Lot's Wife Edition 1 2016

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STUDENT How to plan your exchange ( Don’t ) by Layla Homewood After spending a full year precisely planning a six-month trip abroad through Europe before settling down in England for a semester of study, I can tell you one thing: it turns out that I planned absolutely nothing. It was all going to be perfect; I was going to be the fi rst student in the history of students to have a hitch-free study abroad. I was going to sail through with sparse calls to my parents updating them on my perfect adventure. I was going to be laying stress free on the beach in Barcelona with no worries about my upcoming semester because it had all been expertly coordinated. But when it was the night before my fl ight and I realised I still had more things to do than I could count on all my fi ngers and toes, I started to think, "Maybe there are some things that just can't be planned". And you know what? After two months and several upset calls to my family who recited, "Don't worry about that, you'll be fi ne,” I realised that it's okay to not plan some things. In fact, it's more than okay. It's the fl aws, and mistakes, and tiny details that you could never prepare for that makes everything worth the worry. I know now that my time abroad cannot be summed up in one grand sweep of fl awless memories. I don't want to remember my six months as a long string of activities and attractions. I don't want to remember doing, I want to remember being. All those faults and mistakes and things that made me want to pull my hair out are what make every memory of being abroad special to me. So when I take a moment to think about my whole time away and remember all of the things that I have achieved, I don't care about having perfectly coordinated my bus schedule, or fi nding the highest rated gelato restaurant in Rome. Instead, I remember what the sky looked like as it cried thick sheets of snow, and I remember the cobbled streets lined with massive trees, shedding their fl aming leaves. Instead of worrying about how to get from A to B, I want to remember the rush of running late to an amazing gig and the sheer thrill that pulsed through me when I realised I would make it. The things that aren't planned, that aren't accounted for, can stimulate the rawest feelings from places deep inside. I could never have expected that, on the fi rst day it snowed in my town, I would neglect my upcoming exams and spend the evening utterly elated as I built snowmen with my fl atmates. I never could have planned to skip my lectures on the rarely sunny days, and fi nd my way over to nearby towns where I ended up reading books and drinking creamy hot chocolates. As it turns out, after all the planning and booking and organisation that went in to my sixmonth adventure, the things that I remember the most are the ones that I never planned on remembering. So, for anyone out there who's planning their own study abroad trip, here's my one word of advice: Don't. (For more information on studying abroad, visit the Monash Travel Abroad Office, or check out http://www.monash.edu/ study-abroad) 12 | Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong>
OPINION by Stephen Encisco Over the summer break - traditionally the time when universities do things that they don’t want you to notice - the Monash Student Association started making one of the most dramatic restructures it has ever seen. This restructure is expected to make redundant the most important staffing role within the organisation: the Finance Manager. This position provides expert analysis and advice in all financial matters. They ensure the financial accountability of elected representatives of the union. They try to prevent financial mismanagement. They sign all cheques. This role was always intended to be a thorn in the side of student politicians who have little financial literacy, but are in charge of multi-million dollar budgets. It is the only position expected to be made redundant. It is worth considering an unlikely, but not inconceivable scenario (it happened at Melbourne Uni in 2004): a right wing faction gets elected to a union and they decide to invest in property in order that the union may cash in on international students. But remember these are financially illiterate students, and the deal is a terrible one which would bankrupt the union. Everyone seems to know this, except the executive who thinks it’s a grand idea. This is what happens: all hell breaks loose, and the union gets liquidated. The MSA has attempted to circumvent corruption by having a highly competent Finance Manager, who is a member of CPA Australia, and is able to provide highly technical and professional financial advice. Remember as well, the position countersigns all cheques. There is no other staff member - whether that is Finance office staff, the Executive Officer, or the proposed General Services Manager role - who has the financial knowledge or analytical skills to replace the current Finance Manager. Why would the current administration want to knife someone who has dedicated over twenty years to ensuring the MSA can be the best it can be? At best, it is a very strange situation, and it is little wonder that union membership among MSA staff has spiked in recent months. This has brought up bad memories for Wholefoods, who still remember the effects of imposed restructuring. By 2012, the GO! administration of the MSA had spent a number of years aggressively attacking Wholefoods - the home of their political rivals - to the point of near collapse. They hired incompetent managers who banned volunteers, banned the Wholefoods Collective that had managed the restaurant since 1977, and ran the restaurant to losses of nearly $100,000. Under these restructures, this could be happening again. Since the Finance Manager – with a long-term institutional memory, and respect for the Collective - began providing accurate analysis of Wholefoods’ finances, Wholefoods has been rebuilt into a financially and culturally strong community. Though rocky at times, the relationship with the MSA was rebuilding. This restructure is the kind of thing that students can quickly lose faith in student unions for. It is also the kind of thing that gives rightwing governments, with petty grudges against student unions, the excuse to bring in anti-student organisation legislation. Lot’s <strong>Wife</strong> | 13
Page 1: LOT’S WIFE — EDITION ONE —
Page 4 and 5: EDITORIAL EDITORS DESIGN Timothy Ne
Page 6 and 7: Tips & tricks for first years by Br
Page 8 and 9: STUDENT TOP 8 SPACES: CLUBS & SOCIE
Page 10 and 11: STUDENT MUMS Monash University Mini
Page 14 and 15: OFFICE BEARER REPORTS MSA PRESIDENT
Page 16 and 17: Do one thing Contribute to the sust
Page 18 and 19: illustration by Julia Pillai
Page 20 and 21: SOCIETY to work for the seat they s
Page 22 and 23: ESSAY Let’s talk about education
Page 24 and 25: OPINION Flüchtlingskrise By Ben Ne
Page 26 and 27: OPINION Malcolm Turnbull: a leftie
Page 30 and 31: WEEK 1 MSA Women’s ‘Meet the De
Page 33 and 34: PROTEST AGAINST EDUCATION CUTS
Page 35 and 36: SCIENCE The big screen science of c
Page 37 and 38: SCIENCE Beyond 140 by Emma Simpkin
Page 39 and 40: SCIENCE need to follow, in order to
Page 41 and 42: The skinny on gluten-free diets SCI
Page 43 and 44: PUZZLES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Page 45 and 46: CULTURE Nowadays, the release of a
Page 47 and 48: CULTURE but ultimately, when there
Page 49 and 50: CULTURE ALBUMS OF 2016 Drake - View
Page 51 and 52: CULTURE Undying: Parasocial relatio
Page 53 and 54: CREATIVE “All I ate the first day
Page 55 and 56: CREATIVE Lot’s Wife | 55
Page 57 and 58: CREATIVE she resurfaced s m a t t e
Page 59: CREATIVE JK Dress-up by Jemma Cakeb

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