubs. It will also consider the sale and use of<br />
alcohol, tobacco and pornography.<br />
Leyonjhelm, who defends "the right to make bad choices",<br />
hopes to "shine a light into the crevices of this growing nanny<br />
state," as he told 3AW. But where should the line between<br />
government interference and personal autonomy be drawn?<br />
The term ‘nanny state’ was used by journalist Dorothy<br />
Thompson in 1952 and evolved from the 19th century term<br />
‘grandmotherly government’, according to Australia’s Human<br />
Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson.<br />
Government paternalism has been in the spotlight<br />
of public debate for many years. The justification for<br />
government intervention is based on community protection<br />
and public health but this can clash with our society’s value<br />
of personal autonomy.<br />
The libertarian approach strongly opposed to such<br />
interventions is often founded on John Stuart Mills’ harm<br />
principle, which illustrates that government intervention<br />
into personal freedom is only permitted if a person’s actions<br />
may inflict harm on another. Mills’ principle advocates that<br />
interference with our choices is oppressive, even if it’s for our<br />
own good.<br />
However, in recent years, laws have been passed to prevent<br />
people from making ‘bad choices.’ Leyonjhelm says making<br />
bike helmets compulsory is a good example of these types of<br />
laws.<br />
Nobody is hurt if you fall off [a bike]. If you don’t wear a<br />
bicycle helmet, your head’s not going to crack into somebody<br />
else and damage them," he told the ABC.<br />
It’s all about you and your safety, and yet the Government<br />
has decided that it’s an offence to ride a bicycle without a<br />
helmet."<br />
Primary reasons for mandatory bike helmets - which is only<br />
enforced in two countries: Australia and New Zealand - are<br />
that it protects riders and saves lives.<br />
But research has often shown that the result is ineffective.<br />
Australian researcher Dr Dorothy Robinson’s study, ‘Do<br />
enforced bicycle helmet laws improve public health?’<br />
found that the laws "discourage cycling but produce no<br />
obvious response in percentage of head injuries." There are<br />
even arguments that bicycle helmets distract from safe<br />
riding skills because individuals see wearing a helmet as a<br />
panacea.<br />
It is argued that one of the reasons for nanny state laws is<br />
that the population is willing to accept trivial intervention<br />
and that we expect government to care for our wellbeing.<br />
Strong proponents of the laws are public health advocates<br />
who say these infringements are for our own good.<br />
Sydney University public health professor Simon Chapman<br />
says nanny state laws protect us and he questions the<br />
necessity of the freedoms that the nanny state seems to<br />
erode.<br />
And just what are these heinous erosions of freedom that<br />
‘nanny’ has destroyed? The freedom to not wear a seat belt?<br />
The freedom to have your cocktail of carcinogens packed in<br />
attractive boxes?" he wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald.<br />
The inquiry will also bring the sale of tobacco and plain<br />
packaging cigarettes under scrutiny once again. While<br />
evidence exists that smoking is highly dangerous, there are<br />
many people who still choose to continue smoking.<br />
Public Health Association of Australia chief executive<br />
Michael Moore told The Australian that tobacco advertising<br />
restrictions are necessary to ensure freedom of choice by<br />
preventing consumers from being dominated by industryinfluence.<br />
While Moore alluded to the influence industry has on the<br />
behaviour of citizens, opponents of plain packaged cigarettes<br />
argue that this is the nanny state at its worst. They argue that<br />
Labor’s rules drive consumption of cheaper or black market<br />
cigarettes.<br />
In an article on The Conversation University of Melbourne<br />
global health professor Rob Moodie wrote "governments<br />
have a responsibility to create environments where healthy<br />
choices become the easiest and the most preferred."<br />
There is an inevitable trade-off between promoting citizen<br />
wellbeing and personal autonomy, according to Julian Le<br />
Grand and Bill New’s book Government Paternalism: Nanny<br />
State or Helpful Friend. Finding justifications for alleged<br />
nanny state legislation may urge politicians to re-consider<br />
why these laws exist and what they are achieving.<br />
The real question behind this debate is when does this<br />
intervention cross the line and encroach on the boundary of<br />
personal freedom?<br />
Submissions for the economics committee inquiry close<br />
on 24 August <strong>2015</strong>.
15<br />
15<br />
PoLITICS<br />
Student Affairs<br />
ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH FERN — notafern.com<br />
ARTICLES BY<br />
Mali Rea<br />
Sophie Vassallo<br />
Elspeth Kernebone<br />
Rubee Dano<br />
Georgia Cox<br />
Julia Pillai
16<br />
STUDENT AFFAIRS<br />
BY MALI RAE AND<br />
SOPHIE VASSALLO<br />
Why We Need<br />
Bluestockings Week<br />
Content Warning: Sexual Assault<br />
The National Tertiary Education Union<br />
(NTEU) in collaboration with the National<br />
Union of Students (NUS) has run<br />
Blustockings week at a national level for<br />
3 years now, and the theme for this year’s<br />
week is Storylines.<br />
When women were first allowed into universities, the term<br />
‘bluestocking’ was used to discredit them as unfeminine and<br />
informal. Many of the first women in university refused to<br />
wear corsets and other impractical clothing that women were<br />
expected to wear at that time. Women’s presence and their<br />
refusal to continue to be bound by patriarchal standards<br />
was threatening to the male supremacy in universities<br />
and continues to be so today. Women adopted the term<br />
‘bluestockings’ by creating the Bluestockings Society in the<br />
1750s, which was a literary discussion group that signified a<br />
radical step away from accepted activities for women.<br />
Bluestocking week seeks to draw attention to the issues<br />
that affect women in every part of the university community,<br />
ranging from the gender pay gap for teachers and other staff<br />
to the casual sexism faced by women students. Due to the<br />
pervasive influence of neoliberalism, the situation for women<br />
in the university sector is worsening. Neoliberalism is based<br />
on an assumption that individuals can freely act within the<br />
economic market, and this blatantly ignores the structural<br />
oppression that prevents people from interacting with or<br />
acting freely within the market. For women this means that<br />
there is no recognition of the challenges they face in the<br />
university context, and in the labour market upon graduation.<br />
The shift from higher education as a public good and<br />
responsibility of the state to provide, to a marketised<br />
commodity that can and should be purchased, significantly<br />
changes the value of education. The transfer of the cost of<br />
education from the state to the individual consumer was a<br />
key turning point in this transformation of education as a<br />
commodity. Previously the link between the labour market<br />
and education was very different; education was designed<br />
to give individuals the tools to become active participants<br />
in the labour market, however now it is primarily dictated by<br />
the labour market. Which puts the value of education in your<br />
employability, removing the inherent value of knowledge and<br />
learning. This development entails considerable negative<br />
impacts for women at both the tertiary and the employment<br />
level.<br />
In recent years, areas of knowledge that are considered<br />
feminine are devalued, especially so if they do not feed<br />
straight into the labour market. This is the key reason that<br />
women’s or ‘gender’ studies is no longer it’s own study<br />
area and is now subsumed into sociology, which is an<br />
area that can feed into the labour market. Consider that<br />
just twenty years in the 1995 Monash University Handbook<br />
undergraduate Arts units there were 11 units containing the<br />
word ‘women’ in the title and another 8 units containing<br />
the word ‘feminism’, in addition to an entire discipline of<br />
Women’s Studies with 29 units. In contrast, there are only<br />
three Arts units in <strong>2015</strong> with the word ‘women’ in the title and<br />
one with the word ‘feminism’. Women’s studies is no longer<br />
taught, having first been subsumed by the less threatening<br />
Gender studies and then further deradicalised into a major in<br />
Sociology.<br />
In terms of employment, neoliberalism tends to ignore<br />
the structural inequalities that prevent women from<br />
having the same job opportunities as men. This will see<br />
efforts such as affirmative action gradually whittled down<br />
and will do nothing to address the gender pay gap that<br />
continues to permeate throughout the workplace. By looking<br />
at employment within universities we can see that while<br />
women are the majority of undergraduate students, they<br />
are no where near in the majority in the higher ranks of the<br />
university. Women are also the most affected by the rising<br />
rate of casualisation among undergraduate teaching staff.<br />
Whilst it is evident that individual women are succeeding in<br />
the neoliberal university, (you need look no further than our<br />
Vice Chancellor, Margaret Gardner) as a class, women are
STUDENT AFFAIRS 17<br />
"Bluestocking week seeks to draw attention<br />
to the issues that affect women in every part<br />
of the university community, ranging from<br />
the gender pay gap for teachers and other<br />
staff to the casual sexism faced by women<br />
students. Due to the pervasive influence of<br />
neoliberalism, the situation for women in the<br />
university sector is worsening."<br />
being devalued. Readings written by men tend to be prescribed<br />
are the majority, units about women are few and far<br />
between, some women feel excluded from networking within<br />
universities communities and have women have reported<br />
feeling marginalised by their male co-workers and the culture<br />
of the university.<br />
Sexual harassment also thrives in the neoliberal university,<br />
because, the ideology that surrounds it seeps into the social<br />
and sexual culture at universities. A culture of education<br />
that is centred around the commoditication of the student,<br />
translates into a market-based view of personhood and a<br />
pertinent example of how this individualistic and competitive<br />
attitudes manifests in university culture is the UK based<br />
website ‘Shag at Uni’ which stated:<br />
"If the girl you’ve just taken for a drink... won’t ‘spread<br />
for you head’, think about this mathematical statistic:<br />
85% of rape cases go unreported. That seems to be<br />
fairly good odds. Uni Lad does not condone rape without<br />
saying surprise."<br />
A sense of entitlement to women’s bodies, coupled with<br />
a competition for sexual conquest poses a serious danger<br />
to women on campus. 67% of women at university have had<br />
an unwanted sexual experience, however only 3% reported<br />
it to their university (Talk About It survey, 2010). The lack of<br />
reporting is often due to the failure of universities to address<br />
these issues appropriately. There have been many high profile<br />
cases at US universities where crimes have been covered<br />
up in order to preserve enrolments. Closer to home, at the<br />
University of Sydney, a man student who confessed to taking<br />
a sexual photo without the woman students consent and<br />
then distributing it, again without her consent. Despite the<br />
admission of guilt it still took the university six months to<br />
terminate the man’s employment and it is unclear what, if<br />
any, disciplinary action he faced as a student. Where money,<br />
derived from enrolments, is more important than supporting<br />
victims, women lose out.<br />
The MSA Women’s and Education (Public<br />
Affairs) Departments have teamed up with<br />
the Monash NTEU Branch to run two events<br />
in Blustockings Week (10th - 14th August,<br />
Week 3, Semester 2):<br />
Trivia Night<br />
Tuesday the 11th of August in Sir Johns Bar from 6:30<br />
Buy Tickets from the MSA desk or online.<br />
"Herstory not History" Forum<br />
From 11-1 on Wednesday the 12th of August in H5, Menzies<br />
Building with Celeste Liddle (Feminist Commentator<br />
and NTEU National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander<br />
Organiser), Dr. Rae Frances (Labour and Gender Historian and<br />
Dean of Arts, Monash University), Jeannie Rea (Women and<br />
Labour Studies, and NTEU National President) and Dr. Swati<br />
Parashar (PhD in Feminist International Relations, Lecturer,<br />
Monash University).<br />
Sophie Vassallo is the MSA Women’s Officer<br />
Mali Rea is the MSA Education (Public Affairs) Officer
18<br />
STUDENT AFFAIRS<br />
BY ELSPETH<br />
KERNEBONE<br />
The ‘How to’<br />
of Honours<br />
July 2014 with one semester of an Arts Degree left, I had no idea<br />
what to do next. Two and a half years of uni had gone by, and I<br />
felt as if I might have blinked, so I decided that with good grades<br />
and no vocational aspirations I should apply for Honours. Partly I<br />
wanted to see if I enjoyed research and find out what a research<br />
project longer than an essay feels like, admittedly there was (and<br />
is) the vain hope that ‘Ba (Hons)’ is slightly more employable than<br />
‘Ba’.<br />
Honours is a one year addition to a standard undergraduate<br />
degree. For Arts it’s 50% coursework and 50% thesis. The<br />
thesis is between 15,000-18,000 words. If that sounds scary,<br />
that’s six 2,500 word essays, only three per semester.<br />
To Engineering students, don’t panic. You graduate with<br />
Honours if your grades are high enough, you don’t need to<br />
write any words, same with the new Law Degree. Science<br />
students have a page number limit, rather than a word limit.<br />
To do Honours in a discipline you have to have majored in it<br />
so I am therefore doing my honours in history.<br />
Before we get into the how of Honours, let’s talk about<br />
the why. Different people do Honours for different reasons. I<br />
did Honours to experience a longer research project. Some<br />
people do Honours because they plan to do post-grad<br />
study, or others use honours as a stepping stone to become<br />
academics. Many students just enjoy research and their<br />
degree and even discover a passion for something and want<br />
to investigate it further. And of course, there are a few people<br />
who are probably just doing Honours for employability.<br />
Anyway, back to July 2014. I had decided to do Honours, but<br />
had no idea what to do next. I had no idea how to go about<br />
finding a supervisor, what the workload was like, or how<br />
much preparation I was expected to do beforehand. The whole<br />
process was a mystery to me. To demystify the process for<br />
others, I’ve prepared a lightning round of Honours questions<br />
and answers.<br />
Where can I find out more about Honours?<br />
Your discipline will have an Honours information session. You<br />
should get an email. Go to it.<br />
If you can’t make it, find out who your department’s<br />
Honours Coordinator is and send them an email.<br />
How do I find a supervisor?<br />
Talk to your department’s Honours coordinator, you’ll meet<br />
them at the information session; chances are they’re nice<br />
and approachable and will be able to steer you towards a<br />
suitable person to supervise you. Even if you’ve majored in an<br />
area, there are plenty of academics you will have never heard<br />
of who might be perfect for the area you’re interested in. This<br />
brings me to the next question.<br />
How should I decide on a topic?<br />
This is different depending on your discipline. For instance,<br />
I gather language students have to choose between areas<br />
as far apart as translation and cultural studies. Science<br />
students submit preferences for projects which various<br />
academics offer. Pick something you’re interested in. The<br />
best advice for history and the like, is to start thinking now.<br />
If you can seize on an idea or a gap you notice in a lecture, or<br />
while writing an essay, that’s a lot of work saved. I’m studying<br />
crime fiction, which personally, I think is fantastic, how did I<br />
think of it? Passive thought. Keeping something in the back<br />
of your mind is the way to have the best ideas. (Just make<br />
sure you write them down).<br />
But, logistically, how do I apply?<br />
You apply provisionally online, it takes about two minutes.<br />
Then you sort out your supervisor and start thinking about<br />
your topic. After that, there’s a form which your department’s<br />
student services will have.<br />
How hard is Honours, will I be able to cope?<br />
It depends on how you’ve coped so far at university. You have<br />
to work hard, but your entire degree has been teaching you<br />
the skills you need to do Honours, so if your grades are good<br />
enough, almost certainly. However, if you’re not genuinely<br />
interested, doing Honours is probably a mistake. You will find<br />
it difficult to spend a whole year on something you’re only ‘so<br />
so’ about.<br />
Should I work on Honours during the summer?<br />
A bit, but you also need a decent break. Make yourself a plan,<br />
that involves rest, and stick to it. Don’t spend your time<br />
feeling vaguely like you should be doing some work, but then<br />
never doing any.
STUDENT AFFAIRS 19<br />
The Monash vs. Melbourne Debate<br />
DANO<br />
BY RUBEE<br />
This year began my second first year of uni, and what is<br />
overall my third year of study. Overall, I’d rate first year #2 a<br />
lot higher than first year #1, and therefore university #2 a lot<br />
higher than university #1. And so we have an answer to the<br />
ancient debate that is Monash vs. Melbourne Uni (well, not<br />
really, but I like to think that my opinion matters more than<br />
the research stats that the national rankings come from).<br />
I actually got into Monash first when I finished year 12, but<br />
being a bit of wanker I wanted to go to the best uni in the<br />
country, so I actually ended up starting at Melbourne Uni<br />
instead. I mean, what’s not to like? The campus is like an<br />
Australian version of Hogwarts and all those ‘we’re the best’<br />
advertisements make you feel like you’re basically going to<br />
Harvard. Melbourne Uni is the promised land of the Victorian<br />
higher education world: the computer labs span buildings<br />
and buildings with shitty Acer desktops, it boasts something<br />
like eight different libraries on campus, and it has both a<br />
hundred-year-old quad and modern buildings with revolving<br />
doors (that actually work, thanks Monash). If all of your<br />
dreams about uni could be lumped together in one place,<br />
it would be Melbourne uni – where uni really is what it is in<br />
preppy American films. It’s something magical. Well, it is on<br />
the surface.<br />
And now we get to those dreaded three word: The<br />
Melbourne Model (AKA the dream-crushing way that<br />
Melbourne Uni makes you do a single undergrad before<br />
you can think about doing anything like Law, Medicine,<br />
Teaching, Nursing, Dentistry, Vet medicine, and so on). It’s<br />
all about postgrad degrees that have ridiculously high entry<br />
requirements. That might not be so bad – you could work<br />
hard, do well, and get in, no worries. However, Melbourne Uni<br />
makes it pretty hard for you to actually do that. With the<br />
exception of a Masters of Education (60%+ entry, internal<br />
applications accepted first), it’s actually really hard to get the<br />
scores for these degrees.<br />
Melbourne Uni has to be the only place I’ve heard of that<br />
employs undergrads as tutors. I knew of people who did well<br />
in subjects and were offered tutoring roles for the same<br />
subject in the following semester. That means that in first<br />
year, you’d potentially have a second or third year undergrad<br />
as your tutor as opposed to a postgrad student, and either<br />
way, I didn’t feel as if either were particularly effective. The<br />
Melbourne Model suddenly became a lot more difficult to<br />
progress through, and those postgrad entry scores began to<br />
slip further and further away.<br />
Here’s where Monash comes in, waving awkwardly and<br />
hoping that you look past its ‘70s look. Monash just wants<br />
to be your friend, and I mean that – it’s all about the student<br />
experience. In contrast to its arch nemesis, Monash seems to<br />
care how well you do.<br />
The first thing that anyone said to me at Monash was<br />
‘make sure you get the most out of your time here’, which,<br />
compared to Melbourne’s ‘congratulations, you’re the best’,<br />
was a bit of a relief. Monash didn’t have high expectations for<br />
me; if the state of Victoria was a school, Melbourne would be<br />
the principal who doesn’t remember your name unless you’re<br />
on the honour roll, and Monash would be the teacher who just<br />
wants you to enjoy their class.<br />
I feel like Melbourne might suffer from what we can<br />
probably call the Top 3 Effect; that is, it cares a lot about<br />
its research because of rankings, and not so much about<br />
its undergraduates. Monash, on the other hand, seems<br />
to balance both. Student experience, particularly in the<br />
undergrad years, doesn’t suffer at the expense of research,<br />
and overall the university seems to set its undergrads up<br />
for further studies pretty well. The tutors that I’ve had so far,<br />
seem to know their shit.<br />
Anyway, serious stuff aside, I’ve made this handy table to<br />
show you just how we shape up to Melbourne Uni in the great<br />
debate:<br />
Parking<br />
Public<br />
Transport<br />
Stalkerspace<br />
O Week<br />
Motto<br />
Ease of<br />
navigating<br />
campus<br />
Events<br />
Clubs<br />
We complain (a lot), but at least we<br />
can drive to uni (albeit sometimes<br />
inconvenient).<br />
They’ve got this one, unfortunately.<br />
Something about two major tram stops as<br />
well as buses.<br />
Ours is sometimes a touch creepy, but<br />
entertaining. Theirs is about bikes for sale<br />
and honest advice on whether or not you<br />
should do postgrad. I think we win this one.<br />
We win hands-down. Their o week is really<br />
only for the people who pay $20k+ a year to<br />
live on campus.<br />
"I’m still learning" vs. "May I grow in the<br />
esteem of future generations" Theirs might<br />
as well read "We’re the best!!!" so this one<br />
goes to Monash.<br />
We should all stop complaining and<br />
download Lost On Campus and be done with<br />
it. But still, I think they win, Clayton is kind<br />
of ridiculous.<br />
They do kind of have at least one group<br />
offering free beer on most days... but we do<br />
fun things like markets and movie nights<br />
and our campus bar is actually affordable.<br />
Depends what you’re into I suppose.<br />
Our Socialist Alternative was disbanded and<br />
theirs wasn’t. Go us!! Also we have way more<br />
variety, and every club tends to be a lot more<br />
inclusive :)
20<br />
STUDENT AFFAIRS<br />
BY GEoRGIA<br />
CoX<br />
Stress now, work<br />
later<br />
You’re stressed, right? Same. So instead of being productive and<br />
doing my assignments, I set out to learn about students’ stress.<br />
I asked students what they thought were the biggest stresses<br />
facing students right now during their degree, but also what they<br />
expect will be causing us stress immediately after we finish our<br />
degree, and then what possible stresses we’ll be faced with in 10<br />
years from now.<br />
Firstly, why are we studying? It seems to be a recurring trend<br />
that students are studying because they want the most<br />
career prospects at the end of their course, generally for their<br />
own future benefits. Eventually, we all want to have a decent<br />
career so we can earn enough money to live comfortably, and<br />
not have to worry too much about paying bills, sending kids<br />
to school, having a mortgage, and so forth.<br />
I’m sure none of this is news to you. However, for most of<br />
us the problem is that we also need money in the short term<br />
(i.e. now) to live day-to-day. For the majority of us, this means<br />
pushing ourselves through low-paying retail or hospitality<br />
jobs. Most of the jobs we have aren’t necessarily high in<br />
stress, but the fact that we are spending sometimes up to<br />
25 hours a week working adds to the stress of uni because<br />
we lose 25 hours a week that could have been dedicated to<br />
studying, or better yet, having a social life. Sure, we need<br />
to work to pay rent/Myki fines, or whatever it may be, and<br />
sometimes having a part-time job is a necessary distraction<br />
from assignments. However at the end of the week, on a<br />
Sunday night with 3 assignments due and exams looming,<br />
we often struggle to juggle all of these things.<br />
The bright side of this scenario is that, you probably only<br />
have a few more years of this kind of work/study/sometimes<br />
play lifestyle, if you’re planning on finishing your course. So<br />
what will happen at the end of your studies?<br />
I found first and foremost that because most students<br />
are in it to gain long-term benefits, (i.e. a career), they’re<br />
constantly worrying that they will struggle to find one which<br />
they’ll be happy with. "Ideally a career would be nice, but<br />
I’m not sure where I want to end up," says one Electrical<br />
Engineering student.<br />
The overwhelming sentiment seems to be that we all feel<br />
underprepared for upcoming exams and assignments. But<br />
what about when we get out into the real world? Will we feel<br />
underprepared then as well, for ‘real life’ tasks? It seems that<br />
amongst all this work and study it’s almost impossible to<br />
find time to hone in on skills, make connections, and find<br />
internship opportunities.<br />
And what do people generally think will be their biggest<br />
stress in 10 years time once they (hopefully) have developed a<br />
career? "Probably my job" is the omnipresent response.<br />
I gave students from different disciplines a range of<br />
different common stress factors and asked them to rank<br />
them in order of most stressful. Currently, the biggest trouble<br />
is managing to pass units whilst working part-time. Worrying<br />
about needing money and having to work all weekend but<br />
also knowing that there are assignments that you need to<br />
complete is a burden to the majority of us.<br />
So, after your course, one of the major stresses facing<br />
students seems to be finding a job fresh out of uni, and then<br />
10 years down the track we’ll be stressing about having a job!<br />
I’m starting to think I should never have done this research<br />
for this article.<br />
But maybe I was naïve in my vain attempt to find a quick<br />
solution to stop this relentless pressure. When I think about<br />
it, isn’t that the nature of our lives? If we didn’t have to deal<br />
with stress, would we be productive? No. We would just spend<br />
even more time on Stalkerspace than we currently do (hard<br />
to believe, I know. But I’ve done the research, so trust me).<br />
So we have to remember that yes, we will likely be working<br />
until we are 60, 70, 80 years old, so that stress is not likely<br />
to go away any time soon. The trick is to make stress<br />
productive, rather than detrimental.<br />
During the course of my research I spoke Kiki who is<br />
currently working 12 hours a week lifeguarding while trying<br />
to finish her media and communications degree. She told me<br />
that "I like to think that [working part-time] adds stress but<br />
if anything it does actually help because I end up utilising<br />
the small amount of time I have to study better, it almost<br />
puts more pressure on me to work". Kiki made me realise<br />
that when used positively, stress can be a useful tool in<br />
increasing productivity.<br />
At the end of the day, remind yourself why you are faced<br />
with this stress: because you chose to take this arduous,<br />
challenging path in order to better your life in the long run. It<br />
may seem never-ending, but nobody has ever achieved any<br />
type of substantial progress by doing something within their<br />
comfort zone.
STUDENT AFFAIRS 21<br />
No Porn in the<br />
Library!<br />
DANO<br />
BY RUBEE<br />
It’s simply about consideration for those<br />
around you – you don’t know who is watching<br />
and what they’ve been through.<br />
Like all things entirely cringe worthy, this tale begins with<br />
Stalkerspace. An image was recently posted of a librarian<br />
watching porn, and now we’re watching further action unfold<br />
after the Women’s Department issued a series of complaints.<br />
This is where you probably say something about feminists<br />
and how they ruin everything, like your God-given right to<br />
watch porn in the library, but hey, let’s think about part of<br />
that phrase; in the library. I don’t really think there’s anything<br />
wrong with porn, assuming you’re in an appropriate setting<br />
to be watching it (namely, in private). I know that some<br />
feminists will say that porn is exploitative and reinforces<br />
patriarchal ideas and such, but honestly I don’t believe in<br />
limiting anybody sexually, so if a woman wants to be in a<br />
porno – and while there are some that don’t want to, there<br />
are plenty that do – then fucking good on her, okay? This<br />
shouldn’t be about the fact that it’s porn; it should be about<br />
the fact that it was in the library, where the man should have<br />
been working, and that’s pretty inappropriate.<br />
Now before we jump to conclusions, for all we know, he<br />
could have been sent a link, clicked it, and totally been<br />
trolled by some hilarious individual (I know, unlikely, but<br />
still, we have to remember something about innocent until<br />
proven guilty). We shouldn’t go on a witch-hunt for this guy<br />
before what actually happened is determined by the Monash<br />
administration, which is currently handling this. ‘They also<br />
wanted to me to let everyone know that they regard the<br />
behaviour as very serious and are treating it as such,’ said<br />
one of the Women’s officers on the Women’s Department<br />
Facebook page.<br />
The same Women’s officer later issued another statement:<br />
‘I received a phone call informing me that an individual is<br />
currently under investigation for the incident at Caulfield<br />
library. The IT department are also making changes to ensure<br />
people can no longer access pornography at the library. That<br />
is the last update they will give me as any more info would be<br />
a breach of privacy and process.’ This, to me at least, seems<br />
like a step in the right direction. No, you shouldn’t be able to<br />
watch porn in the library, because it can make other people<br />
feel uncomfortable. Moreover, if you were to do that while<br />
you were working in the library, it gets into some pretty grey<br />
workplace harassment areas.<br />
As for the IT department’s attempts at blocking porn, this<br />
might not work so well. Considering China can’t manage<br />
to totally block everything they want from their internet,<br />
Monash might struggle. There’s always a way around blocks,<br />
though it does make it more difficult. This in itself could<br />
serve as deterrence because as it might cause people to<br />
reconsider whether they should be attempting to access<br />
blocked websites in a public space.<br />
The Women’s Department does not want to ruin everyone’s<br />
fun; the complaints do point out a serious breach of<br />
workplace conduct in multiple areas. Firstly, if you’re at work,<br />
you should be doing your job. You shouldn’t be watching<br />
Netflix at work, even if it’s the most G-rated show that you<br />
could possibly stream. Secondly, watching pornography<br />
in the workplace is in violation of sexual harassment<br />
laws, and the general consensus is that you shouldn’t be<br />
watching it. It could potentially make other people feel<br />
unsafe or uncomfortable, and while this is where words<br />
like ‘oversensitive’ and ‘politically correct’ could be thrown<br />
around, in all seriousness you can’t know whether the<br />
stranger sitting beside you in the library will be down with<br />
you watching porn. According to the Bureau of Statistics<br />
(2006), one in five women over fifteen have experienced<br />
sexual violence and seeing pornographic images in a public<br />
place could potentially be upsetting for these people. It’s<br />
simply about consideration for those around you – you don’t<br />
know who is watching and what they’ve been through.<br />
No matter what you think about the actions taken by<br />
the Women’s Department’s, pornography in general, or the<br />
librarian in question, the main issue here is twofold. When<br />
you’re at work, being paid to work (by us, by the university),<br />
you should be doing your job. Secondly, watching porn in a<br />
public place might make someone feel uncomfortable, hence<br />
it is unacceptable, whether you’re working or not. This isn’t<br />
the kind of situation to get into an argument about political<br />
correctness or feminism going too far, it’s simply about<br />
considering other people.
22<br />
STUDENT AFFAIRS<br />
BY JULIA<br />
PILLAI<br />
An open letter to<br />
‘Desk Leavers’<br />
Coming up to the beloved business end of last semester,<br />
I naturally found myself spending more time in the many libraries<br />
of Monash, spending hours hunched over my laptop hurriedly<br />
writing my final essays. Despite becoming more accustomed to<br />
the environment of university libraries, I became aware and was<br />
unable to accept a particular breed of student:<br />
the Desk Leaver.<br />
Desk Leavers themselves are difficult to spot because these<br />
students are hardly ever seen in the libraries, let alone<br />
to be using desks. However much like how feral rabbits<br />
ravage through the natural landscape, forever changing<br />
their environment, the desk-leavers leave traces; a couple of<br />
textbooks, an exercise book, snackfood, sometimes in more<br />
extreme cases tablets, phones or laptops, all neatly arranged<br />
on an otherwise free desk.<br />
I should note that there is nothing objectionable with<br />
leaving belongings on desks for short periods of time, such<br />
as to go to the bathroom, to get a drink from a vending<br />
machine, to get a book from one of the racks, to have a quick<br />
pace or stretch around the library after sitting for a long<br />
time. These activities will not qualify you as a ‘Desk Leaver’.<br />
Desk Leavers are those people who consistently leave their<br />
belongings on desks, for as long as 3-4 hours. The plague that<br />
is the Desk leaver is rampant; lines of desks in the library<br />
are now left unattended with someone else’s shit on it just<br />
so you can’t work there, leaving you to your own devices. You<br />
may be forced to lie down and type, or type in lotus position,<br />
perhaps stand and place your laptop on the bookrack to work.<br />
At times you may be more resourceful, finding an empty book<br />
"Perhaps we should<br />
be more militant,<br />
shaming Desk Leavers<br />
on stalkerspace..."<br />
trolley and stool to create a makeshift desk. I have tried it<br />
all - I feel like I should invest in a fold up chair and desk next<br />
exam season...<br />
Laugh as much as you want, but the Desk Leaver is a<br />
tyrant on society. They deserve the same scorn as bad<br />
parkers and turnitin. As much as we say we’re at university<br />
to make friends, we are here for parties, clubs & societies,<br />
activism and politics, and for the best of us- contributing to<br />
student media, ultimately we are at university to study so<br />
we can evolve into educated people. The Desk Leaver poses<br />
a direct threat towards our ability to do what we are here to<br />
do. Most of us are polite because we would never move the<br />
desk-leaver’s shit, because that would be mean. Hence, we<br />
don’t work on the desk, because we don’t want to have a fight.<br />
Perhaps we should be more militant, shaming Desk Leavers<br />
on stalkerspace, writing angry notes, or maybe we should<br />
even evolve into the ‘exam season bunny’. This would entail<br />
hiding their laptops and books in random places for the desk<br />
leaver to search frantically for their items while the deadline<br />
for their essay comes near, though that in itself is just as<br />
petty as being a Desk Leaver.<br />
So to the Desk Leavers reading this letter - shame on you.<br />
Before you say ‘I was doing an essay that was due on the day,<br />
I couldn’t lose my spot’ or ‘I needed to go to class’ or ‘I had to<br />
get lunch’, I’ll say this; we all needed a spot, we were all doing<br />
that essay, we all had classes to go to, we all had to get lunch.<br />
You’re all grown ups, learn how to share; we could use that<br />
desk when you aren’t there.
STUDENT AFFAIRS 23<br />
What Would<br />
Happen if we<br />
Just Didn’t Pay<br />
Back our HECS?<br />
REA<br />
BY MALI<br />
With students collectively going on a strike and refusing to pay<br />
back their student loans, the American department of Education<br />
is about to find out what exactly happens when students refuse to<br />
repay their tuition fees.<br />
The movement began with 15 students from the private<br />
Corinthian College refusing to pay their debt back upon<br />
realising the degrees they were awarded from the for-profit<br />
institution were barely worth the paper they were written<br />
on. With a group called The Debt Collective, students from<br />
Corinthian College demanded that their loans be cancelled<br />
on the grounds that they were defrauded. However the<br />
Department of Education were not easily swayed, despite<br />
conducting their own investigations in to the institution.<br />
It has become fairly obvious that the Department of<br />
Education are in cahoots with the private companies and<br />
investors who profit from student debt. They allow these<br />
private institutions access to government funding to prop<br />
them up and even when they are disgraced to the extent of<br />
Corinthian, they continue to assist them in finding a buyer.<br />
Even though the college has been known to be in trouble for<br />
many years, the Department of Education had continued to<br />
help them, and now that it has closed they have done far less<br />
than the all-volunteer Debt Collective in getting student debt<br />
discharged.<br />
Student debt in America has reached crisis point, it is only<br />
second to credit card debt with Americans owing 1.2 trillion<br />
dollars. At a Department of Education hearing collective<br />
organisers reminded the department that Corinthian College<br />
was not the exception, that for profit colleges putting<br />
graduates in to poverty has become the norm.<br />
The Debt Collective are challenging power of this 1.2 trillion<br />
dollar debt under the fundamental belief that;<br />
"If you owe the bank a thousand dollars, the bank owns<br />
you. If you owe the bank a trillion dollars, you own the bank.<br />
Together, we own the bank."<br />
The idea is that when put together, their total amount of<br />
debt becomes powerful and gives students collective control,<br />
thousands of graduates have signed on to the campaign,<br />
together representing $72 million in debt.<br />
Many organisations have shown their support and<br />
endorsed the debt strikers, including the New York Times<br />
editorial board and the American Federation of Teachers.<br />
The Debt Collective show us how effective the collective<br />
The Debt Collective are<br />
challenging power of this<br />
1.2 trillion dollar debt under<br />
the fundamental belief<br />
that; "If you owe the bank a<br />
thousand dollars, the bank<br />
owns you. If you owe the<br />
bank a trillion dollars, you<br />
own the bank. Together, we<br />
own the bank."<br />
action of students can be. By undermining the government<br />
and the student debt collectors, these students and<br />
graduates have taken control of their debt and in a wider<br />
sense, they have empowered all students within their<br />
universities.<br />
One of the more subtle aspects of the Liberal higher<br />
education reforms in Australia has been the offering of<br />
commonwealth supported places to private providers, the<br />
first step in privatising the entire system. If this were to pass,<br />
colleges like Corinthian College would appear in Australia,<br />
and as they are for-profit, would abuse their government<br />
funding and put students in serious debt without legitimate<br />
qualifications. The story of Corinthian College and the Debt<br />
Collective is a pertinent warning for us in Australia.<br />
A protest is being held to oppose the Americanisation<br />
of the Australian on August 19th, the MSA will be providing<br />
buses leaving at 1pm from Robert Blackwood Hall, join us<br />
earlier at 12 for a BBQ on the Menzies Lawn.<br />
Mali Rea is the Education (Public Affairs) Officer
24<br />
STUDENT AFFAIRS<br />
BY STUDENT<br />
AFFAIRS TEAM<br />
New Semester’s<br />
Resolutions<br />
"Last semester I spent way too much time at Sir John’s Bar instead<br />
of going to my tutes, so this semester I’m not studying."<br />
"I lose a lot of marks in my essays for spelling and grammar, so this<br />
semester I’ll make sure I proofreed my work to spot any typos."<br />
New semester. Fresh start. Time to right the wrongs<br />
of Semester 1 and redeem yourself. Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong> took to<br />
the streets to ask students what their new semester’s<br />
resolutions are.<br />
"In an effort to save money this semester, I’m bringing lunch from<br />
home. Some of the food on campus can be so expensive - like once<br />
I had lunch at Peri Peri and the hospital bills for the next three days<br />
were ridiculous!"<br />
"This semester I’m looking to get in shape, so I bought a blue permit<br />
so I get to walk from the Synchrotron every day."<br />
"I’ve decided to use my holidays productively this winter. I’ve bingewatched<br />
all my shows now before classes start so I don’t have to<br />
catch up on them when assignments are due."<br />
"I got sick of all the Arts student jokes so this semester I’ve<br />
transferred into a Hospitality course, majoring in flipping burgers."<br />
"I’ve always wanted to travel, so this semester I’ll study abroad in<br />
Berwick."<br />
"This semester I’m looking to be more independent so I’ve moved<br />
out of home and am living in the Science Centre study room for the<br />
semester. Noise is a problem, but at least the rent is cheap."<br />
"My marks were great last semester, I got Ps in all of my subjects. I’d<br />
like to adjust my work life balance though, so this semester I’ll be<br />
going to Da Club more often."<br />
"I got into an awful habit of putting things off last semester, so I’ve<br />
deferred my course to enrol in a discipline building program."<br />
"Last semester I spent way too much time at Sir John’s Bar instead<br />
of going to my tutes, this semester I’m doing all my drinking offcampus."<br />
"I’m looking for love this semester. Most of my time this semester<br />
will be taken up by posting pictures of strangers on StalkerSpace<br />
in the hopes that one of them will be flattered enough to accept my<br />
offer of coffee."
STUDENT AFFAIRS 25<br />
Month Week Date Event Club Time Location Type<br />
JUL 1<br />
AUG<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
Event Schedule<br />
EVENT CALENDAR<br />
Wed 29th Social Enterprise Stories SEED 18:00 TBD Academic Event (Guest Speaker/Networking)<br />
Thu 30th Mid Year Festival MSA 13:00 H3, Menzies, 20 Chn (11) Other<br />
Fri 31st Trivia Night/Harry's Birthday Muggles 19:00 Sir John's Bar Trivia Night<br />
Fri 31st Container Fest Launch MUST 18:00 MUST Hub Space Other<br />
Mon 3rd Winter Blues MSA 16:00 The Chalet, corner Sports & Exhibition Performance/Arts<br />
Tue 4th Snow Party MSA 21:00 The Chalet, corner Sports & Exhibition Ball/Cruise/Party<br />
Wed 5th Mid-‐Winter Carnival MSA 16:00 The Chalet, corner Sports & Exhibition Other<br />
Thu 6th Comedy Night MSA 17:30 The Chalet, corner Sports & Exhibition Performance/Arts<br />
Fri 7th Friday Night Freeze MSA 16:30 Monash Sport Other<br />
TBD EGM Amnesty TBD TBD Other<br />
Wed 12th Networking Workshop CCA 17:00 Clayton Campus Academic Event (Guest Speaker/Networking)<br />
Wed 12th Social Enterprise Workshop SEED 18:00 TBD Academic Event (Guest Speaker/Networking)<br />
Sun 17th UNIHACK <strong>2015</strong> Presentation Day WIRED 16:30 Inspire9 (1/41 Stewart St, Melbourne) Other<br />
Tue 18th Women in Psychology Seminar SNAPS 18:00 South 1 Lecture Theatre Academic Event (Guest Speaker/Networking)<br />
Thu 20th Corporate Dinner CCA 18:00 Langham Hotel Academic Event (Guest Speaker/Networking)<br />
TBD Bake Sale for Friends of Refugees Amnesty TBD TBD Other<br />
SEP 6 Tue 2nd Cross-‐Campus Yule Ball Muggles 19:00 Leonda by the Yarra, Hawthorn Ball/Cruise/Party<br />
Amnesty -‐ Amnesty Monash<br />
CCA -‐ Computing & Commerce Association<br />
Muggles -‐ Monash Muggles<br />
MUST -‐ Monash Uni Student Theatre<br />
SEED -‐ Socio-‐Economic Engagement and Development<br />
SNAPS -‐ Students' Neuroscience & Psychology Society<br />
WIRED -‐ Monash IT Student Society<br />
Event Types<br />
Ball/Cruise/Party<br />
BBQ<br />
Academic Event (Guest Speaker/Networking)<br />
Other<br />
Weekly Event<br />
Performance/Arts<br />
Trivia Night<br />
* Please double check event details with club in case of changes<br />
** To enter events in the Calendar for Semester 2 check club emails around late June!<br />
Facilities and Services<br />
Clayton campus - parking update<br />
The University has opened two new free offsite car parks for students.<br />
The two parks are north of the campus at 264 Ferntree Gully Road, next to the<br />
The Notting Hill Hotel, and in Howleys Road, opposite the childcare centre. Three<br />
mini-buses will provide a park-and-ride service every 10 minutes from Ferntree<br />
Gully Road.<br />
The Wellington Road car park is now a mixture of carpooling and blue permit<br />
parking while the upper level of SE4 multilevel park has been converted to blue<br />
permit parking.<br />
Construction is underway on the former SW2 car park and the only<br />
remaining spaces are for red and yellow permit holders.<br />
For more information on the parking update visit:<br />
http://www.monash.edu/people/transport-parking/parking-at-clayton<br />
Further queries: Ask.Monash. Security and Traffic 99027777
Monash Student Association<br />
Student Rights<br />
When things go wrong...<br />
Level 1, Campus Centre<br />
(Next to MSA Reception)<br />
21 Chancellors Walk<br />
msa.monash.edu/studentrights<br />
• Unit Failure (Exclusion)<br />
• Discipline<br />
• Grievance<br />
• Special Consideration<br />
...and you need to understand your options.<br />
Teacher Training in<br />
Rudolf Steiner Education<br />
MELBOURNE<br />
RUDOLF STEINER<br />
SEMINAR<br />
What is Steiner education? Do you want<br />
to become a Steiner teacher? Take your<br />
first step toward becoming a teacher<br />
qualified for both Steiner schools and<br />
the mainstream.<br />
Information evening for enrolling in the<br />
Advanced Diploma of Rudolf Steiner<br />
Education (10527NAT). This course offers a<br />
pathway to a Bachelor of Education at<br />
Deakin and Charles Darwin Universities,<br />
and the University of Technology in Sydney.<br />
This is an accredited two year full-time course.<br />
VET Fee Help and Austudy are available for<br />
eligible students.<br />
INFORMATION EVENING<br />
When: Monday 7th Sept <strong>2015</strong><br />
Time: 7.30-9.00 p.m.<br />
Where: The Melbourne Rudolf<br />
Steiner Seminar<br />
37A Wellington Park Drive,<br />
Warranwood, less than 10 minutes<br />
from the Ringwood exit of the<br />
Eastern Freeway and EastLink.<br />
tel: (03) 9876-5199<br />
email: office@steinerseminar.com<br />
www.steinerseminar.com
27<br />
27<br />
PoLITICS<br />
Science & Engineering<br />
ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH FERN — notafern.com<br />
ARTICLES BY<br />
Melissa Cafarella<br />
Carolyn Vlasveld<br />
Sunny Liu<br />
Alisoun Townsend<br />
Kathy Zhang<br />
Rachel Brasse
28<br />
SCIENCE & ENGINEERING<br />
BY MELISSA<br />
CAFARELLA<br />
How to 3D Print Your<br />
Perfect Partner<br />
"Scientists, now more than ever,<br />
have a great capacity to manipulate<br />
nature at its very core. "<br />
3D printing (also called additive manufacturing) is all the<br />
rage at the moment and is a relatively new technology,<br />
invented in the 1980s. It was originally used for rapid<br />
prototyping of an object to give the manufacturer an idea of<br />
the final 3D product they were creating. All the credit for the<br />
creation of the first 3D printing technique is often given to<br />
Charles Hull, who built upon two methods invented earlier<br />
by Dr. Hideo Kodama. Hull patented the first 3D printing<br />
technology and also founded the company 3D Systems. The<br />
technique Hull named Stereolithography is one of seven<br />
different methods of 3D printing (known as ‘processes’)<br />
defined by the American Society for Testing and Materials<br />
(ASTM). The others include vat photopolymerisation, material<br />
jetting, binder jetting, material extrusion, powder bed fusion,<br />
sheet lamination and direct energy deposition. Despite<br />
these all sounding complicated, 3D printing is based on<br />
simple principles. Prior to additive manufacturing, we had<br />
subtractive manufacturing – which involved carving a design<br />
from a chunk of material. Additive manufacturing is the<br />
opposite process; it involves building your 3D model from the<br />
ground up – in layers (think: adding different slices to your<br />
sandwich).<br />
In order to print out an object that you desire, you’re going<br />
to need a couple of things:<br />
A 3D printer - which are upwards of $1,000<br />
Materials for the printer to use, such as:<br />
Gold (14K) – $600 per cm3<br />
Steel – $5 per cm3<br />
Plastic – $0.28 per cm3<br />
A 3D modelling program or a 3D scanner<br />
Larger models require larger printers that may contain more<br />
lasers and thus the cost of printer increases with these<br />
factors.<br />
Designs for objects are available online, or if you have a<br />
creative side and a knack for some tricky computer software<br />
then you can 3D print almost anything, only limited by the<br />
extent of your imagination. The computer data is then sent<br />
to the 3D printer, much like printing a word document on<br />
an inkjet printer. The 3D printer builds your object in layers<br />
or slices, commonly out of a ceramic resin or polymer and<br />
hardens when exposed to UV light.<br />
The future of 3D printing is set to soar in the next few<br />
years. The possibilities are endless and are currently<br />
being exploited commercially with companies such as<br />
ASDA in the UK enabling customers to get 3D miniature<br />
models of themselves and<br />
hospitals in China giving<br />
pregnant patients the<br />
opportunity to visualise a 3D<br />
representation of their baby<br />
based on their ultrasound.<br />
Tissue engineering is<br />
A 3D printed guitar body.<br />
Anything is possible with<br />
this new technology.<br />
Image from: http://www.odd.org.<br />
nz/atom.html<br />
also exploring how to use cells to print working organs<br />
for transplants – a 3D printed kidney has already been<br />
successfully implanted into a mouse. Scientists, now more<br />
than ever, have a great capacity to manipulate nature at its<br />
very core.<br />
It is also predicted that the consumer, in the future, will be<br />
able to customise products at will and have them produced<br />
via 3D printing on the spot. Not only does this save the retail<br />
industry storage space but it also saves wastage of stock.<br />
The scary side of the story is that the average consumer<br />
can now have access to working parts of any object they<br />
want – including weapons. Blueprints of working guns are<br />
available online and although some laws are in place (most<br />
countries have banned the practice), it is unlikely to deter<br />
everyone. offenders usually do not use 3D printed guns yet<br />
this technology opens a new avenue for an alternative source<br />
of firearms for those that do not usually have access to them.<br />
Yoshitomo Imura was arrested in 2014 in Japan as the first<br />
person to possess 3D printed firearms – yet he did no harm<br />
with them. The release and production of personal weapons<br />
can be likened to downloading music or movies illegally – it<br />
is impossible to stop and it is more likely that regulation,<br />
rather than prohibition, will aid in the protection of the global<br />
community.<br />
3D printing has a long way to go in terms of economical<br />
issues too. It is argued that rather than consumers buying<br />
products, they will just print their own. This is certainly a<br />
possibility but industries will need to embrace rather than<br />
push away this technology. In order for businesses to become<br />
successful entities they need to appeal to the wider majority.<br />
It is likely that as 3D printing becomes more accessible to<br />
the public the demand for personalisation of products will<br />
also increase.<br />
So are we now, as the consumer, going to be given more<br />
power than ever? Should the public be scared of weapons<br />
becoming more accessible? Will companies embrace this<br />
new technology? What are the ethical considerations behind<br />
printing new organs and tissue? Are we messing with nature?<br />
These are only a few questions that we need to ask about the<br />
future of 3D printing, and especially, will we eventually be<br />
able to print our own dream partner?
SCIENCE & ENGINEERING 29<br />
BY CAROLYN<br />
VLASVELD
30<br />
SCIENCE & ENGINEERING<br />
Puzzles<br />
Puzzle<br />
1<br />
Puzzle<br />
2<br />
Puzzle<br />
4<br />
Puzzle<br />
3<br />
Honour Roll<br />
Issue 3 Issue 4<br />
Max Zadnik<br />
Christopher E Orrell<br />
William Molloy<br />
Sarah Spencer<br />
Christopher E Orrell Max Zadnik<br />
Lucas Azzola<br />
Success, fame and glamour can all be yours! Simply<br />
submit the answers to msa-lotswife@monash.edu and<br />
you’ll get your name published on this page in the next<br />
issue!
SCIENCE & ENGINEERING 31<br />
What’s Up Doc?<br />
Anita finished her Bachelor and Masters degrees in organic and<br />
physical chemistry at Northeast Normal University in China<br />
before coming to Monash for her PhD in organic science in 2011.<br />
Her supervisor Dr. Steven Langford suggested that her work<br />
with gas separation and the design of porous materials was<br />
interesting. Anita has so far had her research findings published<br />
in journals such as Crystal Engineering Communications and<br />
Organic Chemistry Communications.<br />
INTERVIEWED BY SUNNY LIU<br />
SHUANG (ANITA) WANG<br />
What’s the current area of your research?<br />
My current focus is on organic synthesis. My project involves<br />
the synthesis of porous materials. My supervisor initially<br />
brought up this idea, and I further developed it into the full<br />
shape and added the application of solvent gases absorption.<br />
It was a challenge for me to do organic chemistry. My major<br />
project is the synthesis of powerine, which is very hard to<br />
synthesize. I found out that this kind of material can be<br />
applied into gas absorption. It can selectively absorb CO2 by<br />
mixing nitrogen or water molecules, so it can be applied to<br />
the area of vehicle emission, because it absorbs CO2 rather<br />
than other gases.<br />
Have you done any related research before?<br />
Yes. I did my masters degree on metal organics, which is<br />
related to what I’m involved in at the moment. My current<br />
area is different from what I did before because it’s still in the<br />
early stages and is not very well developed; this is a supermolecular<br />
porous material.<br />
Coming from a Chinese background, have you found any<br />
differences in the way research is conducted at Monash?<br />
Very different. Working at the lab here is a very independent<br />
process. There’s teamwork as well, but most of the time you<br />
have to be self-independent.<br />
Is there enough support and resources for you at Monash?<br />
There are a lot of resources and support at Monash. For<br />
certain research, you need a lot of techniques to characterise<br />
your compound. It’s not necessarily like, in one group, you<br />
have all the instruments you need. You need to communicate<br />
with other groups and find what you want.<br />
A general stereotype of PhD students is that they can’t<br />
"switch off" their brain. What do you say in response to<br />
that?<br />
I think it is true that some of us are like that. But still we can<br />
have a lot of activities in our leisure time. I play the piano<br />
sometimes to just release myself. It’s very important to<br />
communicate with the outside world instead of only focusing<br />
on your work. You can get some research ideas from others.<br />
Does conducting research make you feel disconnected<br />
from the outside world?<br />
Yes, sometimes we don’t even have time to read news or<br />
attend activities that are outside the chemistry world. But<br />
when you do something that nobody has done before, the<br />
sense of accomplishment brought by experiments outweighs<br />
the solitude.<br />
Have you faced any gender-related stereotypes or<br />
discriminations as a woman in science?<br />
I’m just really focused on what I’m doing. We all have a good<br />
attitude at work so it separates our personal emotions.<br />
There is about an equal divide between the number of men<br />
and women in the School of Chemistry. So there is a gender<br />
diversity and we are all equal.<br />
What’s the most rewarding part of your research<br />
experience?<br />
Doing research in chemistry has helped me develop my selfindependence,<br />
working abilities and creativity. I face a lot of<br />
difficulties during my research, because no one has done this<br />
before and no one knows what will happen next. Finding the<br />
right solution for the problem really helps me with my logical<br />
thinking and communication skills.<br />
Do you plan to research in the same area when you finish<br />
with your current project?<br />
I plan to change to a new field, because to be a scientist, the<br />
research you are involved in is very important. I already have<br />
the experience in organic chemistry and a variety of research<br />
background can be useful. My dream is to do research that<br />
can really make a difference in its application.
32<br />
SCIENCE & ENGINEERING<br />
BY ALISOUN<br />
TOWNSEND<br />
The Daily Grind<br />
"Caffeine is the most consumed psychoactive<br />
drug in the world. Uni students follow this<br />
pattern, with caffeine playing a huge part of<br />
our lives."<br />
09.30<br />
The cat wakes me up by sitting on my head. I can hear<br />
music and my parents moving around so I get up rather<br />
than face suffocation. Staying with my parents over the<br />
holidays means there’s always tea in the teapot and a pot<br />
of coffee can easily be made. I pour myself a cup of tea and<br />
begin to write this article.<br />
I was never a coffee drinker. I drank tea filled with milk<br />
and honey like it was water, but never coffee. Although the<br />
smell was wonderful, I despised the bitter taste. Anyone<br />
who tried to offer me coffee instead of tea would have<br />
been met with glare.<br />
It wasn’t until the summer of 2013 when I spent time<br />
in Sweden with friends that I truly fell in love with coffee.<br />
Maybe it was the warm, lazy days that stretched into each<br />
other with no break, all the fikas we had or the need I felt<br />
to stay awake and experience as much as I could of a<br />
Swedish summer.<br />
When I left Sweden, I was well and truly addicted to coffee.<br />
I had never craved something before. It felt bizarre, like<br />
I could hardly function without a cup of coffee. I went to<br />
stay with a friend in Austria, who introduced me to one of<br />
the great wonders of continental Europe – the 1.20 large<br />
iced Americano from Starbucks. It was cheaper than<br />
water and I lived on it as I travelled. In hindsight, drinking<br />
so much coffee wasn’t good for me, but it made me feel<br />
better when I was hung over and trying to catch a 7am<br />
train.<br />
10.45<br />
I come back to this article with a plunger filled with<br />
coffee and sit it next to me. Black dark roasted coffee is a<br />
weakness for me, maybe because it tastes just like dark<br />
chocolate. Yesterday I’d made a deal with myself to try<br />
and write this article with as much caffeine in my system<br />
as possible. Now it’s staring me in the face, this seems<br />
like a bad idea. The last time I drank heaps of coffee was<br />
when my friend was trying to teach me how to be a barista<br />
(which is harder than it looks and no one is allowed to<br />
mock baristas near me ever again). I could physically feel<br />
my heart beating that day and I had the worst night’s<br />
sleep.<br />
Caffeine is the most consumed psychoactive drug in<br />
the world. Uni students follow this pattern, with caffeine<br />
playing a huge part of our lives. Approximately 98% of<br />
students report they have consumed caffeine in the past<br />
and 89% consume caffeine every month. Males are more<br />
likely to consume larger quantities of caffeine in the form<br />
of energy drinks. Caffeine usage also increases with age<br />
and year level.<br />
Caffeine raises alertness and keeps people awake<br />
through boring lectures and into the night when you<br />
realise you’re about to miss that Moodle quiz closing<br />
date. There are even studies to suggest it can reduce the<br />
risk of diabetes, gallstones, Parkinson’s disease and liver<br />
disease.<br />
But the effect of it on our bodies is often undiscussed<br />
amongst the jokes about needing so many cups of coffee<br />
to survive a morning class.<br />
Caffeine can have seriously adverse effects on sleeping<br />
patterns, which are already in jeopardy because of our<br />
varied social lives and uni timetables. The alertness that<br />
is so useful when needed can actually work against us!<br />
That may be why we’re always told to avoid caffeine after<br />
midday... who knew?!<br />
Combining caffeine and anxiousness is generally<br />
conceded to be a bad idea. Caffeine raises your heart<br />
level, can cause jitters and increase anxiousness in<br />
general. It can also create headaches.<br />
The hangover cure I so loved in Europe also doesn’t<br />
work. The placebo effect is at play! Caffeine also won’t<br />
sober people up. Getting a mug of coffee into a drunken<br />
friend won’t help sober them up – it might just make<br />
their hangover worse in the morning, as caffeine can<br />
dehydrate you.<br />
The mixing of caffeine and alcohol can also have<br />
adverse effects on you. There are few studies examining<br />
the effects of mixing caffeine and alcohol, but it is<br />
generally agreed that people are less likely to realise how<br />
drunk they are getting when consuming the two drugs<br />
together. This is due to caffeine delaying the feeling of<br />
drunkenness and sleepiness that comes with drinking<br />
alcohol. Young men are much more likely to consume<br />
energy drinks and alcohol.<br />
13.00<br />
I have to stop drinking coffee. My mother’s worried about<br />
me, I feel incredibly dehydrated and my heart thrumming<br />
in a weird tempo. I might need a detox period after this<br />
amount of caffeine. Or not, because I love to wake up to<br />
a morning cup of tea and adore chatting to my favourite<br />
barista. Perhaps, like all things in life, I need to accept a<br />
nice balance.
SCIENCE & ENGINEERING 33<br />
Prosthetic Prospects<br />
ZHANG<br />
BY KATHY<br />
Wearing a prosthetic is not a question of replacement, but of<br />
augmenting the human experience and challenging notions<br />
of disability. The type of prosthetic fitted depends on the<br />
wearer’s needs and usage, and represents a conversation<br />
between function, form and aesthetics. Wearers are not<br />
limited to standard prosthetics, with innovative materials<br />
such as the light, strong carbon fibre of Cheetah running<br />
blades used by athletes, the life-like functionality of bionic<br />
limbs, or the artistry of bespoke creations from the likes of<br />
Alexander McQueen and Scott Summit. Prosthetics can be<br />
beautiful, strong, and perhaps even better than the native<br />
limb as technology improves.<br />
http://www.wired.<br />
com/2010/12/<br />
bespokedesigns-makesbeautiful-customprosthetic-legs/<br />
Advancements in materials and technology<br />
drive the development of bionics and<br />
neuroprostheses. These technologies rely<br />
on an understanding of anatomy and<br />
biomechanics, the physics of the human<br />
body. By understanding the impact of<br />
amputation on biomechanics and how<br />
the body comes to move and compensate,<br />
mechanical systems can be developed to<br />
replace biological ones and tap into neural<br />
processes. While more traditional, body<br />
powered prosthetics operate using harnesses and pulleys<br />
strapped to the body, current bionic technology allows limbs<br />
to be directed by the wearer’s thoughts alone.<br />
While myoelectric prostheses like the Bebionic3 may<br />
read the electrical signals of nerves and muscles in the<br />
residual limb to prompt movement, others, such as the<br />
Modular Prosthetic Limb may make use of targeted muscle<br />
reinnervation (TMR). The nerves that previously innervated<br />
the missing limb portion are surgically reassigned to the<br />
remaining muscles of the residual limb. These can be<br />
controlled consciously, and the electrical and muscular<br />
signals are read. The capability and intuitive, thought-driven<br />
control of these prostheses are astounding.<br />
https://www.<br />
youtube.com/<br />
watch?v=x_<br />
zGiqV7Bmk<br />
The next hurdle researchers face is providing<br />
wearers with sensory feedback. The goal isn’t<br />
necessarily to completely restore feeling,<br />
but enough to improve motor control at<br />
least. Skin contains several types of sensory<br />
receptors, which transmit information<br />
about position, pressure, texture, vibrations,<br />
temperature and pain to the brain, creating<br />
the incredibly complex sensation we call<br />
touch. This feedback is vital to motor control. The force of<br />
our grip, for example, depends on our perceived texture of<br />
the object. Strategies to improve sensory feedback include<br />
interfacing with the residual sensory nerves, or directly<br />
interfacing with the brain’s somatosensory cortex and<br />
spinal nerves by either replicating natural sensory signals<br />
or teaching the brain a set of new sensations. Sensation has<br />
even been the accidental product of TMR.<br />
Sensory technology is not completely off limits, however.<br />
Professor Graeme Clarke developed the bionic ear, or cochlear<br />
implants in the 70’s. The Monash Vision Group is developing<br />
a bionic eye, which could restore sight in up to 85% of<br />
severely vision impaired people. Blindness can be caused by<br />
many conditions, which often damage the optic nerve. This<br />
carries information from the photoreceptors of the retina to<br />
the brain for interpretation. The bionic eye bypasses this by<br />
transmitting altered images from a digital camera directly<br />
to microchips surgically inserted into the brain. The chips<br />
stimulate the visual cortex, producing a dot pattern of light<br />
representative of the environment. With training, the wearer<br />
can recognise objects and navigate with ease, functionally<br />
restoring sight.<br />
Additionally, prostheses reveal the brain’s capacity for<br />
remodelling. Cochlear implants are most effective in young<br />
children, for example, when the brain is most plastic and<br />
capable of adapting and rewiring. However, neuroplasticity<br />
is a double edged sword, as it is also thought to be the cause<br />
of phantom limb sensation. Many amputees feel a variety<br />
of (sometimes painful) sensations in their missing limb.<br />
Researchers suggest that this may be due to mixed brain and<br />
spinal signals about the missing limb, the reorganisation<br />
of the somatosensory cortex (the area responsible for the<br />
missing limb), or the misinterpretation of neighbouring<br />
signals. Mirrored box therapy is one of many available<br />
therapies. By using a mirror to duplicate the functional limb,<br />
patients are able to watch their phantom limb "move" as<br />
they move the functional limb. By manipulating the brain’s<br />
capacity for neuroplasticity, this visual feedback may trick<br />
the brain into believing that the limb is still there, allowing<br />
the patient to be relieved of some pain.<br />
https://www.<br />
youtube.com/<br />
watch?v=x_<br />
zGiqV7Bmk<br />
A prosthetic is not just a replacement.<br />
It is a reflection of just how intricate the<br />
human body is. The immense amount of<br />
research and know-how required to build<br />
one is a testament to this fact. Thankfully,<br />
technology is catching up. Improvements<br />
in prosthetics lend themselves to<br />
animatronics and robotics, and<br />
increasingly blur the lines between what<br />
is biological and mechanical. Perhaps, in the not too distant<br />
future, we may all give up our arms for a far superior cyborg,<br />
"Terminator arm". (At least, I know I will.)
CBA Sydney Summer All Students 10 Weeks Unspecified from July<br />
34<br />
Orica<br />
Adelaide,<br />
Gladstone, Mackay,<br />
Melbourne,<br />
Newcastle, Sydney,<br />
Townville<br />
Hong Kong,<br />
Jane Street<br />
Internships<br />
London, New York<br />
Summer<br />
Northern<br />
Hemisphere Winter<br />
Engineering<br />
Students<br />
Eng/Science/IT<br />
Students<br />
SCIENCE & ENGINEERING<br />
3 Months Yes from October<br />
2-4 Weeks Unspecified Unspecified<br />
TEXT FOR BELOW<br />
HEADING<br />
"Keep an eye out<br />
for more<br />
opportunities,<br />
there are still many<br />
internship<br />
programs open in<br />
May. More Monash<br />
Winter Scholarship<br />
programs can be<br />
found online."<br />
ISSUE Company 5 Where Where Looking For Length Paid? Apply<br />
Telstra<br />
Abergeldie<br />
ANZ<br />
Canberra,<br />
Melbourne, Sydney<br />
Brisbane,<br />
Newcastle, Sydney<br />
Brisbane,<br />
Melbourne, Perth,<br />
Sydney<br />
Summer<br />
Summer<br />
Summer<br />
Penultimate Year<br />
Engineering<br />
Students<br />
Engineering<br />
Students<br />
Engineering<br />
Students<br />
3 Months Unspecified before July 22<br />
3 Months Yes before July 31<br />
8 Weeks Yes before July 31<br />
PwC<br />
Adelaide, Brisbane,<br />
Canberra,<br />
Melbourne,<br />
Newcastle, Perth,<br />
Sydney<br />
Summer<br />
Engineering<br />
Students<br />
3-8 Weeks Unspecified before mid August<br />
Aurecon<br />
GE<br />
Hatch<br />
Suncorp Bank<br />
Brisbane,<br />
Melbourne, Sydney<br />
Brisbane,<br />
Melbourne, Perth,<br />
Sydney<br />
Brisbane,<br />
Newcastle, Perth,<br />
Sydney, Townsville<br />
Brisbane,<br />
Melbourne, Sydney<br />
Summer<br />
Summer<br />
Summer<br />
Summer<br />
Engineering<br />
Students<br />
Engineering<br />
Students<br />
Engineering and<br />
Science Students<br />
Engineering<br />
Students<br />
3 Months Unspecified before mid August<br />
3 Months Unspecified before mid August<br />
3 Months Yes before August 23<br />
10 Weeks Yes before September<br />
CBA Sydney Summer All Students 10 Weeks Unspecified from July<br />
Orica<br />
Adelaide,<br />
Gladstone, Mackay,<br />
Melbourne,<br />
Newcastle, Sydney,<br />
Townville<br />
Summer<br />
Engineering<br />
Students<br />
3 Months Yes from October<br />
Jane Street<br />
Hong Kong,<br />
London, New York<br />
Northern<br />
Hemisphere Winter<br />
Eng/Science/IT<br />
Students<br />
2-4 Weeks Unspecified Unspecified<br />
Keep an eye out for more<br />
opportunities, there are still many<br />
internship programs open in July.<br />
More Monash Winter Scholarship<br />
programs can be found online.
SCIENCE & ENGINEERING 35<br />
Hand Sanitiser:<br />
Friend or Foe?<br />
Since its introduction to the public in the 1990s, hand sanitiser<br />
has rapidly grown in popularity. Although its original use was to<br />
minimise the spread of bacteria in hospitals, it has now become<br />
quite common for people to use it on a day-to-day basis.<br />
As we become more and more aware of the harmful bacteria<br />
present in our environment (especially in public places) it is<br />
quite understandable that many of us have become somewhat<br />
‘germaphobic’. It makes sense then that we fight the germs (and<br />
ease our hypochondria) with a little hand sanitiser now and then.<br />
But could hand sanitiser be doing us more harm than good?<br />
Since its introduction to the public in the 1990s, hand<br />
sanitiser has rapidly grown in popularity. Although its<br />
original use was to minimise the spread of bacteria in<br />
hospitals, it has now become quite common for people to<br />
use it on a day-to-day basis. As we become more and more<br />
aware of the harmful bacteria present in our environment<br />
(especially in public places) it is quite understandable<br />
that many of us have become somewhat ‘germaphobic’. It<br />
makes sense then that we fight the germs (and ease our<br />
hypochondria) with a little hand sanitiser now and then. But<br />
could hand sanitiser be doing us more harm than good?<br />
As many of us have already heard, there is talk of ‘super<br />
bugs’ arising from our overuse of antibacterial substances.<br />
For those who haven’t – hand sanitiser (as well as other<br />
antibacterial cleansers) kills up to 99.9% of bacteria. This<br />
means that the surviving .1% of that bacterial population is<br />
immune to the antibacterial agent used. This strain then<br />
reproduces, creating a whole new population of bacteria<br />
much stronger than the last. Re-exposure to antibacterial<br />
cleansers then kills the weaker members of this new strain<br />
meaning the survivors are even stronger and less responsive<br />
to antibiotics. Repeat the cycle again and soon enough, we’ll<br />
be left with super bugs – scary! Unfortunately, in addition<br />
to killing harmful bacteria, antibacterial soaps and hand<br />
sanitisers also kill off our bodies’ good bacteria, making it<br />
even easier for antibiotic-resistant strains to flourish. But<br />
this isn’t even the worst part.<br />
A peer-reviewed journal published in october last year<br />
has shown that using hand sanitiser before exposure to<br />
bisphenol A (BPA) can increase its absorption into our bodies.<br />
BPA is an industrial chemical commonly found in plastics,<br />
including food and beverage packaging. BPA has been linked<br />
to heart disease, hormone disorders, cancer and infertility,<br />
but the Food and Drug Administration has deemed it safe<br />
in low concentrations. Although most of our BPA exposure<br />
comes from food and beverage packaging, thermal receipt<br />
paper is coated with BPA and therefore contains high<br />
quantities of it. The study found that hand sanitiser (as well<br />
as other skin care products) contains mixtures of dermal<br />
penetration enhancing chemicals – in other words, chemicals<br />
that make our skin more absorbent. These are primarily<br />
used to increase the transdermal delivery of drugs. However,<br />
these chemicals have been found to also increase the dermal<br />
absorption of lipophilic compounds such as BPA by up to 100<br />
fold! To make matters worse, people who touched the receipt<br />
paper immediately after using hand sanitiser transferred<br />
significant amounts of free BPA to food they subsequently<br />
touched, thus doubling their exposure. This combination of<br />
dermal and oral absorption resulted in "rapid and dramatic<br />
average maximum increase in bioactive BPA" which – simply<br />
put – means an increased risk of an array of diseases.<br />
Dermal penetration enhancers include the chemicals<br />
triclosan, isopropyl myristate and propylene glycol. These are<br />
commonly found in popular hand sanitiser brands such as<br />
Dettol and Purell. However, on their own these tend to be fairly<br />
safe – with the exception of triclosan. Studies have linked<br />
triclosan to disrupted hormonal development, a reduction<br />
in bacterial resistance and an increase in allergies. The<br />
European Union has already banned the use of triclosan in<br />
all products and the US has reviewed its use with talks of a<br />
potential ban. So look out for this one on the ingredients list.<br />
Luckily, it’s not all doom and gloom. According to the CDC<br />
(Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) washing your<br />
hands the old-fashioned way (with soap and water) for just<br />
20 seconds can be just as effective at ridding your hands<br />
of the nasties without the side effects. In fact, regular hand<br />
soap has been found to be much more effective at ridding<br />
your hands of fat and sugar deposits than hand sanitisers.<br />
Germs aren’t all bad, and are actually a major part of<br />
an active and efficient immune system. Just remember to<br />
wash your hands with some soap and water before eating or<br />
rubbing your eyes and your body will thank you for it.<br />
Image Courtesy of: www.flickr.com/photos/subsetsum/
WinterFest<br />
3 – 9 August<br />
monash.edu/winterfest<br />
#WinterFest<br />
THE CH ALE T
37<br />
37<br />
PoLITICS<br />
Arts & Culture<br />
ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH FERN — notafern.com<br />
ARTICLES BY<br />
Kristin Robertson<br />
Emma Simpkin<br />
Sheona Bello<br />
David Jeffery<br />
Carina Florea<br />
Brodie Everist<br />
Janelle Barone
38<br />
ARTS & CULTURE<br />
BY KRISTIN<br />
ROBERTSON<br />
In a League of their<br />
own<br />
The Women’s Football World Cup has come and gone, with<br />
Australia’s Matildas having successfully made it to the Quarter<br />
Finals after being ranked 10th in the world.<br />
If you hadn’t heard, don’t be too shocked, since the Socceroos<br />
receive far more publicity in the media despite having never<br />
made it that far in a World Cup. Something that seems to<br />
have skipped the knowledge of many Australians, even Tony<br />
Abbott who reportedly announced, in a scripted speech, that<br />
this was the first time Australia had made it to the World Cup<br />
Quarter Finals; when in reality this year marks the Matilda’s<br />
third attempt at that stage.<br />
Yet that lack of recognition still remains unsurprising<br />
since it is common knowledge that women’s sports teams<br />
generate far less support and even less funding. So what’s<br />
the difference? What makes men’s sports so much more<br />
"watchable"?<br />
Many would argue that it is all in the primitive forces; men<br />
are supposed to be more aggressive, faster and stronger and<br />
that therefore makes for a more ‘action-packed’ game rather<br />
than the taciturn style of the women’s games, which is often<br />
deemed too slow.<br />
But it seems to go beyond that, with some arguing that<br />
part of the interest in men’s football might also lie simply<br />
in the quality of production, with women’s games having<br />
fewer camera angles and instant replays; features that<br />
significantly add to the excitement for those watching at<br />
home.<br />
But is ‘slow’ all bad? Fans of women’s football sometimes<br />
argue that the speed lets them appreciate the techniques<br />
of the game, something that often gets lost in the "rushed"<br />
gameplay within the men’s league.<br />
There have also been arguments made about whether<br />
strength is really the issue with a 2011 study out of Wake<br />
Forest University in the U.S. that found on average, women<br />
fake injuries half as much as men do and get back up again<br />
30 seconds faster when injuries occur.<br />
But it cannot be denied that physiological arguments<br />
always seem to prevail, with haters telling women to stick to<br />
‘more feminine sports’ like gymnastics or figure-skating.<br />
Despite these usual arguments, women’s sports continue<br />
to slowly attract more and more of a following and the<br />
success of the Matildas has allowed supporters of Australian<br />
Women’s football a certain degree of pride. The 10th best<br />
team taking on the 4th best team at the international level is<br />
worth at least that much.<br />
Their success has certainly allowed them to get<br />
more exposure than they’ve had in previous years, so<br />
"Their success has<br />
certainly allowed them<br />
to get more exposure<br />
than they’ve had in<br />
previous years, so does<br />
this in fact signify<br />
a change in the way<br />
Australia, and perhaps<br />
the world, is viewing<br />
women’s football? "<br />
does this in fact signify a change in the way Australia, and<br />
perhaps the world, is viewing women’s football?<br />
In the world of video games this seems to be the case with<br />
EA Games announcing the addition of female national teams<br />
to FIFA 16, set to be released later this year.<br />
Vice President and General Manager of EA Sports FIFA, David<br />
Rutter, said that the reason the addition has taken so long<br />
lies in the technology rather than as a gender issue.<br />
In an interview with the Guardian, Rutter said that<br />
advancements in the system have allowed them to create<br />
more customisable bodies in order to support the varied<br />
body types within the men’s side, opening the way for greater<br />
alterations in order to create noticeably female players.<br />
Their ability to alter the way the skeletons move, now<br />
allows them to more accurately capture the movement of the<br />
female body within the sport.<br />
As for player ratings, the same level of care and research<br />
is being taken for the female players, with Rutter’s team<br />
collecting data from "a ton" of women’s matches.<br />
How these ratings will stack up to male ratings is yet to<br />
be seen, but male vs. female matches have been ruled out at<br />
this stage of production.
ARTS & CULTURE 39<br />
"Within our high-tech age, many are<br />
making the point that the exposure of<br />
female players in the game may increase<br />
support within the younger generation of<br />
gamers and lift the women’s leagues from<br />
obscurity. "<br />
Although there have been previous attempts to incorporate<br />
female teams in other football videogames they were met<br />
poorly on review. Perhaps the more advanced technology and<br />
an increased awareness of gender inequalities in pop culture<br />
will see a different result for EA this year.<br />
Unsurprisingly the addition has raised mixed responses<br />
from the public; with some incredulously asking "why?", while<br />
others shout out "FINALLY!""<br />
Female gamers seem to be saying the latter, and it is not<br />
surprising especially in light of a recent UK study by the<br />
Internet Advertising Bureau that showed that about 52% of all<br />
gamers in the UK are female.<br />
Within our high-tech age, many are making the point that<br />
the exposure of female players in the game may increase<br />
support within the younger generation of gamers and lift the<br />
women’s leagues from obscurity.<br />
On the other side of the support spectrum, online rants<br />
have ensued, with some even dramatically proclaiming that<br />
they are boycotting the game because of the change, saying<br />
that women have no place on the field because "they can’t<br />
play football."<br />
Among the myriad of period and pregnancy jokes, haters<br />
ignore the fact that playing as a female is not compulsory<br />
and, since male versus female matches are not an option, the<br />
addition won’t really impinge on their own gameplay.<br />
Others have said that the addition should not have<br />
been made a priority when more men’s leagues from other<br />
countries should be added to the game first, given the low<br />
interest in women’s leagues.<br />
Many commenters went on to say that the female addition<br />
is merely a marketing ploy to attract a wider audience rather<br />
than a genuine testament to the game.<br />
Beyond the gender-based comments there were also those<br />
who asked whether bribing would become part of the game<br />
play following FIFA’s recent scandals. But that’s a different<br />
matter entirely.<br />
Only time will tell how the change will affect EA’s sales,<br />
but if the addition successfully attracts more support to<br />
women’s leagues, it may bode well for, not only women’s<br />
football, but women’s sports in general.<br />
Since it is reasonable to assume that more support means<br />
more funding, increased media coverage of the Matildas<br />
leaves supporters and aspiring female players hopeful that<br />
they might eventually be able to play on a full time basis.<br />
The issue of payment has been a part of female sporting<br />
teams for years now, and following the Matildas success the<br />
lower wages they earn seem unfair when compared to their<br />
hard work and skill within the women’s league.<br />
The possibility of professionalising women in Australian<br />
football still seems a bit far off though with the women’s<br />
team currently being paid substantially less than men for<br />
each game. The gap is probably more of a gorge.<br />
To give you an idea: for 1 standard international game the<br />
Matildas would be paid $500 per player, while the Socceroos<br />
would be paid $6500 per player for the same standard game.<br />
Sponsorships from professional clubs also mean that<br />
the Socceroos don’t need to so heavily rely on wages from<br />
the Football Federation Australia (FFA), the Federation that<br />
almost entirely funds the Matildas.<br />
These disparities mean female players need to hold parttime<br />
jobs in order to make ends meet, while still giving their<br />
all to training and travelling abroad to play. Some women<br />
even move overseas as their only option if they want to<br />
become part of a pro team.<br />
And this isn’t only the case for Women’s football, with<br />
Australia’s basketball and cricket teams also battling to<br />
create the possibility of being called truly professional and<br />
thereby encouraging younger generations to see sport as a<br />
career option for both genders.<br />
However, Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), in<br />
an interview with Fox Sports, said that the commercial<br />
differences depend solely on developing keen audiences in<br />
order to generate sponsorships based on popularity.<br />
And so it seems that ‘exposure to the game’ will be what<br />
makes or breaks the future of women’s sports and the wage<br />
dispute.<br />
But the slowly rising profile of the Matildas is hopeful, and<br />
their goal to reach professional status gets closer with each<br />
new supporter and each win.<br />
However, there is still a long way to go. Until people can<br />
value women’s leagues in their own right rather than being<br />
seen as constant comparison to be made against men’s<br />
football, our skilled sportswomen will continually be sold<br />
short of the recognition they deserve.
40<br />
ARTS & CULTURE<br />
BY Emma<br />
Simpkin<br />
Art in the<br />
Digital Space<br />
The development and rise of the online world has seen<br />
individuals increasingly connected and defined by our<br />
network. Social media and online records grant artists the<br />
capacity to promote, self-publish and preserve their work<br />
autonomously. Three Monash students and artists of different<br />
backgrounds and media were kind enough to share their thoughts<br />
on how they create and choose to use the online space.<br />
www.shevindphoto.com<br />
www.facebook.com/shevindphoto<br />
@shevindphoto<br />
Shevin Dissanyake - Melbourne based music<br />
photographer, completing a double degree in Arts and<br />
Commerce majoring in Marketing and International<br />
Relations at Clayton.<br />
As someone who has photographed diverse local and<br />
international talents including Martin Garrix, the 1975 and<br />
Tigerlily, Shevin emphasises the importance of authenticity<br />
over strategy when it comes to using the online space as<br />
an artist. Beginning on the photo-sharing community Flickr<br />
in year nine and then moving to blogging platform Tumblr,<br />
Shevin now uses a combination of Facebook, Instagram and<br />
an online portfolio site to exhibit his work.<br />
"In this age of photography not having an online presence<br />
is almost like not having a camera at all."<br />
Starting without professional advice on how to enter the<br />
industry, Shevin says it’s easy to underestimate how vital<br />
networking opportunities afforded by online communities<br />
like Flickr are to young artists. Making the move to Tumblr a<br />
little later, Shevin noticed the nature of the platform exposed<br />
his work to wider audiences. Increased interest in his photos<br />
on Tumblr and support for his work encouraged him to shift<br />
to an online portfolio that would appeal to potential clients<br />
and showcase his work.<br />
"An online presence overall makes it so much easier, on a<br />
business level and a creative level."<br />
When asked if he sees the social media accounts as creative<br />
outlets and the e-portfolio purely for commercial purposes,<br />
Shevin agrees that his website is a more professional<br />
representation of himself but that social media should not<br />
be underestimated as a place for finding and creating new<br />
opportunities.<br />
"Social networking has helped me work with international<br />
artists."<br />
"You are human,<br />
at the end of the day people<br />
don’t want to hire someone<br />
with a camera."<br />
Shevin stresses the importance of keeping it small and<br />
authentic online. This is visible in both his work and the way<br />
he manages his online presence, choosing to never delete<br />
from social media. He does restrict content on social media<br />
to pictures related to music or portrait photography, as he<br />
believes this is probably the reason why people have followed<br />
his work. With his e-portfolio Shevin regularly changes the<br />
images on rotation but keeps it to twenty or thirty at a time,<br />
explaining that it should not take a hundred or so images for<br />
someone to have a sense of who he is and what he can do.<br />
"You are human, at the end of the day people don’t want<br />
to hire someone with a camera. They want to hire someone<br />
with a vision, someone with a personality and someone<br />
who can communicate. If you can communicate yourself<br />
well on social media and through your portfolio then they<br />
already know you before they talk to and they know they<br />
want to hire you."<br />
Alena Bondarchuk - Aspiring installations artist and art<br />
curator, currently completing a double degree in Arts and<br />
Visual Arts at Caulfield.<br />
"I do work for myself or to understand artists which is why<br />
I don’t go down the pathway of putting things online."<br />
For Alena, sharing artwork publically online equates to<br />
promoting it for commercial purposes or creating a name for<br />
yourself. She expresses strong support for other artists who<br />
choose to share their art digitally but is equally firm about<br />
her choice to keep her work offline for the most part. The
ARTS & CULTURE<br />
41<br />
exception to this is uploading the occasional photo to her<br />
personal Facebook account for family and friends to see.<br />
"Sharing artwork on Facebook is more of an update about<br />
what’s happening in my life rather than showing people<br />
what I can do."<br />
When asked about her choice, Alena elaborates that part<br />
of the reason is because she does not wants to sell her<br />
artwork for a living and if she did would prefer to go through<br />
the traditional channel of having her work accepted in<br />
exhibitions or an art gallery to be displayed for clients on<br />
her behalf. Also, installations are incredibly hard to capture<br />
digitally and in Alena’s book, a photograph or video is a poor<br />
substitute for standing in front of a piece and feeling its full<br />
effect.<br />
Alena does keep photographs of her work and considers<br />
digital record keeping important for personal use. After<br />
throwing away a number of originals last year Alena now<br />
finds herself in the<br />
position of wishing she<br />
still has those works in<br />
case an exhibition that<br />
perfectly matches the<br />
theme of a piece comes<br />
along and acknowledges<br />
having photos would help<br />
her recreate them.<br />
Alena agrees there’s<br />
a similarity between<br />
physically discarding<br />
an artwork and erasing<br />
evidence of it online as<br />
she does sometimes feel<br />
the same need to edit<br />
or remove artwork she’s<br />
shared on Facebook.<br />
Although she isn’t<br />
particularly concerned about blurring the lines between<br />
what is private and what is personal, Alena states she will<br />
delete something if it no longer represents who she is as an<br />
artist. She talks about the issue of endangering professional<br />
prospects by misrepresenting yourself as an artist online.<br />
as the online basics; Facebook, Instagram and a website.<br />
First setting up an Instagram dedicated to his artwork at the<br />
end of 2013, Ryan says sharing artwork on social media and<br />
presenting an image on his website differs in the aspect of<br />
personal communication.<br />
"I don’t post photos of my life, it’s just for artwork... I<br />
don’t go personal with it but I let my personal self show<br />
through."<br />
His experiences with different social media and websites<br />
tell the development both of himself as an artist and trends<br />
in online platforms. Ryan first used a Tumblr blog to share<br />
examples of his work but abandoned it when it no longer<br />
engaged him. He returned to create a second blog based<br />
purely on his art-work on the site later on that he still leaves<br />
running but no longer updates. His brief flirtation with Twitter<br />
was a similar story and mentions he will likely try new artbased<br />
social media account again in the future.<br />
When asked if online<br />
records could accurately<br />
map his journey as an<br />
artist, Ryan is fairly<br />
confident they could. He<br />
doesn’t delete or curate<br />
his Facebook page - even<br />
the older, less developed<br />
works - but recently<br />
has begun to remove<br />
images from Instagram<br />
if it doesn’t relate to his<br />
present themes.<br />
www.ryanpola.com<br />
@ryanpola<br />
"Now that I’ve found<br />
my central footing I like<br />
everything I have online<br />
to relate back to that."<br />
For Ryan having an online<br />
presence is both a mode for expression and a substitute to<br />
physical networking as he finds the online opportunities are<br />
greater in comparison, allowing him to share work with the<br />
world without making trips interstate or overseas to exhibit.<br />
"Sometimes I go back and think ‘I don’t want anyone to see<br />
this work anymore’ so I delete it."<br />
Alena points out that she continually supports others who<br />
promote and display art on social media because she can<br />
imagine the difficulty of getting your name out there when<br />
the volume of artists using Facebook to promote their work<br />
means a lot of people mostly ignore it.<br />
"I support online artists, I’m just not one of them."<br />
Ryan Pola - Multi-medium artist focusing on collages<br />
and line work, currently completing a double degree in<br />
Education and Visual Arts at Clayton.<br />
"With the social platforms you can skip that step, you can<br />
network without having to make a physical appearance."<br />
Ryan keeps digital copies of all of his work and highlights<br />
how important this is for him personally as they sometimes<br />
outlast the originals. Without the digital space Ryan<br />
comments that his work would likely be incredibly different,<br />
as his ideas and themes would be pulled from narrower<br />
sources.<br />
"If technological did not exist my work would be influenced<br />
more by the people around me, I wouldn’t have the same<br />
amount of access to information and maybe not have the<br />
same cohesive core to my work."<br />
When sharing his work online Ryan uses what he refers to
42<br />
ARTS & CULTURE<br />
By SHEONA<br />
BELLO<br />
Meeting Kyra Hannah<br />
Meet Kyra Hannah; Monash student and third year<br />
Philosophy major. She’s taken a step beyond senseless<br />
scrambles of immediately captured thought on café<br />
serviettes, short vignettes and insightful blog posts; this<br />
girl has published her debut novel, the first instalment of<br />
the Earthborn Trilogy, Genetic Cliché.<br />
With an adventurous mind, scarily sound vocabulary and<br />
admiration for authors before her, Kyra’s words are being<br />
read across the world, proving that Vampire Romance is<br />
out, and dystopian sci-fi is in.<br />
What is Genetic Cliché about?<br />
In Genetic cliché, I speak as Jotham, a perceived villain of<br />
society. A teenager created, based on his society’s idea of<br />
perfection whose villainy stems from his realization and<br />
fighting against the dystopian world in which he lives. In<br />
fighting against the constraints and dystopian environment,<br />
Jotham is a figure of vigilante justice and freedom of<br />
expression. The book follows his thinking, journey and<br />
experience as a teenager in that reality. Human genetic<br />
modification is the underlying theme explored here, but I’m<br />
not afraid to throw in some batman references!<br />
Thematically, Genetic Cliché is ringing all sorts of<br />
Orwellian, Gattaca-esque bells for me, was that your<br />
intention?<br />
I think all the concepts I was learning throughout high school<br />
are subliminally littered throughout Genetic Cliché. I have<br />
infiltrated a mix of language learnt from biology, concepts<br />
from Philosophy and of course, intuition of structure from<br />
English. Certainly, as I reflect on the thematic concepts<br />
throughout the book, Gattaca was definitely a source of<br />
inspiration. You don’t realize how much of a sponge you are<br />
as a student, but I’m proud to have blended all my subject<br />
learnings into insight which fed the inner workings of this<br />
book.<br />
Where did it all begin?<br />
This book has been in works for a while now, having started<br />
writing it at 16 years of age with my best friend. I was<br />
infatuated with reading – a pastime I have enjoyed for as long<br />
as I can remember. My best friend and I took the ultimate BFF<br />
move and committed to writing a book together. Sadly our<br />
novel partnership only lasted the first two pages. We’re still<br />
best friends, but I held fast to our initial vision of writing a<br />
published book.<br />
I’m interested in Jotham, the protagonist, and the idea of<br />
perfection as embodied by him. Was this just two teenage<br />
girls’ infatuation with some boy band member taken to the<br />
next level?<br />
In a way, yes. At 16, we were in love with British actor, Alex<br />
Pettifer. Physically, Jotham is based on him.<br />
Mannerisms however – given my lack of credibility in<br />
mirroring that of Mr. Pettifer – were based on observations of<br />
family and friends. We definitely gave ourselves a challenge<br />
in the beginning: choosing to write from the perspective of<br />
not only a male... but a depraved male. How on earth would we<br />
nail that lens and voice? He didn’t totally portray the villain<br />
I wanted him to be. There were some violent acts he had to<br />
perform, but as readers gain insight into his idea of right and<br />
wrong, it is clear that the villainous aspect of him is imposed<br />
by his society, not by readers.<br />
Beginning to write when you were 16 and book finished<br />
now at 21... with talks of this book being just the first in a<br />
trilogy, have you put a deadline on the sequel?<br />
This being my first book was a huge learning experience. It<br />
all began in the middle of high school when of course, VCE<br />
would soon take precedence, and being a teenager meant a<br />
lack of commitment. It was only at 19 when I was at university<br />
that I was drawn to finishing it. The whole novel is 350 pages<br />
and the final 120 only took 6 months for me to complete – at<br />
that stage, I had the drive, a goal and everything I needed to<br />
achieve it. I’m aiming to have the second two books written<br />
within five years. I’m actually heading on a road-trip to<br />
Central Australia in a few weeks so I can get acquainted with<br />
the setting of the next book.<br />
Your timing ties in perfectly with good old TEEL paragraph<br />
learnings in high-school English – you must have been top<br />
of the class!<br />
I never thought I was amazing at English, but I certainly<br />
enjoyed it. I guess with my insatiable hunger for literature,<br />
imagined worlds and language as satisfied with extensive<br />
reading, my vocabulary developed. I began to catch on to how<br />
writers structured their novels, curated chapters and refined<br />
the stories that made my favorite books.<br />
From being a girl with a dream to a published author, how<br />
did you make that happen?<br />
Honestly it has been such a profound sequence of events.<br />
First an editor form New Zealand offers to edit the<br />
manuscript free of charge, my mum’s promotional company<br />
offers to brand the book, in my artistic splendor I craft<br />
the prefect cover page artwork, and we find an overseas<br />
publisher willing to print small batches at a great price. Next<br />
minute, my baby is for sale on Amazon! It’s all happened so<br />
fast I’m still trying to catch my breath.<br />
Where can we see you next?<br />
In promotion of Genetic Cliché, we will be taking to the streets<br />
of Melbourne and specifically some ‘underground’ style posts<br />
to get in touch this city’s street art scene. I’ve created a host<br />
of posters and stickers which subliminally refer to Genetic<br />
Cliché, and communicate the underground personality of the<br />
main character Jotham. Additionally, I’m beginning to craft a<br />
second project exploring my wild dreams in vignette style.<br />
Kyra Hannah’s debut novel, Genetic Cliché<br />
is available online at Amazon.com.
ARTS & CULTURE 43<br />
Post-Postmodern<br />
Porn?<br />
JEFFERY<br />
By DAVID<br />
"I soon found out that this<br />
website more accurately<br />
embodied a social movement<br />
that has entered the<br />
mainstream."<br />
After talking to some other friends I soon found out that<br />
this website more accurately embodied a social movement<br />
that has entered the mainstream. Where have I been? I was of<br />
course addicted within a matter of days.<br />
I was eager to join the virtual conversation of these<br />
everyday porn-stars so I asked my friend for a referral; they<br />
had recently joined the ranks of post post-modern pornstars<br />
exploring the realm digital sexuality or trans-humanist<br />
orgasms (and probably just wanting the $250).<br />
In the spirit of a quasi-socialist get together and farewell for<br />
a friend, I got on my way to the perfectly bohemian ‘student<br />
who lives above flower shop’ apartment.<br />
The décor was kitsch and cool with a touch of ‘Is that black<br />
mold?’ My friend welcomed me (or more so my bag of clothes<br />
for exchange) into a community of hoarders, drag queens<br />
and hipsters. I left with a black t-shirt that was thrown in<br />
my direction accompanied by a sly wink that suggested ‘You<br />
know what this is all about’. The t-shirt read Beautiful Agony –<br />
facettes de la petite mort, which translates to ‘orgasm’ with a<br />
literal translation in English as ‘little faces of death’. I had no<br />
idea what this was about, thank you very much ***cal.<br />
In efforts to get to the bottom of the uncomfortable wink-y<br />
face I Googled it. Beautiful Agony is essentially an alternative<br />
pornography website. It aims to reconnect the viewer with the<br />
porn-star (actor, or whatever term is politically correct) by<br />
focusing purely on the face until the point of climax, which is<br />
discussed afterward on camera (it is explained in more floral<br />
and emotive language online in describing something called<br />
the Agony Principle).<br />
Immediately this insight into human sexuality in the 21st<br />
century made me think of old mates Horkheimer and Adorno<br />
from the culture industry who said ‘Fun is a medicinal bath’.<br />
Mind you, many of these videos were actually filmed in<br />
bathtubs. These short intimate encounters are the perfect<br />
distraction from work that assigns a membership fee to<br />
join the virtual conversation post-orgasm. It seems that<br />
they (the culture industry theorists) had preempted this<br />
commodification of intimacy in human relationships. First,<br />
MySpace and the inevitable online dating, then Snapchat<br />
with instantaneous 3 second ‘tit’ and ‘dick pics’, now<br />
Beautiful Agony your one-stop-shop for 15 minutes of virtual<br />
eye-locked orgasms.<br />
As you can see Beautiful Agony incentivizes its past<br />
agonists for each referral. This has inspired an informal<br />
economy of students and soon to be sex workers. I was not<br />
sure whether I should have been offended that my friend<br />
wanted reap some fiscal benefit from my precious orgasm<br />
(that- trust me, don’t occur often/ ever). Surely if I was<br />
considering an introduction to the sex industry for $250<br />
I could not blame them. Either way, I decided against it<br />
keeping in mind a potential career in advocacy and not-forprofits.<br />
It’s not really a good look.<br />
If basically every other human experience is commoditized<br />
it’s probably not a big deal that orgasms are too? I guess I’m<br />
more conservative than I thought.
44<br />
ARTS & CULTURE<br />
By CARINA<br />
FLOREA<br />
Waltzing for 50<br />
Years<br />
While it’s often far too easy to get lost<br />
at Monash, many have found a home<br />
within the heart of the campus centre at<br />
Monash Dance Sport (MDS). Underneath<br />
the hurried feet of over-caffeinated uni<br />
students, hidden within the basement,<br />
there lies a community dedicated to<br />
twirling, waltzing and the occasional<br />
Macarena.
ARTS & CULTURE 45<br />
By CARINA<br />
FLOREA<br />
"MDS is freedom:<br />
the freedom to dance, to<br />
express, to enjoy, to forget."<br />
When Monash University was established in 1958, Monash<br />
Dance Sport, formerly known as the Monash Ballroom<br />
Dancing Society, soon followed with its formation in 1965.<br />
Originally offering styles such as ballroom, latin and new<br />
vogue, the club grew and in 1999, split from Monash Clubs &<br />
Societies and joined Monash Sport. MDS currently offer latin<br />
and standard, street latin, swing, new vogue, theatrical and<br />
hip-hop/urban dance styles and regularly host dance nights.<br />
But if you ask any current or past member of MDS, they’ll tell<br />
you that the club offers so much more than what’s shown on<br />
their website. When asked to describe MDS, Amaris Lee said<br />
that "MDS is freedom: the freedom to dance, to express, to<br />
enjoy, to forget."<br />
As one of the oldest and largest clubs on campus, MDS<br />
recently celebrated their 50th year at Monash. After many<br />
months of hard work, the current MDS committee organised<br />
an event that gathered past and current members for a<br />
night of dancing, swapping stories and catching up with<br />
old friends. While some had left the club 10 to 15 years ago,<br />
there were others who could recall what it was like from<br />
the beginning. However, as the night progressed, it became<br />
apparent that while some things had changed, other things<br />
remained the same.<br />
Be it 1970 or 2001, it seemed like shy engineering boys<br />
continued to join the club in a bid to meet girls and countless<br />
sexual innuendos ("Ahhh that’s why it felt weird... I was<br />
using the wrong hand!") were created during the many<br />
hours students dedicated to learning dance moves. Even the<br />
rehearsal room remained the same throughout the years.<br />
According to Beatrice Greaves, a committee member during<br />
the early years of the club, the campus centre banquet hall<br />
hasn’t changed in the 50 years the club has operated.<br />
What also survived the years was the joy and passion<br />
elicited from being a part of MDS. Vatsal Kumar, a current<br />
committee member, describes MDS as his "family where<br />
people from different cultural backgrounds and different<br />
faculties get together and share their love for dancing," while<br />
Benjamin Ho says MDS is "something of a home to us all."<br />
This feeling of belonging and acceptance appeared to be<br />
unanimous. It seemed like everyone had a story from their<br />
time at MDS that ended in some form of praise or love for the<br />
club with many stories ending with... "and that’s how I found<br />
my wife/husband!"<br />
Regardless of where you are in your studies at Monash,<br />
MDS welcomes all types of individuals regardless of previous<br />
dancing experience with classes available in varied skill<br />
levels. However, some might say a great deal of courage<br />
and patience is also required in order to take the step and<br />
join. Randy Thanh Du joined MDS in his first year at Monash<br />
and says he recalls thinking that "MDS was one of the more<br />
obscure and unsettlingly difficult clubs to consider joining,<br />
especially compared to the more first year orientated clubs,"<br />
yet like many before him, he stepped out of his comfort zone<br />
and in turn, discovered the hidden gem that is Monash Dance<br />
Sport.<br />
Current president Bilin Zhou says the 50th anniversary<br />
was a "fantastic way to mark how far we’ve come throughout<br />
these years" as past and current members bonded over<br />
their love of dance. And as the club looks back at its long<br />
and fulfilling past, it is clear that a legacy of acceptance and<br />
family has been built by generations of students who were<br />
courageous enough to step out of their comfort zone and into<br />
some dance shoes and this tradition shall keep going strong<br />
as the club progresses into the future.
46<br />
ARTS & CULTURE<br />
The <strong>2015</strong> MUST<br />
Container Festival<br />
kicks off July 31!<br />
The Monash Uni Student Theatre Container Festival is a dynamic<br />
arts festival returning to Monash Clayton this August. Last year’s<br />
festival incorporated over 350 performances & events from<br />
600 Melbourne artists and attracted more than 3000 audience<br />
members to the Clayton Campus!<br />
31 July to 15 August, shipping containers will pop up around<br />
campus and be converted into intimate theatrettes and The<br />
MUST space transformed into a buzzing ‘Hub’ and lounge bar.<br />
These and other surprising venues will be filled with brilliant<br />
new music, dance, theatre, visual art, games, interactive<br />
performances, poetry, burlesque and more!<br />
The Container Festival is an engine room and a showcase<br />
for ground-breaking work of all genres. MUST Artistic Director,<br />
Yvonne Virsik, said; "It will ignite cultural engagement and<br />
expression, foster innovation and provide great, affordable<br />
entertainment. With varied performances lasting anywhere<br />
from 15 minutes to several hours, audiences can design their<br />
own festival experience each evening: anything from a few<br />
tasters to a non–stop entertainment indulgence."<br />
The <strong>2015</strong> Container Festival launches in The MUST Hub<br />
space on Friday 31 July from 6pm till late with free entry.<br />
Featuring an impressive line-up of festival artists, guests<br />
will get a sneak preview of the diverse work on offer, meet the<br />
artists, and enjoy a sensational party!<br />
Just a few of the things to look out for:<br />
The ‘Phone-It-In’ Film Festival<br />
Curated by Harrison Packer<br />
Lights! Camera! Action! You and a team create your own short<br />
movie using only a video phone. The finished films will be<br />
screened on the final Friday of the festival.<br />
Piknic<br />
The Good Nicks are a powerhouse, pop-rock trio set to get<br />
your feet tapping and your elders enraged. The band owes its<br />
unique rock edge to the varying and unique influences of its<br />
members, Tara Leigh Dowler (vocals), Gavin Corben (Drums)<br />
and Nick Van Niel (bass).<br />
Mama Alto: Behind the Sequins<br />
Created & performed by cabaret diva Mama Alto (Benny<br />
Dimas)<br />
Mama Alto: sequins, glamour, sparkles. Or is she? For her<br />
loving, tender farewell performance to Monash Uni Student<br />
Theatre, the cabaret artiste deconstructs and strips back<br />
the layers of diva in an intimate, raw and vulnerable act of<br />
storytelling. Just her. Just him. Just you. One last time.<br />
Everything is for Sale<br />
Visual Art by Mimi Petrakis<br />
A series of works dealing with the marketability of women’s<br />
bodies. The work questions whether it is possible to form an<br />
organic identity in a visual society where the depiction of the<br />
female form is almost indistinguishable from advertising<br />
material.<br />
Tensions: Curated Works<br />
Curated & directed by Joseph Brown<br />
We communicate beyond words. How we interact is based<br />
on how we feel. What we feel is dependent on who we’re with.<br />
What occurs are moments that we share. But what is in these<br />
moments?<br />
Seven emerging writers take a look into the dense and<br />
complicated frame of human relations.<br />
Cabaret Fortune Cookie<br />
Curated by Sophie Jevons<br />
A crowd favourite of previous festivals, this variety show<br />
returns for more spectacular performances. Hosted once<br />
more by notorious provocateur Jack Beeby, we have a new<br />
array of rotating acts. Enjoy a selection of the best music,<br />
burlesque, comedy, dance and cabaret from in and around<br />
the festival. Come taste the cookie!<br />
Full program and updates available soon via<br />
msa.monash.edu/must<br />
facebook.com/musttheatre<br />
facebook.com/TheContainerFestival<br />
Enquiries: 9905 8173 yvonne.virsik@monash.edu<br />
Proudly sponsored by Monash University
ARTS & CULTURE 47<br />
Gig Guide<br />
Want to have your gig advertised in the next gig guide?<br />
Send the details to bceve1@student.monash.edu<br />
Please include date, time, entry fee, address and a<br />
1-2 sentence description of the band/music.<br />
EVERIST<br />
BY BRODIE<br />
21<br />
July<br />
22<br />
July<br />
23<br />
July<br />
28<br />
July<br />
29<br />
July<br />
Mirando Residency at the Workers Club.<br />
The Workers Club. 51-55 Brunswick St, Fitzroy.<br />
7pm. $10 entry.<br />
Emerging from a garage in Mernda comes Mirando, a<br />
six piece band here amping up Tuesday nights at the<br />
Workers Club with their versatile mix of psychedelic rock,<br />
electronica and folkish melodies. With support from Amy<br />
Alex and The Great Imposter.<br />
30/70 Collective presents the Hip-Hop, Nu-Soul Jam<br />
Session<br />
Ding Dong Lounge. 18 Market Lane, Melbourne.<br />
9:00pm. Free entry.<br />
Instrumental hip-hop artists 30/70 present the Hip-Hop<br />
Nu-Soul jam sessions at the Ding Dong Lounge every<br />
Wednesday in July. Featuring guest vocalists and MCs<br />
each week.<br />
Live Jazz with The Rookies.<br />
The Rooks Return. 201 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy<br />
Free – 8:30pm every Wednesday<br />
The Melbourne Improvisers Collective July Series<br />
Uptown Jazz Cafe. 1/177 Brunswick St, Fitzroy.<br />
8:30pm.<br />
The Melbourne Improvisers Collective (MIC) is an<br />
organisation that presents regular performances<br />
throughout Melbourne displaying local, interstate and<br />
international creative musicians. This week features the<br />
newly-formed Stephen Byth Quartet, playing a mixture of<br />
standards and original tunes.<br />
Mirando Residency at the Workers Club<br />
The Workers Club. 51-55 Brunswick St, Fitzroy.<br />
7pm. $10 entry.<br />
Emerging from a garage in Mernda comes Mirando, a<br />
six piece band here amping up Tuesday nights at the<br />
Workers Club with their versatile mix of psychedelic rock,<br />
electronica and folkish melodies.<br />
With support from Ange Stella and Tom Lee Richards.<br />
30/70 Collective presents the Hip-Hop, Nu-Soul Jam<br />
Session<br />
Ding Dong Lounge. 18 Market Lane Melbourne.<br />
9:00pm. Free entry.<br />
Instrumental hip-hop artists 30/70 present the Hip-Hop<br />
Nu-Soul jam sessions at the Ding Dong Lounge every<br />
Wednesday in July. Featuring guest vocalists and MCs<br />
each week.<br />
Live Jazz with The Rookies.<br />
The Rooks Return. 201 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy<br />
Free – 8:30pm every Wednesday<br />
30<br />
July<br />
31<br />
July<br />
1<br />
Aug<br />
4<br />
Aug<br />
The Melbourne Improvisers Collective July Series<br />
Uptown Jazz Cafe. 1/177 Brunswick St, Fitzroy.<br />
8:30pm.<br />
The Melbourne Improvisers Collective (MIC)<br />
presents the guitar duo of Marcos Villalta and<br />
Lincoln Mackenzie at 8:30 and at 10pm the Andrew<br />
Kimber Quartet.<br />
SURFACE<br />
Paris Cat Jazz Club. 6 Goldie Place Melbourne.<br />
8:30pm. $15 entry – tickets available.<br />
Surface are removing themselves from hibernation<br />
mode briefly, to put on a special performance this<br />
winter of their original jazz-rock influenced modern<br />
improvisations.<br />
Movement 9<br />
Paris Cat Jazz Club. 6 Goldie Place Melbourne.<br />
8:00pm. Tickets $25.<br />
Melbourne outfit Movement 9 join forces with the<br />
phenomenal voice of Elly Poletti to present a unique<br />
perspective on the music of Amy Winehouse. After<br />
a week of interstate touring, they return to the Paris<br />
Cat for a two-night EP launch event with a full tenpiece<br />
band.<br />
The Kujo Kings<br />
The Toff in Town. 262 Swanston St.<br />
9pm. $10 entry.<br />
The Kujo Kings present their energy-packed<br />
repertoire of catchy ska and punk anthems at the<br />
Toff in Town. They’re supported by the super funky<br />
lineup of Papa G and the Starcats and Morbidly O’<br />
Beat.<br />
Movement 9<br />
The Paris Cat Jazz Club. 6 Goldie Place Melbourne.<br />
8:00pm. Tickets $25.<br />
Melbourne outfit Movement 9 join forces with the<br />
phenomenal voice of Elly Poletti to present a unique<br />
perspective on the music of Amy Winehouse. After<br />
a week of interstate touring, they return to the Paris<br />
Cat for a two-night EP launch event with a full tenpiece<br />
band.<br />
MoJO at Dizzy’s Jazz Club<br />
Dizzy’s Jazz Club. 381 Burley St, Richmond.<br />
8pm. $10/$14 entry.<br />
The Monash Jazz Orchestra return to Dizzy’s Jazz<br />
Club in <strong>2015</strong> for an awesome night of jazz with<br />
classic charts from writers such as Charles Mingus,<br />
Gordon Goodwin and James Morrison.
48<br />
ART SHOWCASE<br />
Janelle Barone<br />
Right, so, this is me doing a thing where I explain how I<br />
do things and what the hell I do them for —<br />
My work is really just a bunch of observations.<br />
Sometimes I’ll take a crappy picture of something<br />
that intrigues me, and then use it as a basis for an<br />
illustration. I try to tell a story with my illustrations and I<br />
hope that they are mundane, atmospheric, non-specific<br />
and contemplative. I don’t want to be direct, the more<br />
mysterious the image is, the more successful I think it<br />
becomes. People underestimate their ability to derive<br />
meaning from things that haven’t been spelt out for<br />
them.<br />
The subject of my illustrations are usually pretty<br />
ordinary, and I tend to get inspiration from my<br />
immediate surroundings. The thing that I think is best<br />
though, is taking an idea from something that was<br />
never articulated visually before, like a song or a novel, a<br />
joke or a conversation.<br />
Above Left: Brat<br />
Above Right: No Standing (2014)<br />
Below Left: Up Only (<strong>2015</strong>)<br />
Next Page: Beware, Tram Depot (<strong>2015</strong>)<br />
"People underestimate their ability<br />
to derive meaning from things that<br />
haven’t been spelt out for them."<br />
The thing that I get asked the most is how I do my<br />
illustrations. Basically, I’ll start by creating a pencil<br />
sketch, then, once I am okay with it I’ll scan it in, clean<br />
it up and then trace over it with my digital pen. For me,<br />
the line-work takes the longest and its effectiveness<br />
has an impact on how easy adding colour to the image<br />
becomes later.<br />
The reason I do things on the computer is simply that<br />
I like to use a lot of layers, and you can create much<br />
cleaner, more fluid lines which are mercifully nonpermanent<br />
and completely erasable. Very rarely do I<br />
stick with the first version of a line that I draw.<br />
When the line-work is complete I’ll start adding<br />
more layers of colour underneath. Usually, I’ll start by<br />
colouring the image ‘naturally’ and then play around<br />
with filters and monochromatic schemes afterwards.<br />
Colours, can I just say, are great. Go colours. If you can’t<br />
see them, sucks for you. They have an enormous impact<br />
on how effective my illustration is and how obvious its<br />
point of focus is.<br />
janelle-barone.com
ART SHOWCASE 49
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