2017 Ed4

Lot’s Wife 

edition four

7 – 13 AUGUST 

#MONASHWINTER 

monash.edu/winterfest 

MON 7 AUGUST, 6PM - The Fifth Element 

TUES 8 AUGUST, 6PM - The Matrix 

WED 9 AUGUST, 6PM - The Babadook 

Meet at The Dome, Northern Plaza, Clayton 

TICKETS $5 – Purchase online 

feat. Tommy Little 

TUES 8 AUGUST, 5PM 

The Dome, Northern Plaza, Clayton 

TICKETS $20/$7 Student Clubs - Purchase online 

PUMP UP THE VOLUME FOR MENTAL HEALTH 

TUES 8 AUGUST, 12 – 2PM 

The Dome, Caulleld Green 

WED 9 AUGUST, 12 – 2PM 


FREE – Register online 

WED 9 AUGUST, 5PM 


TICKETS $15 Staff /$12 Monash Sport /$10 Student – Purchase online 

FRI 11 AUGUST, 4 – 8PM 

Monash Sport, Clayton 

FREE – Register online

contents 

02/ 

the team 

04/ 

msa calendar 

06/ 

office bearer reports 

08/ 

wot’s news? 

jessie lu & joanne fong 

10/ 

the exchange dilemma 

benjamin neve & elsie dusting 

11/ 

being sick is expensive 

basia mitula & michelle farrelly 

12/ 

monash students can’t afford to eat 

while university spends lavishly 

msa welfare & education academic affairs 

department & lin rahman 

14/ 

do the carrots on your plate travel 

more than you do? 

marlo sullivan & cherie chan 

16/ 

explaining pauline 

raymond field & selena repanis 

18/ 

words 

john henry & joanne fong 

19/ 

surviving the stigma of mental 

illness 

nikola guzys-mcauliffe 

20/ 

the (apparent) failure of democracy 

alex niefhof & julia thouas 

22/ 

looking back on australian 

indonesian business forum 2017 

andre nathaniel & patrick johannes kaihatu 

23/ 

an explosive proposition 

benjamin caddaye & jessica macgregor 

24/ 

elon musk: hero or villain? 

nick jarrett & angharad neal-williams 

26/ 

the science of stress 

sasha hall & lily greenwood 

28/ 

the energry crisis and the finkel 

review explained 

ashley wah & benjamin neve & elsie dusting 

30/ 

alcohol poisoning: what to do in a 

pickle 

ayushi chauhan & bryan tan & elsie dusting 

31/ 

test your inner science nerd ii 

austin luke 

32/ 

science news 

science & engineering sub-editor team 

34/ 

interview: san cisco 

reece hooker 

36/ 

ansel elgort and lily james: 

baby driver is a musical delight 

nick bugeja 

37/ 

accepting that my first novel is fan 

fiction 

rachael welling & angharad neal-williams 

38/ 

the politics of metropolis 

nick bugeja & nathan kaseng um 

40/ 

give a mug a shot 

kerrie o’james 

42/ 

stanley kubrick on napoleon and 

many other things 

christian blackwell & john henry 

44/ 

the animals 

a.a kostas & sa pasa 

45/ 

has nerd culture gone too far? 

alex horner & hugh brooks 

46/ 

a sonnet for the menzies revolving 

doors 

nicole willis & kim tran 

46/ 

ながる 

zahra ymer & stephie dimofski 

47/ 

when i see red 

kit mun lee 

47/ 

come 

kit mun lee 

48/ 

postcards from the middle 

jeanna carlos & yusra shahid 

55/ 

wot’s life? 

agony aunt 

56/ 

sport the difference 

calaena june sardathian & ?? 

57/ 

“it’s just locker room talk” 

hamah hosen & lily greenwood

edition four 

lot’s wife 

the team 

Editors 

Emina Besirevic 

Nick Bugeja 

Sophia McNamara 

Rob Staunton 

Design 

Hana Crowl 

Student Affairs 

Caitlin McIvor 

Dylan Marshall 

Sophie Ng 

Devika Pandit 

Politics & Society 

Mollie Ashworth 

Benjamin Caddaye 

Jessica Lehmann 

Lachlan Liesfield 

Arts & Culture 

Tim Davies 

Nick Jarrett 

Clarissa Kwee 

Linh Nguyen 

Creative & Comedy 

John Henry 

Georgina Lee 

Shona Louis 

Elizabeth Yu 

Campus Reporters 

Joanne Fong 

Jessie Lu 

Science & Engineering 

Tracy Chen 

Shreeya Luthra 

Isaac Reichman 

Rachael Welling 

Lot’s Wife is entirely run, written, illustrated, edited and designed by students. 

If you would like to get involved, we are always looking for new contributors! 

Say hi anytime: 

Lot’s Wife Office 

1st Floor, Campus Centre, 

Turn right at the MSA desk 

Or email us at msa-lotswife@monash.edu 

Advertising enquires: 

msa-lotswife@monash.edu 

Cover Art by Keely Simpson-Bull 

Keely is a third year engineering student who enjoys art as a hobby. She enjoys 

freehand drawing (especially dot rendering) and has very recently developed a 

liking to colouring her art with Copic markers. Although passionate about art in 

school, she decided to pursue a career in engineering and continually enjoys the 

creative outlet that drawing has to offer. 

Section Art by Audrey Chmielewski 

Audrey is a second year communication design student who watches far too 

many TV shows. Her design work heavily focuses on illustration and colour, 

exploring topics in a fun and often nostalgic way. 

Lot’s Wife Edition Four 

July 2017 

Published by Mary Giblin at Printgraphics, Mount Waverley, Victoria. 

As you read this magazine you are on Aboriginal land. Lot’s Wife recognises the 

Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nations as the historical and 

rightful owners and custodians of the lands which this magazine was produced on. 

This land was stolen and sovereignty was never ceded. 

Lot’s Wife condemns and will not publish any material that is objectionable 

or discriminatory of any nature. The views expressed herein are those of the 

attributed writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or the 

Monash Student Association. All writing and artwork remains the property of the 

producers and must not be reproduced without their consent. 

© Lot’s Wife Magazine 

Level 1, Campus Centre 

Monash University 

Clayton, Victoria 3800 

Design by Hana Crowl 

Hana is currently undertaking her final year of a BA in Communication Design. 

She has always been interested in the creative industry, experimenting with many 

fields before discovering her passion for graphic design, particularly enjoying the 

physical, tactile nature of publication and print. You can find her work online at 

hanacrowl.com or on instagram; @hana.crowl.

Welcome back, Monashians. We hope that semester two will be more endurable than the first. 

While things remain globally chaotic, nuggets of hope and cause for optimism have emerged. 

Most of Europe has vehemently stood up against Trump (alas, our own government), with 

Macron, Merkel and Löfven decrying his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. 

Taking it a step further, UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has lambasted Trump on his stance on 

climate change, terrorism and foreign policy. Most encouragingly, Corbyn’s left-wing Labour party 

was inches from victory in the UK election. We hope the ALP is inspired to shift towards Corbyn’s 

humanist, compassionate and logical ideological position. 

One thing that has drifted under the radar is our cutting of foreign aid. It was announced in the 

Liberal’s latest budget that $300 million will be cut from the foreign aid budget, while defence 

spending remains extraordinarily healthy. This is a worrying announcement that has not been 

met with enough dissatisfaction and remonstration. 

For such a “rich” country as Australia, aren’t we obligated to help those who are starving, struck 

with disease and engulfed in wars for which they are not responsible? The answer is clear: 

Australia must do more to uphold values of human dignity and respect across developing 

countries. 

On another note, foreign aid helps to ensure a stable, safe world. Chief Advocate of World Vision, 

Tim Costello, has said that healthy contributions of foreign aid make developing countries more 

tenable and hospitable; thereby reducing the number of refugees and quelling sentiments of 

global resentment. Military spending often fosters antithetical consequences. 

It is mostly by the virtue of pure luck that we ended up here in a country like Australia. We 

shouldn’t forget that, and do all that we can to make the world an equal, empathetic place. 

While we’ve all just had a rough time sitting exams, it pales in comparison to the disasters that 

have occurred and intensified in 2017. Here’s to another semester - and don’t forget to come to our 

launch party on Tuesday the 25th of July on the Lemon Scented Lawns! 

As always, if you’re interested in having your name on the pages of our last two editions, drop us a 

line at msa-lotswife@monash.edu to get involved. 

2-3

edition four 

lot’s wife 

MSA Calendar 

WHATS HAPPENING AROUND 

CLAYTON CAMPUS 

M T W T F 

S 

S 

one 

MSA WELFARE FREE 

FOOD MONDAYS 

7.30pm @ Wholefoods 

MUISS FREE BREAKFAST 

9am-11am @ MUISS Lounge 

MID YEAR FESTIVAL 

11am-3pm @ Main Dining 

Hall 

LOT’S WIFE EDITION 4 

LAUNCH PARTY BBQ 

12pm-2pm @ Main Dining 

Hall balcony 

MUISS INTERNATIONAL 

STUDENT WELCOME 

DINNER 

6pm-8pm @ Banquet Room 

MSA BREAKFAST CLUB 

8.30am @ Airport Lounge 

MSA HUMP DAY 

12pm-2pm @ Lemon Scented 

Lawns 

MUISS DAY TRIP TO 

MORNINGTON PENINSULA 

msa people of colour department week 

two 


FOOD MONDAYS 


MOVIES AND PIZZA 

5pm @ 3 Idiots 

PEOPLE OF COLOUR 

ISSUES IN POLITICS 

PANEL 



MSA TUESDAYS BBQ 

12pm-2pm @ TBA 



MSA HUMP DAY 


Lawns 

PLACE WORKSHOPS 

Provided by MUISS 

HOST SCHEME PUB 

CRAWL 

8pm @ Richmond 

MONASH UNIVERSITY 

OPEN DAY 

10am-3pm @ Clayton & 

Caulfield Campuses 

msa education (public affairs) department week 

three 


FOOD MONDAYS 


WINTERFEST: SECRET 

CINEMA 

6pm @ The Dome 

The Fifth Element 

WINTERFEST: STUDENT 

LEADERSHIP SUMMIT 

5.30pm-9pm @ The Dome 





NTEU NATIONAL DAY OF 

PROTEST 

12pm @ Lemon Scented 

Lawns 

WINTERFEST HUB 

11am-6pm @ Ten North 

Forecourt 

WINTERFEST: WINTER 

COMEDY LOUNGE FT 

TOMMY LITTLE 


WINTERFEST: SECRET 

CINEMA 


The Matrix 



MSA HUMP DAY 


Lawns 



WINTERFEST HUB 

8.30am-6pm @ Ten North 

Forecourt 

WINTERFEST: THREE 

MINUTE THESIS 

5pm-7pm @ The Dome 

WINTERFEST: CHILL BY 

MSA 

9pm-1am @ Monash Sport 

WINTERFEST: WINTER 

CARNIVAL 

4pm-8pm @ Monash Sport 

WINTERFEST: RESFEST 

6.30pm-9pm @ The Dome 

WINTERFEST: 2017 

WINTER CONCERT SERIES 

WHIMSICAL WINTER 

2pm and 3.30pm @ Music 

Auditorium 

muiss & blue stockings week 

four 


FOOD MONDAYS 






WOMEN’S INDUSTRY 

NIGHT 

6.30pm @ Green Chemical 

Futures Building 



MSA HUMP DAY 


Lawns 



MONASH CLUBS AWARDS 

NIGHT 

7.30pm @ San Remo 

Ballroom

student affairs 

4-5

edition four 

lot’s wife 

OBR 

Office Bearer Reports 

PRESIDENT 

MATILDA GREY 

Hello everyone! Welcome to semester 2! Hope you’re feeling 

re-energised after a fun and restful break. In the last 

couple of months, your student reps have been busy 

making headway around our semester 1 projects and 

campaigns. We’ve succeeded in establishing our 

workers’ rights advice service in partnership with 

Trades Hall, are well on the way to having our legal 

referral service up and running, and have collated a 

bunch of data that indicates the demand for a Centrelink 

branch on campus. We have laid all the groundwork for 

our sexual assault campaign to be officially launched in the 

first week of August, and have introduced both a module and an app to inform 

students of sexual assault and what you can do if you or your friend are a 

victim. We’ve been trying our darnedest to solve the parking problem, and as 

of semester 2, there should be about 800 new parking spaces for you to house 

your car in! Our After Exams Party went off with a bang, and we’re well into the 

planning stages of our ~new end of year music event~. We’ve launched a solid 

campaign around the federal budget attacks to higher education, and will bring 

what we’ve learned at the conferences we’ve attended during the break back to 

the Education and Women’s campaigns that will continue to run until the end 

of the year. Enjoy our Mid-Year Festival on the 25th of July, and keep an eye out 

for our semester 2 activities which will address issues such as the cost of living, 

timetable extensions to 9pm, sexual assault on campus, mental health services, 

workers’ rights and parking at Monash! Until the next issue, Matilda xo 

SECRETARY 

JESSICA STONE 

Hey all! Welcome to another semester at Monash! I wrote 

this report while at National Union of Students Education 

Conference 2017 during a debate about the current 

climate of attacks against students and their education 

and welfare. My mind is elsewhere planning for the Mid- 

Year Festival where you get to meet our fantastic Office 

Bearers, join clubs and pick up some goodies. The rest 

of the conference explored the issues currently faced by 

student unions and students everywhere and the daily 

struggle of recovering from the introduction of Voluntary 

Student Unionism. But we have learnt many things from this 

conference to improve your time at Monash and make sure you’re getting the 

best quality of education you can. And here’s a photo of my dog to brighten 

your day. Keep reading Lot’s Wife throughout the semester to see pics of my 

dog! (His name is Sarge and he’s a good doggo). 

TREASURER 

CAITLIN BROWN 

Welcome to semester 2 frienderinos! I hope everyone used 

their semester break to relax and forget everything you 

learnt during semester 1! To any new students joining 

us this semester, I hope you find it easy enough to 

settle in to the uni life! Please don’t hesitate to come 

and visit us in Campus Centre if there’s anything 

we can do to help facilitate a smooth start to your 

time here. What have I been up to since you last 

heard from me? Learning the importance of eating 

well cooked and well prepared food, the importance of 

Medicare and the quality of our free public health system. 

As great as it is, I still would recommend avoiding illnesses that require 

hospitalisation for 4 days. I held a finance subcommittee meeting, and 

have been supporting the OB’s with keeping their budgets afloat. By the 

time you’re reading this, I will have just enjoyed at enthralling week at the 

NUS Education Conference, and the Secretary Jessica and myself will be 

preparing for Mid-Year Festival! Here’s a photo of my dog who just turned one! 

EDUCATION (PUBLIC AFFAIRS) 

COREY ROSEVEAR & JULIET STEEL 

Welcome to semester 2! We hope your mid-year holidays 

were full of fun exciting things (or that you achieved your 

goal of becoming a couch potato) and that semester 1 

exams weren’t too bad. The May 17 budget rally (jeez 

that was a while ago) was a great success! Hundreds 

of students around Melbourne (from more than six 

universities!) marched through the city to vocalise 

their opposition to the proposed changes. In the 

break we travelled to Brisbane for the National Union 

of Students Education Conference. We held a workshop 

on campaigning, and many Monash students got a chance 

to learn about student unionism across the country and attend a variety of 

workshops! Hope to see you at the next protest on August 8th, further showing 

our opposition to the government’s proposed cuts on higher ed! 

EDUCATION (ACADEMIC AFFAIRS) 

HARINI KASTHURIARACHCHI & RAPHAEL TELL 

Welcome back, we hope that you all enjoyed your break 

and time off from uni! Semester one was a hectic time 

for everyone, and it was no different for us here in the 

Education Academic Affairs department! Throughout 

that time, we successfully negotiated for students 

to have greater control over their participation in 

Exclusion Hearings and produced electronic resources 

to raise awareness of what may happen when students 

get close to exclusion. These wins mean that students 

who participate in the Academic Progress Committee 

process will be fully informed of and prepared to exercise 

their rights. They’ll be empowered to speak up against academics who try to 

kick students out of uni and make sure everyone gets a fair hearing. We’ve 

also finally published the results from our series of cost of living surveys, 

meaning we are ready to fight student poverty in semester two! By talking 

to students and examining the data, we’ve found that 62 per cent of Monash 

students don’t earn enough to pay for their basic living expenses. This is made 

worse by Monash slugging students with additional course fees after already 

charging massive tuition fees. Check out our article in this issue of Lot’s Wife 

to hear more about the campaign. We’d love to hear about your experiences 

and if you’d like to get involved, email us at msa-education@monash.edu or 

find us on Facebook! We were all shocked when Monash hamfistedly axed 

their cancellation of exam policy and sent intimidatory emails to students. 

This semester, we’ll be working to evaluate how the change has impacted 

students and will be advocating for the policy’s reintroduction. If anyone is 

encountering any academic issues or wants help navigating the university’s 

vast and hollow bureaucracy, please feel free to contact us at msa-education@ 

monash.edu and we’ll endeavour to help as best we can! Wishing you all the 

best of luck this coming semester and see you at mid-year orientation festival! 

WELFARE 

NICHOLAS VIRGO & PATRICK STEPHENSON 

Welcome back! We hope everyone had a wonderful break and 

has recharged the batteries. We’ve had a solid start to the 

year in the Welfare Department, with all regular events 

running quite smoothly and to great reception. Free 

Food Mondays has been extremely popular so far, with 

our viral ‘Free Garlic Bread’ event running alongside 

the Twilight Market, attracting huge numbers for the 

last free feed of the semester. Both Welfare officers 

attended the most recent post-budget student protest, 

which saw students all around the country rally against the 

government’s damaging proposed cuts to welfare and higher 

education. It was one of the largest and most successful protests in recent 

memory, which is a testament to the passion and tenacity with which student 

activists here at Monash and around the country are willing to defend the 

rights of students and stand up to unfair attacks. This semester we will be 

refocusing our efforts around providing asylum seekers and newly arrived 

refugees with the same opportunities that we’ve been fortunate to receive in 

valuable training and education. We’ve also been working with the Education 

(Academic Affairs) officers on a project to do with accessibility here at Monash, 

and collecting data from students on living costs to help us direct our efforts 

in this area. Also look out for two exciting events taking place in Welfare Week 

(Week 5): a campus sleep out to raise awareness for homelessness, and a drug 

policy debate/forum planned as part of our semester 2 campaign around drug 

safety and harm reduction. How bout dat.

ACTIVITIES 

SEAN GLASS & ISABELLE CAPOMOLLA 

Now there will be some change to the Activities team for 

semester 2. We are sad to see our beloved Sarah Harris 

leave, but we are happy to welcome our new Activities 

Officer Isabelle Capomolla to the team! Keep visiting us 

every Wednesday; be it at the Lemon Scented Lawns 

or upstairs in the airport lounge of Campus Centre 

for good times and of course, free snags. Check us 

out on Facebook too, to keep up to date on upcoming 

events and BBQ locations. Hopefully second semester 

will prove to be as much fun as the first as the Activities 

team endeavour to keep providing free food, quality events 

and entertainment. 

INDIGENOUS 

JAYDEN CROZIER & BRYDA NICHOLS 

Hey all, we hope you are excited for semester two! As you 

may have known, the first week of July was the National 

Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee 

(NAIDOC) week and it was a time to recognise 

and celebrate the achievements of Aboriginal and 

Torres Strait Islanders. Throughout the week there 

were many celebrations emphasising Indigenous 

culture as well as the great work achieved by many 

in the community. It was a good chance to reflect on 

our national identity and recognise the shared values 

that make Australia great. Over the semester, we intend to 

continue in this tone and promote Indigenous culture as an integral part of 

the Australian fabric. We will function as a touchstone in this wider narrative, 

which hopes to ensure that the Indigenous community and Indigenous culture 

plays a role moving forward in the continuing discourse on what Australia 

fundamentally is. We look forward to a productive semester and good luck to 

your studies! 

WOMEN’S 

SHREEYA LUTHRA & NIKOLA GUZYTE 

The MSA Women’s Department has been working 

extensively to identify and approach issues in university 

policy regarding sexual assault. In this process we have 

had several meetings with university administration 

and managed to improve lighting on campus (most 

notably on the way to the Yulendj Lounge), secure 

funding for a resource booklet for sexual and intimate 

partner violence on and off campus, plan events for 

the launch of our sexual assault campaign on August 

1, and much more. We have also been organising for the 

August 15 Women’s Industry Night, where women from 

several industries will be able to network with successful women in their fields. 

This will also be an opportunity to hear inspiring stories from women who 

have made it against all odds. NOWSA will be from July 16-22 and a Monash 

contingent will attend the conference in Canberra for this period, where 

campaign action will be discussed, especially in response to the release of the 

AHRC survey.‎ 

DISABILITIES & CARERS 

NAWAMA GREEN & MELANIE LOUDOVARIS 

ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL JUSTICE 

TESS DIMOS & JASMINE DUFF 

The ESJ Department closed the semester with a lively public 

forum on the history of radical student movements. It was great 

to see new faces discussing how to take progressive social 

movements forward in Australia, and what role students 

have played in them in the past. On May 17, thousands of 

students around the country protested against the Liberal 

government, who plan to raise student fees by thousands 

of dollars and cut university funding next year. We spent 

the semester helping to organise and promote the demo, and 

we’re already planning how to keep up the fight next semester! 

We’ve also been campaigning to stop Adani’s Carmichael Coal 

Mine. We postered the campus, spoke to students, and held a film screening to 

raise awareness about the environmental destruction that will be meted out 

if the mine goes ahead. Uni may be off for now, but we’ve been busy helping 

Monash students to attend protests against racism and homophobia. We helped 

to build a national demonstration opposing Trump’s homophobia, and took to 

the streets against Margaret Court’s attacks on LGBTI+ people. We marched 

with thousands of others on World Refugee Day, calling for Australia’s barbarous 

offshore detention centres to be closed for good. If you want to get involved, email 

enviro.msa@monash.edu. 

QUEER 

ANDREA DUVAL & DENISE ATZINGER 

Queer Week went very well, we wanted to thank Kirsten 

McLean, Brady Robards, Kodie Webb (Safe Schools) and 

Lefteris Patlamazoglou for participating in our panel on 

Queer Inclusiveness in Classrooms. There were so many 

contributions to workshops and events by our lovely 

students, alumni and other awesome organisations 

in Queer Week. IDAHOBIT was very special this year, 

due to all Monash Campuses participating over the 

week - thank you to Diversity and Inclusion. Pancakes are 

excellent, hopefully we don’t drop a whole tub again! At the 

time of writing, we’re planning on taking a huge delegation 

of students to the Queer Collaborations at the University of Wollongong, 

and we’re all very excited already. We are organising an awesome Industry 

Night for you, keep your eyes open on the Monash Queer Department - MSA 

Facebook page. 

PEOPLE OF COLOUR 

JASMINE NGUYEN & KAPIL BHARGAVA 

The People of Colour Department has had an exciting 

start. The PoC Department has worked hard to set the 

foundations for the students of colour community 

at Monash. The launch of the PoC office was a great 

opportunity to enjoy some new company together 

with some food, music and engaging conversations. 

The launch also made way for the PoC Office Design 

Competition which calls for students to send in their 

ideas to design the interior of the new PoC office. The 

office interior will be designed according to the winning 

idea. Make sure to like our Facebook page @ Monash People 

of Colour Department and look out for our events in semester 2! In terms 

of what’s coming up: week 2 is People of Colour week!!! Expect engaging 

and thought-provoking speakers, fun social events and – as always – great 

company! See you there! 

Hey everyone! We hope you had a great break and managed 

to get some rest in. We have been busy planning for 

our department week to week 8 of semester 2, and 

have been hosting our regular afternoon teas and 

discussions in our office. We wish everyone doing 

deferred exams the best of luck, and remember you 

can visit our office any time if you have issues with 

accessibility or special consideration. Feel free to join 

our autonomous Facebook group “MSA D&C Collective” 

to stay in the loop. 

student affairs 6-7

edition four 

lot’s wife 

Wot’s News? 

Jessie Lu & Joanne Fong 

Students Run for Refugee Scholarships 

THE Monash Student Association has launched 

an initiative to raise funds for the Monash Asylum 

Seekers Scholarship by asking students to participate 

in the 5.7km run at the Melbourne Marathon and 

consequently seek sponsorship for their participation 

from friends and family. Monash is completely 

subsidising the registration cost of $40 so that 

students can participate for free and focus on their 

fundraising efforts. Monash University currently 

provides 2 scholarships which pays the recipient’s 

tuition fees as well as providing $3,000 per year for 

the duration of their course. Additional scholarships 

for asylum seekers and refugees on temporary visas 

are currently funded by Monash alumni with four 

more made available in 2017. The money raised by this 

effort will be going towards funding more. Headed by 

the Welfare Department of the MSA, the ‘Degrees for 

Refugees’ fundraiser will take place on October the 

15th at 11:30am. It aims to show the University the 

student support for assisting refugees who have little 

access to a tertiary education, as they are not eligible 

for a Commonwealth Supported Place or deferred 

fees through HECs with the hope the University 

will also increase their funding for the scholarship. 

Students can express their interest through a Google 

form available from the MSA Welfare Facebook page 

or their website. Only 13 tertiary institutions provide 

scholarships for asylum seekers or refugees on 

temporary visas. The University of Melbourne and the 

University of Sydney do not offer such scholarships. 

Winterfest 

MONASH campuses will host WinterFest from 

August 7 to 13 with events such as the secret cinema, 

silent disco, glow yoga and comedy lounge with 

Tommy Little, which’ll take place across the week. 

The MSA will be hosting ‘Chill’ at Monash Sport on 

the Thursday night which will involve drinks, music 

and dancing, with tickets available online from $20 for 

MSA members up to $40 for access to a VIP lounge and 

bars. The Winter Carnival on the Friday will have 10 

food trucks, entertainment and fireworks from 7:30pm 

with the winter concert series on the weekend playing 

at the Music auditorium to wrap things up. 

August 8 Protests 

THE National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) 

is holding a National Day of Protest on August 

8th to protest the higher education cuts by the 

government and to highlight the impact it’ll have 

on staff. Simultaneously, protests at universities will 

be occurring nationwide in response to the Federal 

budget changes to tertiary education. At Monash, 

the protest will also mark the start of negotiations 

for a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement for 

academic and professional staff. The Monash Student 

Association is joining with the NTEU to hold a joint 

protest on the Lemon Scented Lawns with a BBQ and 

speakers before heading off to a National Union of 

Students (NUS) protest at the State Library of Victoria. 

The NUS protest will be in response to drastic fee 

increases, the $2.8bn higher education funding cut, 

the recent cuts to penalty rate and changes to the 

HECs debt threshold. The overarching message of the 

protest will be the call for free education. 

The NTEU protest is set to highlight opposition 

to the Turnbull government’s plan to cut higher 

education funding. This loss will result in an average 

of 10 per cent less funding per student to universities 

under the Commonwealth Grant Scheme, resulting in 

10 per cent less public investment in Commonwealth 

Supported Places (CSP). Despite a 7.5% increase 

in domestic student contribution to the CSP, the 

decrease in funding to the Commonwealth Grant 

Scheme (which universities primarily receive their 

government funding from), will mean less overall 

funding towards tertiary education. The NTEU has 

branded this as students having to “pay more but get 

less”, as larger class sizes, increased rates of casual 

staff, less courses offered and less face-to-face learning 

is likely to be the result. The NTEU is concerned that 

the decreased tertiary funding will lead to further job 

insecurity and increased pressure on university staff. 

As for the new Monash EBA, the NTEU is seeking 

improvements in working conditions, improved 

job security provisions that include permanent 

employment opportunities for casual academic 

staff and equality of superannuation contributions. 

Casual and some fixed-term staff currently receive a 

substantially lower percentage of superannuation. 

OECD statistics show that Australian students pay 

the third highest amount of fees for tertiary education, 

whilst public investment in tertiary education is the 

6th lowest, at 0.9% of our GDP. The government’s 

higher education package includes lowering the HELP 

threshold to $42,000, an increase to student fees of 

7.5 per cent by 2021, a 2.5 per cent ‘efficiency dividend’ 

in 2018 and 2019 to universities and ending access for 

permanent residents and New Zealand citizens to 

Commonwealth supported places, moving them onto 

domestic full fee places with access to HELP loans. 

The changes are set to be voted on in parliament 

in mid-August. So far, Labor, the Greens, and Jacqui 

Lambie have stated they will oppose the legislation in 

the Senate whilst Derryn Hinch and David Leyonhjelm 

have announced their support. One Nation and 

the Nick Xenophon Team have yet to finalise their 

positions. Universities Australia and the Group of 

Eight are both in opposition of the changes. 

Sexual Assault Survey 

RESULTS from the Australian Human Rights 

Commission survey into sexual assault and sexual 

harassment in university is finally set to be released 

on August 1st. The results will reveal the extent to 

which the issue has proliferated on campuses, after 

the survey received 39,000 responses. All 39 Australian 

universities have committed to releasing their 

specified campus data, which has been recognised as a 

positive step in addressing this issue. Universities have 

recently been struggling with cases of sexual assault 

on campus, specifically in disciplining perpetrators, 

assisting victims with access to timely counselling 

and the repercussions for colleges which are often self 

governed. St Paul’s College at the University of Sydney 

was recently criticised for a Facebook post describing 

sex with larger women as “harpooning a whale”. 

The process has been heavily criticised after the 

Australian Human Rights Commission said it would 

not publicly release individual campus data itself. It 

has also been criticised for a lack of any enforceable 

recommendations on the findings and a failure of 

the survey in seeking full ethics approval. Further 

condemnation came from student advocates in 

scrutinising the links between Universities Australia 

and the Commission. 

In an email addressed to staff, Monash Vice- 

Chancellor Margaret Gardner outlined the steps 

Monash has taken in regards to tackling sexual assault 

on campus in preparation for the survey release. 

The primary campaign that she highlighted was 

the Respect. Now. Always. project from Universities 

Australia, that included the creation of a consent video, 

training for student leaders in off-campus events, an 

online training module and screening of The Hunting 

Ground documentary with panel discussions. Monash 

will also be releasing a smartphone app dedicated 

to informing students and staff of processes, and 

enabling better responses to incidents. Gardner 

has also committed to reviewing Monash’s student 

discipline policies and procedures in order to separate 

academic and research misconduct from general 

misconduct, the category sexual offences fall in. 

In a submission made to the Commission, advocacy 

group End Rape on Campus Australia has alleged that 

universities are ‘failing’ their students and “actively 

covering up sexual assaults”. They state that there 

have been only six expulsions despite over 500 official 

sexual assault reports in the last five years. This is 

based on information gathered from five years worth 

of Freedom of Information requests that show 575 

official complaints made to universities detailing 

sexual assault and harassment. 145 of these related 

directly to rape. The submission details widespread 

cases of “hazing” and at times a vitriolic campus 

culture, for example, a case where one university 

residential hall was known as the “slut alley” and where 

there were chants of “no means yes and yes means 

anal” to another female student. Examples where 

residential college heads, staff and students have not 

acted in accordance with sexual assault reporting 

procedure are also prominent in the submission, with 

additional criticism on the often inconsistent and 

confusing reporting mechanisms within universities. 

Monash University has been under fire in numerous 

occasions regarding sexual misconduct. Most recently, 

they have received criticism for an incident that 

occurred on an off-campus club weekend away, after 

a Monash student was allegedly raped and sexually 

assaulted by a fellow student. The delayed reporting 

process that was condemned has been perhaps a 

catalyst for Monash to introduce mandatory reporting 

protocols as well as mandatory training for students 

in dealing with these incidents. This follows the story 

of student Emma Hunt, unsatisfied with Monash’s 

processes, who told her account on Channel 7’s Sunday 

Night after Monash refused to cooperate with their 

Freedom of Information investigation into rape on 

campus and the disciplinary actions that universities 

took after reported cases. 

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, 

Universities Australia chief executive Belinda 

Robinson said universities had embarked on the 

sector-wide initiative Respect. Now. Always to prevent 

sexual assault. In addition to this program, Monash 

University’s Safer Community Unit runs a number 

of initiatives to enhance the safety and wellbeing 

of all at Monash. This includes the Respectful 

Community Initiative aimed at preventing sexual and 

interpersonal violence. Other recent campus measures 

include the consent workshop Sexpectations run 

by the Monash Residential Services (MRS), consent 

posters, and better lighting on campus. 

Monash and their Campus Community Division 

have also been a supporter of the White Ribbon 

campaign, regularly running White Ribbon events. 

This includes the MRS White Ribbon Night last year, 

when 125 males took the ‘White Ribbon oath’ for zero 

tolerance for violence against women, raising over 

$2700 in the process as well as workshops to “upskill 

staff regarding sexual assault and family violence”. 

They have become a White Ribbon accredited 

workplace after an assessment to ensure Monash’s 

culture and procedures were adequate in preventing 

and responding to violence against women. Although 

some of these measures may be beneficial, there 

has also been much criticism surrounding White 

Ribbon in its one-dimensional approach, especially 

centred around the fact that it prioritises males 

and marginalises women, and that it is sometimes

tokenistic and draws attention and much needed 

funding away from front line services like legal aid and 

women’s shelters. Simultaneously, the campaign has 

been praised for placing emphasis on the perpetrators, 

by encouraging people ‘not to rape’, rather than placing 

emphasis on potential victims to ‘not get raped’. 

Students from the University of Sydney have 

recently launched The Survivors’ Network as a “peerled 

support group for survivors of sexual assault- run 

by survivors, for survivors”. 

Further, the Australian National University have 

recently employed a full-time specialist sexual 

assault counsellor to assist students. The counsellor 

is funded 40 per cent by their student union and 60 

per cent by ANU, and will mean students have access 

to this service five days a week. The ANU consulted 

with the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre for this move 

which has been widely praised, after over a year of 

criticism regarding their handling of sexual assault 

and harassment on campus. 

Past Exam Database Closed 

THE Library has closed its past exam database in 

response to the changes in university policy. Students 

will no longer have access to past exams through the 

Library Search in accordance with the university’s 

preference for exam preparation material provided by 

Unit Coordinators. This was a result of the University’s 

desire to shift away from reliance upon past exams for 

exam preparation, and on to new preparation material 

provided by educators. Further justification for this 

move was to encourage the creation of new tailored 

practice exams in the context of each unit and even 

out the availability of exam preparation material. In 

2015 and 2016, there was extensive variation in faculty 

provision of past exams, ranging from 0 and 1 for four 

faculties, all the way to 136 for Engineering whilst 

other faculties generally provided between 10-60. This 

change occurred as part of a number of policy changes 

to the Assessment in Coursework Units Policy and 

Procedures, that was approved in 2016 by the Academic 

Board and Learning and Teaching Committee (LTC). 

These bodies both have student representation. 

Assessment changes adopted last year were 

developed by the University’s Assessment Working 

Group, a working group of the LTC that sought to 

better relate assessment to the teaching and actual 

curriculum. More specifically, the new Security and 

Record Keeping Procedures has changes that include 

“a move away from the release of examination papers 

and subsequent emphasis in Examination Procedures 

on ensuring appropriate guidance is provided to 

students to encourage preparedness for examinations. 

This has facilitated the removal of previous 

requirements around the publication of examinations 

via the University Library....” (quoted from the 

submission to LTC meeting 7/2016). These policy 

changes have resulted in the removal of exams from 

previous years and the discontinuation of publishing 

any future papers. The now inaccessible database did 

not hold every past exam for every unit, only a partial 

small subset due to the reliance on the explicit release 

of the papers by each Unit Coordinator with many old 

exams being out of context. The Monash Library has 

provided a long lead time for implementation from 

the actual policy change to allow for adequate time for 

faculties to develop new approaches to assessment and 

more pedagogically appropriate preparation methods 

such as through class practice tests and updated 

exam practice questions. Provision of adequate 

assessment preparation materials including exams, 

now rest entirely with each relevant Faculty and Unit 

Coordinator. The Monash Library also provides online 

resources, workshops and drop-in sessions to assist 

with studying techniques. 

Other academic policy changes have included the 

end of the Cancellation of Exams process, and that 

exams are now stated to be a minimum of one and a 

half hours according to Monash Policy. The cessation 

of cancelled exams means that students who attempt 

their exam on the initial date can no longer defer due 

to an unforeseen circumstance or illness occurring 

during the exam but may still apply for special 

consideration through their unit teaching faculty. 

The implementation of this change was contentious 

in that it was communicated in a confusing manner 

and due to the unclear process replacing the original 

Cancellation of Exams that states that the dean of 

the unit teaching faculty may still approve deferred 

examinations given exceptional circumstances. 

Chinese Student Complaints 

A human resources lecturer has been suspended 

pending an investigation following complaints by 

Chinese students over a Moodle quiz question that 

indicated as a correct answer that Chinese officials 

were only truthful when drunk or careless. Aaron 

Wijeratne, who was behind the quiz, based it off the 

textbook used for the unit which will also be dumped 

for semester two. Human Resource Management by 

Raymond J. Stone, commonly used in other universities 

will no longer be in use for the unit as part of Monash’s 

response to concerns over the questionable quiz which 

were voiced over Wechat, Monash Stalkerspace on 

Facebook and through China’s consulate-general in 

Melbourne. Chinese students complained that the 

questions were not reflective of China’s current society 

and disputed the validity of the saying. The Chinese 

phrase of officials only speaking the truth when drunk 

or careless was cited as an example in a section on 

cross-cultural ethics where other countries were also 

discussed. Robert Brooks, Deputy Dean of Monash 

Business School responded to criticism of the quiz 

in a Moodle post, stating “Some of the questions are 

unsatisfactory and do not reflect the beliefs and views 

of Monash University”. The quiz was immediately 

withdrawn thereafter. Critics of the move have 

advocated to lift the suspension as the lecturer 

followed the textbook in creating the question and 

that as a tool for education, contentious examples are 

at times, beneficial. 

Budget Protests 

NATIONWIDE student protests occurred in 

major cities on May 17 in opposition to the Turnbull 

government’s proposed changes to higher education 

that would see an overall $2.8billion cut to funding 

in the tertiary sector. As organised by the National 

Union of Students and student unions, the Melbourne 

rally saw a turnout of over 800 students on estimates. 

Other proposed changes that students were fighting 

against include a 7.5% fee increase to domestic 

students, lowering the HECS repayment threshold 

and moving permanent residents and New Zealand 

citizens from Commonwealth Supported Places to full 

domestic fees. 

Longer Terms on Academic Board 

Changes to student membership on Academic 

Board now mean the two year terms will be introduced 

rather than the one year terms that are currently in 

place in to better facilitate handover for student 

members. However the current student members on 

the board (Matthew Gebert, Cindy Ho, Peter Hurley 

and Lawrence Lee) have recommended the terms 

return back to one year in response to concerns 

about the overall reduction of student representation 

and diversity of such as well as that “unproductive 

members” would be serving longer terms that would 

then “negatively impact the board”. The current 

student members have also recommended that 

student elections for Academic Board are moved 

forward from the current period of the end of the 

year, after exams to the start of semester 2 to facilitate 

greater student engagement and allow for a crossover 

period to instead assist the transition of the newly 

elected board members. 

Uni Rankings 

More university and subject rankings have been 

released recently with Monash ranked 12th out of 

243 universities in the Asia-Pacific region and 5th in 

Australia in the Times Higher Education Asia-Pacific 

University Rankings. In the ShanghaiRankings’ 2017 

Global Ranking of Academic Subjects which rated 52 

subjects in 4000 universities, Monash was placed in 

the top 50 of 16 subject areas including Education, 

Pharmacy, Law and Chemical Engineering and placed 

first nationally in 11 subject areas. The rankings used 

the same criteria as in the THE World University 

Rankings where Monash came in 74th, both times 

behind the University of Melbourne, ANU, UQ and 

the University of Sydney. This follows the recognition 

from Reuters naming Monash the most innovative 

university in Australia and the QS World University 

Rankings where Monash came in 60th. 

Relaxed Visas for University Staff 

The government has made amendments to 

the April immigration reforms that now result 

in international academics and university 

leaders being eligible for four year visas and 

a pathway to permanent residency, however 

university tutors have completely been removed 

from skilled occupation lists for visas. The 

initial immigration reforms announced earlier 

affected temporary foreign workers in replacing 

the four-year visa system with more restrictive 

two or four year visas which removed many 

academic positions from being eligible. The 

Turnbull government has now done a backflip 

and restored lecturers, vice-chancellors, faculty 

heads alongside other scientific and technical 

roles to the skilled migration list, allowing these 

workers to have four-year visas and a permanent 

residency pathway. Universities Australia has 

secured a government commitment that the 

time PhD students spend studying towards their 

doctorate will be counted at work experience 

when applying for a skilled visa. 

M City Monash 

A $1bn mixed-use development has been 

announced in Clayton which will include 635 

apartments, a hotel, offices and a retail precinct. 

Monash University students are a major target 

for the project as it is only a 20 minute walk 

away on the corner of Blackburn Rd and Princes 

Hwy. Construction is slated to begin soon and is 

expected to be completed by 2021. 

Matheson Library Refurbishment 

Complete 

Navigating around the seemingly endless 

construction has become an integral part of 

the typical day at Monash. However, part of 

the barricade separating us and a detour free 

pathway has been taken down, in the long 

awaited reopening of the Matheson Library. The 

refurbishment has brought Math a long way from 

the 1970s architecture chic, lined with asbestos 

and musty stairwells. It now features touch 

screen maps, self-serve book checkouts and 

even a cafe serving up caffeine and sweet treats 

sorely needed during a study break mere metres 

away instead of leaving books unattended while 

making the hike to campus centre. Come on 

down to study or just revel in the fact that one of 

our libraries is actually pretty cool, modern and 

hip with the times. 

student affairs 8-9

edition four 

lot’s wife 

the exchange 

dilemma 

article by benjamin neve 

artwork by elsie dusting 

How often should you travel during an exchange in 

Europe? To many, the answer seems obvious: you should 

travel as much as you can. There are many interesting cities 

to visit and they are all in such close proximity to each 

other. I spent more than a year in Germany on exchange 

at the University of Heidelberg, and I met many students 

who wanted to fill their passport with stamps as fast as 

possible. At first, I was the same, but as I spent more time 

in Germany – and began to feel at home there – I started 

to think differently. What if exchange in Europe isn’t about 

conquering the continent? What if there are lessons to be 

learnt simply by staying put? 

As Australians, we live on an isolated continent. We must 

travel by plane for several hours to get to any other country, 

so it is tempting to visit seemingly exotic and interesting 

places whilst studying abroad. But at the same time, we 

should ask ourselves, what are we missing out on as a 

result? On exchange in Europe the Australian student faces 

a dilemma: do I travel and experience new things as often 

as I can, leaving behind the city I live in, or do I stay mostly 

in the one place, integrate myself totally into local life? In 

my experience, it is worth spending more time in the city 

and country where you study. After my year abroad I’ve 

become an advocate of an immersed exchange rather than a 

dispersed exchange. 

Towards the end of my time in Germany I was often asked 

how many countries I had visited. To me it didn’t seem 

strange that I hadn’t tried to visit as many as possible. For 

the most part I had only travelled when an interesting 

opportunity presented itself and when I had proper 

holidays. Most people expected me to list fifteen or so 

different countries; after all, I had been in Europe for more 

than twelve months. To their disappointment however, I 

could only ever say that I had been to a handful of places, 

and they seemed to think this somehow detracted from my 

overall experience; as if exchange was synonymous with 

city-hopping. During my time in Germany I tried my best to 

live and study like a German student, because I wanted an 

immersive experience. 

When in Rome, you do as the Romans do, so I observed 

how the students of Heidelberg spent their free time, 

and behaved accordingly. The typical student did not 

skip classes to fly to Santorini or Sicily on the weekend. 

The students in Heidelberg study hard during the week 

and play even harder on the weekend in the many bars 

throughout the old town. And if the weather is especially 

nice, they travel by bike to visit medieval villages and 

castles in the forest around the city, often stopping to 

have a beer. Heidelberg is a city rich in history, there are 

ruined monasteries and castles, and the city itself has one 

of the best-preserved baroque city centres of any town 

in Germany. If I had left the city every weekend to visit 

somewhere else in Europe I would never have experienced 

the city to this extent. 

It may not sound as exotic as a weekend in the Greek 

islands, but I found it so much more rewarding to live like 

this for twelve months rather than trying to travel across 

Europe in bucket list fashion. I always noticed that the 

students who did this never really settled into Heidelberg, 

never got to know the traditions of the oldest university 

town in Germany, and moreover, were always frantically 

trying to finish assignments. By the end of my time in 

Heidelberg I had developed a deep connection to the city 

and its history and I felt a real sense of belonging. Many 

believe that is enriching to go off to Europe and visit all 

the sights, take all the classic selfies and come back being 

able to boast that you visited twenty or so countries during 

your exchange. However, if you do this at the expense of 

becoming a proper exchange student, then your travel is 

superficial, not enriching. 

As Monash students, we can spend a maximum of two 

semesters on exchange, and city hopping in Europe can 

always be done at a later stage. I’d like to emphasise that 

you can always be a tourist in Europe, but you’re only an 

exchange student once in your undergraduate life. Contiki 

tour-style travel is a hollow way to do an exchange. Your 

Instagram account might look fantastic at the end of 

twelve months, but you don’t know how it truly is to live 

and study in another county. Of course, I am not advocating 

that everyone goes cold turkey, so to speak, and not travel 

at all during exchange. I just recommend a sensible number 

of trips; don’t overload it and put pressure on yourself to 

traverse the entire continent. Discover what the city you 

live in has to offer, you might be surprised and find many 

rewarding experiences, especially if it’s a student town. 

Exchange will always be a personal experience; it will 

always be slightly different for everyone. I certainly had 

the best time by travelling somewhat conservatively and 

staying in Heidelberg. I saw a jazz concert in a cellar, I hiked 

in the forested hills around the city and I had a picnic with 

friends in the gardens of a ruined castle, and it was all made 

more special because I had a connection to Heidelberg. I 

wasn’t just a visitor; I was a real resident of the city. The 

most rewarding exchange is not one where you take the 

most selfies in front of the most landmarks, it’s the one 

where you become engaged and feel at home in a new 

place. We should evaluate our exchanges not by the breadth 

of travel, but by the depth of immersion, because when it 

comes to Europe, quality trumps quantity.

eing sick is 

expensive 

article by basia mitula 

artwork by michelle farrelly 

You know what’s more difficult than being sick? Being 

sick and being charged for the privilege. 

You’re 16, a teenager, and the world seems full of 

opportunities. Then one day you get sick. You shrug it off 

and try to keep going, hoping it’ll go away soon. But a week 

passes, then a month, and you don’t feel any better. You 

might even feel worse. 

You go to see a doctor. They brush you off. “You’re just 

stressed,” they say. Your parents seem to agree with the 

doctor; after all it’s normal to be stressed during VCE, right? 

It doesn’t improve. You insist on seeing more doctors, but 

they all say the same thing. Your parents are getting less 

and less willing to take you to appointments. You start 

doubting yourself as well. Are you just making a big deal 

out of nothing? Maybe everyone feels this way and you’re 

the only one weak enough to complain? 

Several doctors later something changes. This doctor is still 

sceptical, but you manage to convince them that something 

needs to be done. They give you a referral to a specialist and 

it’s amazing; finally, some progress! 

The specialist appointment is a few months wait away. 

When the day finally arrives you’re nervous, but eager for 

some answers. Walking into the waiting room, you notice 

that everyone else seems to be at least 50 years older. 

Self-conscious, you try not to contemplate their possible 

thoughts on your presence. 

After the appointment, you go to pay. It’s a bit over $100, 

though half is to be refunded by Medicare. You’re grateful 

that Australia at least has an okay healthcare system. 

It starts with a specialist appointment every three months, 

and one prescription a month. This eventually turns into 

two. It’s an average of $35 dollars a month since you have 

a health care card, but it would cost significantly more 

without one. The possibility of not having a health care 

card one day makes you terrified and anxious. You overhear 

people at school talking about buying stuff on eBay with 

their spending money. 

on a public waitlist, so it coincides with the beginning of 

the semester. It’s a bit weird trying to study in a hospital 

bed, but it works. All your meals are taken care of which is 

a small blessing - something about the combination of not 

needing to cook and free food… 

When you’re discharged the nurse keeps offering to call you 

a taxi. You don’t even consider it because damn, taxis are 

expensive. They warn you against trying to catch public 

transport home, but they can’t exactly stop you, so you do 

it anyway. 

You’ve learnt to take most things in stride, but out of all 

these things, it’s the cost of the proposed medication for 

yet another illness that gives you pause. It isn’t on the 

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), so you have to pay 

the full price with no discount. Each pill costs about a dollar 

and you need two a day, which means paying a terrible $60 

per month for the privilege of slightly improved (but still 

not ‘normal’) functioning. You reluctantly agree to give the 

drug a try – what choice do you have? 

You’re now 22, a young adult, and you can’t function as 

well as a healthy person. The world of opportunities you 

believed in when you were 16 feels more like a distant 

dream. You didn’t ask for this experience. None of it is even 

remotely your fault. But when you’re chronically ill, life is 

not even remotely fair. 

*** 

This is an example of life with chronic illness in Australia. 

The sad thing is, the stresses of existing while sick in 

Australia is felt tenfold in countries like the U.S. I have no 

solution for this, I just hope that what I’ve written might 

increase your compassion for those who are often unwell. 

We are more than a burden on the healthy, we are real 

people with hopes and dreams and feelings. 

Then comes election time. Politicians discuss government 

spending. You read an article about the burden of sick 

people on taxpayers. You’re told that you’re a drain on the 

rest of the country. You struggle with a declining sense of 

self worth. 

Several years later, you’re at university. Balancing university 

and appointments is hard, and it becomes even harder 

when your specialist suggests a hospital treatment. You 

don’t get to choose the time of your treatment when you’re 

student affairs 10-11

edition four 

lot’s wife 

monash students can’t 

afford to eat while university 

spends lavishly 

article by msa welfare & education academic affairs department 

artwork by lin rahman 

In a recent survey of Monash University students, the MSA has found 

that most students overwhelmingly lack the funds needed to meet 

the cost of living. 

In a series of surveys conducted by the MSA Education and Welfare 

Departments, 62% of students said they don’t earn enough to cover basic 

living expenses. This is hardly surprising when 64.1% of students say 

they earn between $0 - $5000 a year to cover, by the University’s own 

estimates, $23,607 of average yearly expenses, that represent everything 

from the cost of housing to the price of transport. 

Monash students aren’t the only ones copping it. Universities Australia 

has discovered that two-thirds of Australian university students live 

below the poverty line, adding to the already dire picture of student 

economic insecurity. Factoring in research produced by the National 

Union of Students, the data reveals that a staggering 17% of students 

regularly go without food or other necessities while 55% of students are 

also paying down debt. 

Though student poverty is an issue that generations of young people 

before us have had to overcome, welfare experts warn that students’ 

ability to fund their living expenses is becoming more difficult every 

year. Stuart Martin, head of the Student Financial Advisors Network, 

warned in a recent ABC article that financial assistance provided by the 

Government to students ‘is considerably well below the poverty line’. 

If students are predominantly impoverished, and Australia’s cost of 

living is climbing with each successive year, how are students meant to 

stay afloat? Do Australia’s public universities, as bastions of free thought 

and student life, have a duty to help their students when Government 

support is recklessly inadequate? 

The MSA says abso-fucking-lutely. 

Some financial services are already available. The University provides 

limited financial counselling and support through Monash Connect, 

offering students personal budgeting advice and information about 

eligibility for government benefits. Students can also access interestfree, 

short-term loans, however these can’t be used to pay course fees 

and they incur a 15.25% penalty if the loan isn’t repaid by the due date. 

While Monash should be commended for offering a few services, they 

must do more. Acknowledging that excessive course fees are sucking 

student bank balances dry would be a wise place to start. 

Monash isn’t transparent when it comes to the true cost of studying at 

University. For domestic students, they know that university-related 

expenses don’t end with tuition fees covered by HECS. In responses 

to the survey, students listed a range of hidden fees that Monash 

charges throughout the semester, the most commonly cited examples 

being: textbooks, field trips, sheet music, lab coats and kitchenpractical 

uniforms, printing services and accompanying musicians for 

performance exams. These costs exemplify the compulsory fees that 

students have no choice but to pay in order to pass their units. 

Students from the School of Music who compulsorily undertake 

performance exams incur unfair and prohibitive additional fees. To cover 

the wage of a Faculty-mandated accompanying musician, students are 

forced to pay a fee of $90 per-hour of their exam. While many students 

in the School are performing several exams, administrators know they 

will require this service each semester as it is essential to how the School 

conducts their assessments. This cost could and should therefore be 

reflected in tuition fees. Non-music students don’t pay an extra fee for 

Exam Invigilators, so why must Music students pay extra? When the 

MSA spoke with students within the School of Music, many revealed 

they weren’t aware of this fee prior to enrolment. This is a dishonest and 

unfair practice for which the University needs to be held accountable. 

In 2016, total fees charged by the University to students rose by 3%, 

almost double the rate at which prices across the Australian economy 

rose during the same period. Monash now generates more revenue 

from fees and charges than they do from Government funding, 

demonstrating the apparently little-known fact that young people pay 

for their tertiary education. Some might say these increasing fees are 

inevitable in an increasingly corporatised world. Inevitable too then, 

must be the shameless 21 million dollars Monash forked out in 2016 to 

pay for business advisory services. 

Monash University students are forcibly charged $90 an hour to sit an 

exam while Monash spends millions employing the services of over 30 

top-tier consultancy firms. 

Such flagrant profligacy must not go unchecked. 

If Monash considers improving their embarrassingly low satisfaction 

rate a priority, they must take student welfare seriously. Most students 

whose marks leave them at risk of failing their course don’t find 

themselves in such a position because they’re lazy or stupid. Students 

fail because work commitments leave them underpaid and short on 

time. Students fail because they feel unsafe sharing a campus with 

their rapist. Students fail because they are burdened by every economic 

metric proclaiming that a job will not likely be available for them at 

graduation. 

In Semester 2, the MSA will be leading a campaign tackling student 

poverty and the cost of living. One feature of that campaign will be 

a campus-wide push to encourage the University to waive a range of 

hidden course fees. To achieve this we will be working with students 

from across Monash who would like to see their faculties address these 

unfair, unnecessary and prohibitive fees. Fighting for the internalisation 

of hidden fees is a meaningful step we can take towards easing the cost 

of living pressures on students. 

Stay tuned for further information on how to get involved with this 

campaign. If you have an idea or proposal to help struggling students 

meet the cost of living and escape the scourge of poverty, we’d love to 

hear from you! Chuck us a message through our MSA Education or MSA 

Welfare Facebook pages.

MONASH 

SECURITY 

MONASH 

SECURITY 

INFORMATION 

Whether you’re a student, staff member or visitor 

to Monash, you’ll find our security services team 

working around the clock to keep our campuses 

safe and enjoyable places to work, study and play. 

If you’re ever worried about your own or someone 

else’s safety, see something suspicious or just 

want some security advice, help is just a phone 

call away. You call the same general security 

number on all our Australian campuses. You’ll find 

the numbers on our website, it’s a good idea to 

note or enter them in your mobile phone. 

You can visit or call your campus security team 

directly, so make a note of your campus security 

office location and contact details which is also 

on our website. 

You’re in safe hands at Monash, so enjoy your 

time with us. 

monash.edu/security 

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“ If You Leave It, You Could Lose It ”

edition four 

lot’s wife 

do the carrots on your plate 

travel more than you do? 

article by marlo sullivan 

artwork by cherie chan 

Most of the fruit and vegetables you see in the shops and 

served on a plate in your local cafe or restaurant have 

been grown here in Australia. 

When we talk about locally grown, we don’t simply mean 

the farms on the outer fringes of Melbourne, we’re actually 

talking about Australia, a country of over 7.5 million square 

kilometres. 

Melbourne's food bowl is important. Carrots are grown 

in Cranbourne, oranges and grapes are grown in Mildura, 

apples come from Bacchus Marsh and Shepparton, and 

those crisp lettuces are trucked in from Werribee. One 

problem today is that the farmers growing all this fabulous 

food can now fund an early retirement by selling their land 

to clamouring developers, creating more and more housing 

estates on the outer fringes of Melbourne’s urban sprawl. 

Many people consider healthy eating and a balanced diet a 

necessary part of their lifestyle. The local vegan might well 

realise that their spiky-topped pineapple must be travelling 

south from tropical Queensland, but it’s also likely that 

their cucumbers, eggplants and zucchinis are doing some 

serious distance as well. Just think of all that veggie pasta 

on Instagram, those green noodles started their life in the 

west and had a road trip of 10 hours from South Australia. 

Fruit and vegetables are seasonal, so not everything 

is available all year round. Yet, when we walk into the 

supermarket fresh produce section it can seem like we can 

buy whatever we want, whenever we like. We’ve heard 

about apples being stored for up to 12 months (will a science 

degree explain how that works?), but where are those 

summer cherries coming from in the middle of June? I’ll 

make it easy for you, those cherries are flying in from sunny 

California. 

have other consequences. Imported foods are transported 

to Australia by air, a mode of travel with a huge carbon 

footprint and thus ecological impact. So in this sense, local 

produce is more sustainable than imported. As consumers, 

is it reasonable for us to expect all types of produce to be 

available all year round? 

Imagine if our fruit and vegetables could talk to each other. 

First, you'll need to disregard the fact that this would be 

extremely weird, and might put you off your salad, but can 

you imagine the conversation? How do you think a locally 

grown bunch of carrots that had only travelled 10km in its 

life would react to a globetrotting orange? 

What about the Peruvian asparagus? He's stuck greeting 

everyone with “Hola, ¿qué tal?” While the locals respond 

with “What are you on about, mate?” Maybe those 

Australian carrots would need to seek out the Californian 

oranges rather than the Egyptian ones. 

Think about it, as a student with a HECS debt and needing 

to budget for rent, food and transport, your food might be 

travelling more than you. 

What can we do about it? Our local farmers need our 

support; visit your local greengrocer. Make friends with 

local, seasonal produce, even if it doesn’t talk back. Think 

twice about where your fresh food is coming from. You 

could discover new foods and your lifestyle might just 

become more sustainable! 

That healthy lifestyle may not be as sustainable as you 

think. Fruit and vegetables are increasingly imported from 

overseas to fill gaps in local supply. At different times of 

year, your local greengrocer could be stocking oranges from 

Egypt, garlic from China and Argentina, pomegranates from 

the United States and kiwifruit from Italy (this one seems 

especially strange, because surely it should be coming from 

New Zealand). 

There is an increasing awareness of the impact our 

consumption habits have on the globe, and rising 

vegetarianism and veganism are part of this. Sure, 

eating more fresh fruit and vegetables is good for the 

environment, especially in terms of generally lower 

greenhouse gas emissions and water usage in comparison to 

meat production. Nevertheless, your healthy lifestyle may

politics/society 

14-15

edition four 

lot’s wife 

explaining 

pauline 

article by raymond field 

artwork by selena repanis 

David Marr’s essay on Pauline Hanson provides less insight into 

the forces behind the rebirth of One Nation than it does into 

how poorly equipped Australia’s political class is to deal with an 

insurgency. 

In his most recent entry in the Quarterly Essay series, 

cheekily titled “The White Queen”, David Marr inquires: 

how has the crass spectacle of Hansonism been permitted 

to survive in this country? Marr, with his previous entries 

in the Quarterly Essay series, previously managed to capture 

some of the most incisive portraits on Australia’s most 

important political figures. From revealing emergent 

glimpses into Kevin Rudd’s unbridled sociopathy in “Power 

Trip” to exposing the unsettlingly brutish depths of Tony 

Abbott’s character in “Action Man”, each work felt as if 

it had an immediate significance. In his profile of Bill 

Shorten, “Faction Man”, he managed to even turn the ALP’s 

byzantine factional system into a digestible read. It’s an 

unfortunate surprise, then, that “The White Queen” turns 

out to be a largely stale affair. Rather than diagnosing the 

conditions giving rise to One Nation’s success, Marr’s look 

at what makes Hansonism attractive seems more concerned 

with providing reassurances to a polity in crisis. He might 

be one of the sharper writers in our crop of political 

journalists, but Marr’s observations into the dynamics 

underlying Hanson’s success remain markedly within the 

intellectual parameters laid down and followed by our 

political class. 

Hanson’s return, we’re told, calls for ‘national reflection’. 

What is it, crucially, that drives support for One Nation? It’s 

the scourge of racism. Thankfully, though, Marr says we can 

rest assured that most Australians don’t share Pauline’s foul 

character; her views, and those sharing them, are relegated to 

the fringe. Hanson is a moral pariah and her influence would, 

were it not for political cowardice, perish with bipartisan 

efforts. Instead, our major parties have sought to capitalise 

on and legitimise her success – a trend which we are 

allowed to blame on the enduring villainy of John Howard. 

Marr crunches the numbers to assure us of this country’s 

decency. We are, he writes, ‘a better country’ than the United 

Kingdom of Nigel Farage and the France of Marine Le Pen. 

By comparison, Australians are firmly comfortable with 

large-scale immigration and multiculturalism, and our 

relative prosperity – a streak of 26 years without a recession 

– gives us immunity to fascistic degradation. 

How very banal these conclusions are. 94 pages, and what 

are we left to ponder that we have not heard before? Marr is 

not incorrect, per se, to attribute racial division as a leading 

component of Hanson’s success – a point which would 

only be challenged by those with a deficient brain. But the 

broader background against which this former fish and 

chips shop owner sent shockwaves through our political 

life in 1996 is given only rudimentary exploration. Hanson, 

armed with her vicious petit bourgeois ideology, emerged 

as this continent’s maternal White supremacist only upon 

the fractures that surfaced in our political system over the 

preceding years. This context is critical to her appeal. 

Much has already been written on the erosion of 

traditional political party divisions at the end of the 

post-war consensus, both in Australia and in the rest of 

the Western World. While the ALP today remains to a 

vision of social justice tied to the union apparatus and the 

Coalition committed to a careful balance of free-market 

economics and middle-class conservatism, neither can 

claim the authority of times past. This is most apparent 

in diminishing primary votes, despite the resilience of the 

two-party system. In the 1983 federal election, the combined 

ALP and Coalition primary votes were a combined total 

of 93.05%, but when Hanson burst her way into the 

Parliamentary Chambers in 1996, it was 85.65% (by the 

time of the 2016 Federal Election it had fallen to 76.77%). 

A changing electoral landscape, combined with declining 

membership and an increasing distaste for Canberra politics 

(and even democratic systems of governance) are the trends 

feeding each party’s existential woes. 

As Marr makes clear, Hanson’s initial success was on 

the back of the diminished Liberal Party (‘For every vote 

Beazley lost’, he writes, ‘Howard lost two’). But in the 2016 

election, an equal amount of One Nation voters came from 

Labor and the Coalition. The voters of One Nation, he 

emphasises, are sometimes unexpected, other than in their 

expected hostility to asylum seekers and immigration. Their 

politics can otherwise be surprising, for they are: broadly 

secular; supportive of euthanasia; in favour of availability 

of marijuana’s availability; and sympathetic to the cause of 

unions in the workplace. Marr also correctly links Pauline’s 

political rebirth to the collapse of the Palmer United Party. 

But it is here that complication arises in the notion of 

Hanson’s voters being solely driven by a prejudicial mind. 

Palmer, after all, floated asylum seeker policies that were 

more humane than what was being offered by the ALP and 

Coalition – he rejected offshore processing, and once even 

suggested that asylum seekers be flown to Australia. 

As the shift in votes from Hanson to Palmer makes clear, 

a vote for change can withstand the threat of a diversity 

injection. But to consider the indeterminate nature which 

hostility towards asylum seekers has on voting intention 

would undercut the narrative of a public with a fixed and 

dominating prejudice. Marr also mentions the Essential 

poll taken in September 2016, indicating 49% of Australians 

would like to see Muslims banned from the country –

an awkward inclusion given Marr’s repeatedly stressing 

the ‘decency’ of this country. That such sentiments are so 

widespread is alarming – yet, if such an extreme position is 

held by so many, why haven’t more of these people turned 

to One Nation as a vehicle for their grievances? 

Marr shares the grim view of asylum seekers being 

determinative of recent election outcomes. It is here that 

Hanson’s legacy is most acutely felt. These increasingly 

punitive policies towards asylum seekers, we’re told, were 

adopted in response to Hanson’s success. Marr indicts John 

Howard of tapping into this nation’s latent racism and 

breaking a bipartisan consensus since the 1960s to eradicate 

the nation’s racism: 

That political truce survived seven prime ministers, 

from Holt to Hawke, two or three recessions and the 

arrival of 100,000 refugees from Vietnam before it was 

repudiated by John Howard. So began the modern 

politic of race in Canberra. 

Howard’s victory with racial division is presented as being 

depressingly clear with the rise in his political fortunes 

following his conduct in the Tampa affair, in which a 

Norwegian vessel carrying asylum seekers was rejected 

entry into Australian waters. This was a tainted victory, we 

are to believe. The former MP for Bennelong, Marr writes, 

‘had made Hanson redundant’. Not mentioned here is that 

mandatory detention was introduced by Paul Keating. This 

is essential to remember, particularly as Marr seems to be 

of the view that Hanson’s election in 1996 unleashed racism 

that political consensus had kept at bay. 

Marr does not believe Hanson will simply vanish, but he is 

a believer that her influence will wane if she is rightfully 

ignored and labelled a racist. But a mere shift to bipartisan 

consensus on the matters Hanson capitalises on, and a 

maturation political culture – which has certainly fallen 

to depths of unbelievable stupidity – will not put a halt to 

Canberra’s decaying political authority. 

The Bedlamesque nature of One Nation, perhaps even more 

so than her personal failings, will always be an anchor on 

Hanson’s political prospects – in this respect, her challenge 

is similar to that of Marine Le Pen, who must neutralise the 

effects of being associated with the National Front’s ugly 

history. Yet, if Hanson were to vanish, the threat of a political 

insurgency would not be banished; the environment in 

which she finds her success might still provide more fertile 

ground for a substitute. Most obviously, the United States 

has shown how alienation from political structures can give 

rise to an authoritarian leader. But the opportunities for 

outsiders to thrive in a political order in decay has proved to 

cross ideological lines – one can see this in Jeremy Corbyn’s 

takeover of the British Labour Party, the election of Syriza in 

Greece, and the rise of Podemos in Spain. 

In his concluding comments, David Marr writes: ‘The 

far right where politicians are spending so much energy 

harvesting votes these days is not Australia.’ It may be the 

case that, if a rebellion against Australia’s political order 

were to break out, it would differ in form – and even be of 

lesser ugliness – than elsewhere; but a spectator of recent 

history should be wary of such proclamations and the 

complacency they can inspire. 

Amongst commentators (a rare exception can be found in 

Peter Brent), Howard’s 2001 election has been treated as 

impenetrable evidence of the capacity to win an election 

solely on asylum seeker issues. An unpleasant rule, but one 

that gives a sense of certainty to: recklessly opportunistic 

Liberals looking to wedge their opponents; and the hardheaded 

‘realists’ of the Labor Party, able to blame their 

political failures on the vices of the general public; and that 

subset of the Greens sustained by their moral superiority. 

This rule, however, is not written in hard evidence. It also 

ought to be problematised for the way in which it eludes a 

structural analysis of why such policies are made. 

Writing in Inside Story, Peter Browne’s (Boats and Votes, 

2010) look at the 2001 election polls shows the reversal 

of the Howard’s government’s fortunes began much 

earlier than the Tampa affair, beginning with the Howard 

government’s pissing off the Liberal’s economic purists 

with the 2001 budget. Tampa was a boost, but of far 

lesser significance to the party’s electoral support than 

the September 11 attacks. The importance of Kevin Rudd 

winning federal Labor’s sole majority in the last 24 years, 

despite promising an end to the ‘Pacific Solution’, also 

cannot be understated. Indeed, despite the notion of the 

2001 being won off the Tampa ugliness, data collected by 

the Australian National University on Australian voting 

patterns indicates that refugees and asylum seekers were 

seen as more important in 2007 (21%) than they were in 

2001 (16%). 

Marr’s essay should be critiqued for its laziness in the above 

matter; however, his lack of engagement with the crisis 

of political authority is his work’s eminent flaw. For it is 

in these conditions that we see a resurgent Hanson. Even 

if she has desperately sought to retain her sad position 

in public life over the past two decades, Hanson is once 

again our foremost anti-politician. Her success, we must 

understand, depends on her difference. We can then see 

how Hanson’s support for cutting penalty rates, which saw 

her aligning with an unelected body making an unpopular 

decision, contributed to One Nation’s poor result in the 2017 

Western Australian election. 

politics/society 16-17

edition four 

lot’s wife 

words 

article by john henry 

artwork by joanne fong 

There are some legitimate crusades to be fought in ensuring that our 

language is not exclusionary or malicious, and it’s justified to point 

out to someone that they’ve written or said something that can be 

reasonably construed as offensive. However, if we want to make a 

positive change in fostering understanding and minimising prejudice, it 

is essential that we don’t go too far looking for new words to be offended 

by. Nit-picking about language trivialises real problems that need to be 

remedied, and it creates more opponents than it does supporters. It’s 

therefore useful to draw a line between what’s acceptable to regulate, 

and what is just being pedantic and overbearing. 

Gender-exclusive language is a good example of something that 

warrants some regulation. When an author in a book addresses the 

reader as a male, for example, it is an obviously offensive thing to do. 

There is no way to negotiate your way around it—if you’re not writing 

ironically, addressing the reader as a ‘he’ often bears unavoidably sexist 

and exclusionary connotations, by assuming that women aren’t reading 

your work. It’s a particularly unsubtle form of exclusion that ought to be 

avoided. 

Upholding standards of language like this is both reasonable and 

undemanding. But it’s worthwhile to avoid excessive attention to 

peoples’ wording—what was originally mindfulness and careful 

consideration can easily degenerate into petty word-policing if we’re 

not cautious. Before calling out someone’s statement as offensive, we 

need to interpret people’s words charitably, with an appreciation for 

context and the alternate meanings that words can have. Specifically, it’s 

worth remembering that vernacular language evolves, and words with 

unsavoury histories can be redeemed and used for innocuous purposes. 

A word is not irredeemably tainted by its historical origins—words 

are tools that can take on new meanings depending on the social 

environment they occupy. They can retain vestiges of their original 

meaning, but the prejudiced part of the term can disappear in common 

usage. The LGBT community’s appropriation of ‘queer’ demonstrates just 

how a word with negative connotations can be spectacularly reversed 

by a simple act of will. Therefore, words that could be offensive in some 

contexts are innocent of subconscious prejudice in others. Language 

is unique from other fields of enquiry, in that we can manipulate its 

content entirely by consensus. In other fields like the natural sciences, 

things do not become true by virtue of social agreement; it depends on 

the correspondence between statements and facts that aren’t necessarily 

dependent on human action. The statement “there is a volcano erupting” 

is not true based on consensus, but rather if a volcano is in fact erupting. 

On the other hand, the truth of the statement “idiot is an offensive 

word” is entirely dependent on the social consensus on how the word is 

used. So in language, we have the unique ability to counter and remedy 

words with questionable historical backgrounds. Words can be redeemed 

through different social usages. 

Another word like ‘hysteria’ is a good example—in the 19th century, the 

word was originally defined as a neurological condition that caused 

fits, paralysis, distress, and other nervous complaints; primarily it was a 

woman’s disease, thought to affect women and effeminate males. This 

classification therefore forged a questionable link between fragility and 

irrationality with femininity. This gendered view draws on the ancient 

meaning of the word, which considered hysteria as a female madness 

brought about ‘of the womb’ or ‘hysterikos’ (ὑστερικός). Feminists in the 

past 30 years have sought to reclaim ‘hysteria’ for their own purposes 

(similarly, witness how ‘virago’ is the name of a feminist publishing 

company), and the word can already have more gender-neutral and nonoffensive 

connotations, such as describing ‘mass-hysteria’ in the media, 

or describing a joke as ‘hysterical’. Obviously the offensive content of 

these words can be revived on some occasions; when conservative 

commentator Steve Price called writer Van Badham ‘hysterical’ last 

year, he was being rather sexist by condescendingly dismissing her 

claims as irrational, tacitly harking back to the older usage of the word. 

But these circumstances can be made exceptional, and it is preferable 

to use originally offensive words for innocuous purposes, rather than 

squandering them away as fundamentally insulting, and thus limiting 

the richness of our vocabulary one word at a time. It’s preferable to 

weaken the power of once-offensive words, than to strengthen them 

through taboo. 

We can apply this consideration to certain words that are supposedly 

‘ableist’. According to some commentators, words like ‘insane’, ‘lame’ and 

‘crazy’ are intrinsically prejudicial towards people with disabilities, and 

should therefore be avoided. For instance, were I to describe a Coldplay 

album as ‘lame’, or the latest decision of the Trump administration 

as ‘insane’, this theory of language suggests that I am perpetuating 

discrimination towards people with disabilities, on virtually every 

occasion that these words are used in any sort of negative sense. Or, 

more plausibly, perhaps I am using words that have evolved from their 

original meanings, and this innocuous interpretation is not sufficiently 

taken into account. It’s true that there are some words that are 

narrowly prejudicial towards people with disabilities, and these should 

obviously be avoided. Nonetheless, we should always remain alert to 

different connotations that words can adopt, and we ought to uphold a 

reasonable standard of language that does not make excessive demands. 

For strategic purposes, it is crucially important that we don’t regulate 

language any more than strictly necessary. Done poorly, it trivialises 

more productive causes dedicated to minimising offensive language, 

and it can come across as overly combative. If we curb these excesses 

somewhat, perhaps that will stimulate greater sympathy and 

understanding in discussions between different political perspectives.

surviving stigma of 

mental illness 

article by nikola guzys-mcauliffe 

artwork by nathan kaseng um 

Content Warning: mental illness, depression, anxiety, panic attack, 

suicide, Trump, slurs against mental illness. 

This piece is for everybody who has a mental illness, to let you know 

that you are not alone, that I see you, and that everything you think 

and feel is valid, but this piece is also for those who don’t have a 

mental illness. I encourage you to take this opportunity to develop a 

little bit of understanding for those of us with a mental illness (or five) 

and the struggles we face from a society which stigmatises, belittles, 

disregards and invalidates our truth. 

Downside One: You feel like a liar. 

Whenever somebody casually asks me how I’m going as they pass me in 

the hallway, I tell them I am fine, even when nothing could be further 

from the truth. I know that people don’t actually expect others to answer 

honestly. Can you imagine if we did? The lack of honesty with other 

people gets to me, because I work so hard to be honest with myself. It 

takes serious effort not to minimise my emotions, my thoughts and my 

capabilities at that moment. I find it hard to give myself permission not 

to finish my readings, leave my dishes dirty, or to eat junk food when I’m 

too anxious to concentrate. I have put a lot of effort into recognising that 

mental illness affects me and to not beat myself up about things I cannot 

control, so every time I tell someone I’m ‘fine, thanks’ I want to scream. 

Downside Two: People still get mental illnesses confused with 

emotions. 

People conflate depression with passing sadness; an anxiety disorder 

with a busy and stressful time. People who know me constantly ask how 

I’m feeling, the same way they’d ask after me if I had a cold. Have my 

sinuses cleared? Why am I sad again when I was sad last week? People 

fail to recognise that a mental illness can be an ongoing condition, and 

that it isn’t necessarily going to clear up over the weekend with some 

extra strength, non-drowsy cold and flu tablets. I call my mum in the 

midst of a panic attack and she sighs impatiently and asks what’s set 

me off now. A family friend tells me I’ll cheer up if I get a boyfriend. 

A medical professional tells me I need to do more exercise (ha), and 

practice mindfulness (ugh). 

Downside Three: You discredit yourself. 

I catch myself playing the ‘other people have it worse game’. It’s easy 

internalise all the mental illness stigma and start to ridicule your 

own inability to cope when you are constantly comparing yourself to 

people who are managing to get by with twice as many problems as 

you. Writing this, I’m questioning if I am mentally ill enough to have 

a valid opinion. When I’m not trapped in my bed, literally unable to 

get out, or locked in a bathroom cubicle because I don’t want to have 

to explain to onlookers that I’m having a panic attack, I wonder if I’m 

exaggerating, or if I’m just lazy or overly sensitive. I second-guess my 

own lived experiences until I spiral into self-blame. Another thing: how 

dare I be unhappy when I am so incredibly fortunate and privileged! I’m 

constantly winded by the notion that I don’t have a good enough reason 

for my mental illness. 

Downside Four: Nobody seems to care about slurs, at all. 

The festival was crazy. Donald Trump is a psycho. Haha, triggered. 

We didn’t have any coffee this morning and I wanted to die. Okay, 

the last one isn’t a slur, but it’s still incredibly harmful for people to 

bandy around as if it isn’t trivialising mental illness. The truth is, using 

these words is painful for everyone who is fighting against the stigma 

attached to mental illness. Your festival may have been a blast, but it 

wasn’t crazy. Donald Trump is an awful human being, but isn’t psycho. 

Being triggered is an awful experience that you shouldn’t joke about. 

Suicide is no laughing matter. Using these words is insensitive, no 

matter how you intended them. Please stop. I respect that some people 

have reclaimed some of these words in a similar way as gay or fat have 

been rebranded as badges of honour. This isn’t true for everyone. If 

you’ve never had a mental illness, it’s not your place to reclaim it. 

Downside Five: You’re disillusioned, but no one else is. 

I once met a girl who said she didn’t understand why people with 

mental illnesses didn’t just take medications to eliminate them. 

First, medications come with side effects. I’ve been so nauseated by 

medication that white bread and Zooper Doopers were all I could keep 

down. For some, it’s impossible to cope with side effects whilst still 

attending classes, going to work and socialising. Second of all, if you 

survive the side effects, medications usually take 4-6 weeks to start 

working, and then comes the rigmarole of getting your dosage right. 

There hasn’t been enough research into treatments for mental illness, 

and their efficacy is dependent on individual factors. If you somehow 

magically manage to get a medication that is right for you on the first 

try, then I am in awe. It took my sister two years to get the best balance 

of function vs side-effects available to her. Two years. hirdly, medication 

does not cure mental illness. Your symptoms are not eradicated after you 

finish the first pill bottle. Medication is there to lessen the symptoms 

of your mental illness, to make it easier to cope. Some people recover 

from their mental illnesses, and I don’t mean to imply that if you get a 

mental illness, you’re stuck with it forever. For some of us, though, that’s 

the reality. The path of medication isn’t a simple process guaranteeing 

positive results. 

There are more than five downsides to living with a mental illness, and 

I’ll admit that what I’ve written might not apply to everyone living with 

a mental illness. Nevertheless, it’s important to have these conversations. 

We’ll never be rid of the stigma of mental illness if we don’t talk about 

the nuances of its effect on us, on our lives and how we see ourselves. 

Keep on keeping on. 


edition four 

lot’s wife 

the (apparent) failure 

of democracy 

article by alex niehof 

artwork by julia thouas 

It has been well publicised by almost all media outlets that Australia’s faith in democracy is 

at an all-time low, and plunging rapidly. Less than half of all Australians think that the party in 

power makes any difference to the country, and less than a third showed a good deal of interest in 

the 2016 federal election. 

This trend isn’t just a home-grown phenomenon. Almost half of Americans have lost faith in 

democracy and, shockingly, more than a quarter of Americans would regard an election where 

their preferred candidate lost as illegitimate. Similar numbers exist across most Western 

democratic nations. 

The ramifications of this trend show themselves at the ballot box. The informal vote proportion 

in this country is at an all-time high of 23%, a key indicator of the strength of stable democratic 

systems. Arguably worse is the fact that the proportion of Australians not lodging a formal vote 

hit one-fifth of the entire population at the last election. In a country where voting is law, and an 

informal vote requires just as much effort as a formal one, this statistic is even more damning. 

This lack of faith, however, is a relatively new phenomenon and many are rightly asking why. 

There are some key explanations which can be drawn from looking at the timing of this trend, 

which began during the Great Recession (2007-8). Since then, the number of people in this 

country that aren’t satisfied with democracy has doubled. The destruction of many financial 

markets during the recession ruined the savings of everyday people across the world, jobs were 

lost and houses seized. Did the top end of town pay? Not at all. 

Governments across the globe of all political leanings bailed out banks in an attempt to slow 

the turmoil, whilst everyday citizens were left to largely fend for themselves. Politics is, as we all 

know, about perception. Whilst the benefits of these bailouts can be debated on a moral and an 

economic standpoint for hours, the move didn’t look good. Democracy failed almost everyone in 

the Great Recession, there’s no wonder people started to turn their backs on it. 

This leads to another broader point. Inequality is at a critically high point in our history. People 

feel neglected, betrayed and taken advantage of by every major party in the world. Even if it’s 

not their fault, people will naturally blame the government of the day for the problems of the 

day. The trend towards a lack of faith in governments, democracy, and institutions in general has 

largely been driven by the younger population. Only half of under thirties in Australia agree that 

democracy is preferable, compared to 60% amongst the general population. Only a third of US 

millennials see civil rights, a key tenant of democracy, as absolutely essential. And, shockingly, 

more than a quarter of US millennials dismiss the importance of free elections to democracy. But 

what is it about the current relationship between young people and democracy which has left us 

so apathetic? 

Put simply, most of today’s societal problems disproportionally affect younger generations. Cuts 

to education funding that reduce people’s ability to improve themselves is one that is particularly 

close to us. The refusal to commit to any significant efforts to tackle climate change won’t affect 

anyone in power right now, but it’ll affect us, and our kids, and every other future generation. 

In addition, the correlation between political alignment and age has contributed to the 

abandonment of younger people by conservative and right wing governments. Conservative 

parties know that the youth vote is essentially a lost cause to them, whilst the grey vote is a 

guaranteed support base every time. Armed with this information, conservative parties have 

woken up to the realisation that there’s little political use in pandering to youth through 

sympathetic policies. In addition, progressive parties consider the youth vote a sure win every 

time. Elections are won and lost on the swing vote of the working age population, and as a result, 

younger people are consistently neglected by both sides of politics. This is evident through the

fact that nothing of substance has been done to improve housing 

affordability, despite a consensus that the issue exists. Little fixes around 

the edges have been implemented in an attempt to somewhat appease 

young aspirational homeowners, but nothing that will actually fix the 

issue. Politics, and by extension democracy, has failed young people. It’s 

no wonder we’re losing faith in it. 

Another explanation that is often proposed is simply that we’ve had it 

too good for too long. Relatively speaking, democracy’s been pretty good 

to us. We get somewhat of a say in things, the government doesn’t try 

too often to attack its own people, almost everyone is fortunate enough 

to have a roof over their head, and you generally get to say whatever you 

want without being persecuted. Sure, it’s pretty rough around the edges, 

and needs a lot of work, but for the most part, things are alright. This is 

in stark contrast to the outcome for many twentieth century historical 

examples of non-democratic societies. An estimated three million died 

during the reign of the Soviet Union, the Khmer Rouge resulted in 

between one and two million deaths and Mao Zedong’s reign in China 

resulted in the direct or indirect death of tens of millions of people. 

Then there is the less violent, but still horrible, crimes committed in 

states such as East Germany, and present day North Korea. 

Many of today’s youth, or millennials, myself included, are simply 

too young to have any real understanding of the scale of the horrors 

inflicted during instances of non-democratic states. It is then, only 

natural, that young people contemplate variations of these alternatives 

when they feel dissatisfied with how government treats them. The very 

real consequences of such alternatives are less likely to be taken into 

account when one has not experienced or lived at the same time as one 

of them. They seem more removed, and thus more unlikely. One starts 

to question whether these alternatives could be better after all. This 

may explain the increasing acceptance of non-democratic systems by 

younger people, as seen through the fact that far fewer millennials are 

opposed to military coups and martial law than older generations. 

So, we’ve got a problem with democracy, with plenty of reasons behind 

it. That much is a given at this point. But is this even a bad thing in the 

first place? Many would argue that this dissatisfaction is positive, as it 

could be the catalyst that leads to a better, fairer system. However, it’s 

important to consider the ramifications of an increasing lack of faith 

with democracy, and for the most part, they’re not pretty. 

Lack of faith is well correlated with a lack of government stability, 

resulting from a higher minor party vote share. When this happens, you 

end up with the likes of Pauline Hanson, whom we all know has done 

wonders for this country. Whilst a variety of views in Parliament is to be 

welcomed, when you end up with a collection of individuals that at best 

can be described as nutcases (hello Senator Malcolm Roberts), things 

aren’t going to turn out too great. The general instability stemming 

from the unpredictability of Parliament can be incredibly detrimental 

to things like consumer and business confidence. Look what happened 

in the UK when the world realised Brexit was going to happen. The 

pound tumbled, and doesn’t look like it is coming back any time soon. 

And if your response to this is ‘so what’? Just remember the last time 

the financial markets turned to shit. The little guy got screwed over, 

and those at the top just got richer and richer. Like it or not, political 

stability is pretty important, which is why it’s incredibly important 

that all those with the power to do so enact change to restore faith in 

democracy, since it might be our only option. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is the way democracy treats us 

all. Or rather, the way that today’s current manifestation of democracy 

treats us. We have record amounts of money funding election 

campaigns, coming from sources with an interest that almost never 

align with the general population. The 2016 US Presidential Election 

campaigns raised $2.5 billion, with most of this coming from wealthy 

individuals and corporations. With an influence like this, it’s easy to 

see why the public feels like democracy simply doesn’t involve them 

anymore. The idea of one person, one vote, still holds technically true. 

By and large, however, when the vote of an entire nation is influenced 

by vested interests, a small number of individuals can effectively control 

millions of votes. 

Then there’s the many, many instances of political sell-outs. Voters of 

Palmer United back in 2013 would have understandably been frustrated 

when, one by one, every senator defected the party but still held their 

seat. Then there’s Cory Bernardi defecting from the Liberal Party that 

won him his seat, and Family First suddenly merging with Australian 

Conservatives without consultation of its membership. And then there’s 

the political policies that are obviously to the detriment of the average 

citizen; tax cuts to big business whilst penalty rates go, loans to a coal 

mining company that will pollute the earth and destroy the natural 

environment, the list goes on. 

Even when government policies actually do benefit the average person, 

quite often these benefits are hard to understand fully. The reignited 

debate surrounding globalisation compared with protectionism is a 

classic example of this. Policies that promote globalisation such as free 

trade deals are often given a bad rapport for their role in destroying jobs, 

and rightly so. However, these disadvantages are heavily outweighed by 

improved standards of living through cheaper goods, as each country 

can specialise in what it’s best at, with everyone winning. But the other 

side to the coin is often understated due to the fact that the effects of it 

are less personal in nature, and intrinsically harder to measure, despite 

the fact that they are as real as their downsides. In regards to faith in 

democracy, even when policies enacted through a democratic system 

benefit people, they can still be perceived negatively, thus contributing 

to a dissatisfaction with the democratic system. 


edition four 

lot’s wife 

looking back on 

australian indonesian 

business forum 2017 

article by andre nathaniel & patrick johannes kaihatu 

On the 6th of May 2017, the Indonesian Students Association (ISA) 

of Monash University held their annual event called the Australia 

Indonesia Business Forum (AIBF) with the theme ‘Opportunity: 

Forging creative and inspiring future leaders that seize to explore, 

expand and embrace opportunities.’ For this year’s event, ISA 

Monash held the event in 3 formats: class seminars, main seminars 

and networking dinner. This year, AIBF 2017 presents the following 

distinguished guests: 

1. Dr. Sofyan A. Djalil, S.H., M.A., M.ALD (Minister of Land Affairs / 

Agrarian and Spatial Planning of Indonesia) 

2. Tom Quinn, Founder of Future Business Council 

3. Adam Stone, Founder & CEO of speedlancer.com 

4. Shishir Pandit, Chair & Director of Global Consulting Group 

5. Christy Tania, Executive Pastry Chef at the Langham Hotel, Guest 

Judge on Masterchef Australia. 

6. Prof Denny Indrayana, Former Vice Minister of Law & Human 

Rights in Indonesia 2011-2014 

7. Gim Ng, Business development manager in Monash College 

8. Mr. Adrian Jusuf Chandra, President Commissioner of 

PT.Bhuwanatala Indah Permai Tbk. 

In the class seminars, Tom Quinn, Adam Stone, Shishir Pandit, Christy 

Tania and Prof. Denny Indrayana shared their personal experiences 

in creating and capturing opportunities in their life and careers. 

Additionally, participants were given the opportunity to gain deeper 

insights through the Q&A sessions with the guests. 

All guests were then invited to join the penultimate seminar session, 

which was delivered by Gim Ng on enhancing career opportunities. In 

this seminar, the participants also gained insight on job-seeking as he 

highlighted common mistakes that inhibits the job searching process for 

university students. 

Finally, the seminar sessions were ended with a speech by Dr. Sofyan A. 

Djalil who shared his experience of capturing opportunity by leaving his 

hometown in Aceh to emigrate to the capital city Jakarta. Furthermore, 

he had also provided insights into the future opportunities for the 

current generation of students in Indonesia. 

AIBF 2017 was ended with a networking dinner where the participants 

and distinguished guests had the opportunity to interact with each 

other as they enjoyed Indonesian refreshments and cuisine. 

Overall, the event was considered a success, as participants and 

committee members attained valuable knowledge from the guests and 

were inspired through the seminars and interactions. On the behalf of 

ISA Monash University and the Committee of AIBF 2017, we would like 

to thank everyone who has supported AIBF 2017. We hope to see you in 

AIBF 2018!

an explosive 

proposition 

article by benjamin caddaye 

artwork by jessica macgregor 

Blackouts, bill-shock and a lack of base-load power. These are 

seemingly the catchwords of Australia’s current electricity market. With 

the release of Chief Scientist Alan Finkel’s review, the issue of energy 

security has again come to the fore of political debate. As of last year, 

76% of electricity in the national energy market came from coal. Under 

Mr Finkel’s projections, coal would still generate over 50% of base-load 

power in Australia in 2030. This is far too large a proportion, but it then 

begs the question: if not coal, what? It is perhaps one of the biggest 

flashpoints in Australian energy policy over the past half century; but 

we need to consider far more seriously the option of nuclear power. Those 

two words are enough to get much of our nation’s environmentally 

conscious up in arms. But is the furore something that is based in valid, 

deep-seated concerns or in naivety as to the issue? 

It must be admitted that the societal angst towards the nuclear option 

has been compounded by historical disasters. Three-Mile Island in 1979, 

Chernobyl in 1986, and more recently the Fukushima disaster in 2011. 

While these events were calamites, they are not likely to be repeated. 

Chernobyl was caused by inherent design flaws of a Soviet-era reactor, 

Three-Mile by human-computer design oversights and Fukushima 

from a freak tsunami. 21st century reactor technology means that 

nuclear power generation is safer than it has ever been. It is also worth 

noting that the Australian landmass does not lie on any fault lines, and 

therefore does not experience severe earthquakes or tsunamis; making 

nuclear power a geographically sound proposition. 

that we have a plentiful supply, and therefore we should use it. However, 

the same can clearly be said for uranium and nuclear energy. The clearest 

benefit is the ability to provide consistent, reliable base-load power to 

the Australian market that is essentially CO2 emission free. This would 

enable Australia to become a world leader in green technology by having 

a strong, stable renewable-nuclear generation mix. 

It is impossible to ignore the fact that we are already experiencing the 

first effects of a global temperature rise. Record weather events are the 

norm in weekly news cycles. If we are to avoid irreversible damage to 

our planet, we need to act quickly and decisively. Up until this point, one 

of the few areas not explored when it comes to our energy security has 

been the nuclear option. I believe this is a serious error. Nuclear should 

feature more prominently in the debate about our energy security, and it 

is up to those of us who believe in nuclear to make our voices heard by 

our national parliamentarians. 

It is also easy to conflate the issue of nuclear power generation with 

the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The historical enmity towards 

nuclear power in Australia has links with the British weapons testing 

during the 1950s and the French tests in the pacific in the 1960s and 

70s. A generation of Australians grew up with the lingering shadow of 

mutually assured destruction. It is important, however, to separate these 

two issues. Australia has never had nuclear weapons ambitions, deciding 

against such a course in the early 1950s and is a ratified member of The 

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The advancement of nuclear energy 

generation in Australia would not result in a nuclear-armed Australia, 

and such claims are naïve and inflammatory. 

One of the remaining objections to nuclear power is the issue of waste. 

It is argued that nuclear power negates any possible environmental 

benefit from the reduction of CO2 emissions. For me, whenever I 

think of radioactive waste, I think of leaky green barrels and Mr Burns 

from The Simpsons. The reality is, however, as made clear by the World 

Nuclear Association, that the entire plants high-level waste per year is 

about as much as a two-storey building the size of a basket-ball court. 

Considering this is for all 449 plants worldwide, the amount that would 

be produced in Australia would be minuscule, and despite its potentially 

hazardous nature, it is a far more attractive prospect than the potential 

effects of climate change. 

This brings me to the obvious benefits of nuclear power. Australia is 

blessed with a wealth of natural resources; this includes a third of the 

world's uranium deposits. The proponents of coal make the argument 


edition four 

lot’s wife 

elon musk: 

hero or villain? 

article by nick jarrett 

artwork by angharad neal-williams 

Since the passing of technological juggernaut Steve Jobs 

in 2011, Silicon Valley has been desperate for a new genius 

to uphold its innovative and creative reputation. In the 

past few years, an heir apparent has emerged – SpaceX and 

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk. 

The South African-born, Canadian-American entrepreneur 

rose to fame for co-founding PayPal, prior to his more 

publicised ventures of Tesla and SpaceX, which propelled him 

towards worldwide fame and notoriety. But questions still 

remain about Musk’s character; his effect on our society and 

the motivations behind his unrelenting pursuit of innovation. 

Most recently, concerns over Musk’s moral compass has 

dampened his golden image. Only recently he was an 

advisor to President Trump, part of the Strategic and Policy 

Forum and Manufacturing Jobs Initiative. Musk has since 

resigned, following Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris 

agreement. 

His initial appointment and acceptance of the advisory role 

drew criticism. However Musk, a centrist, stated he would 

prefer to have a voice in the machinery of Washington than 

none whatsoever. It was his resignation, though, that sparks 

serious questioning. 

If Musk was so swayed by morals and social issues, his 

resignation begs the question as to why he even joined 

the administration. Trump’s consistent racism, misogyny 

and his rejection of science provided Musk with good 

reason to refuse to join the boards. Similarly, Trump’s 

defunding of Planned Parenthood and quasi-immigration 

ban have shocked the globe by their insensitivity. The 

question remains: was this withdrawal simply the last 

straw in Musk’s attempt to justify his position as an 

advisor? Or was his resignation to do with Tesla’s stance on 

environmentalism and therefore, a stance aligned with his 

company and its stakeholders. 

Ultimately, Musk’s public decisions do beg the question of 

whether he is acting as an individual swayed by personal 

ideals, or rather as a company CEO eager to capitalise on a 

financial opportunity. 

maintain Tesla’s progressive reputation, rather than as an 

individual passionate about social justice. 

Moreover, Musk has been in the spotlight over workplace 

safety concerns at Tesla manufacturing plants. On May 24, 

Worksafe published findings that Tesla had a rate of injuries 

34% higher than the industry average. Following this, Musk 

made an emotional statement declaring he would personally 

oversee all future workplace injuries. Further, he would take 

the time to work in each role of Tesla’s manufacturing so 

that he could understand the difficulties of his employees. 

This statement was made on May 31 and was met with 

widespread approval. The problem, though, is that the report 

was shown to Tesla as early as January. There were only 

brief and emotionless statements about workplace issues 

appearing prior to the publication of the report. 

Musk’s emotional response was not driven by the fact that 

his staff were more vulnerable to injury than the industry 

standard, but rather by the prospect of a negative public 

reaction to the findings. Why else was his statement not 

issued within a week of this data being shown to him in 

January? The answer is simple. Musk recognised that an 

emotional response would be most popular, as it appeared 

that he had no prior knowledge of the stats and was 

devastated to learn of the misfortune of his staff. That way 

he could control the issue in one powerful presentation. 

This also calls his moral stance into question anew. How 

can we believe he is emotionally aware of issues facing 

pockets of society, when he is apparently more driven by 

profits than the wellbeing of his employees? Is his response 

to both his position with Trump and the Worksafe findings 

no more than damage control? 

Despite his entrepreneurial genius, questions remain for 

Elon Musk. Is he a worthy face of global innovation? Or is 

he simply a commercially driven, profit-hungry public figure 

willing to sell his morals for a few more orders of his latest 

Tesla pursuits? 

It is rather convenient that the face of sustainable 

automotive endeavours would so publicly announce his 

resignation over an issue of sustainability. However, in the 

face of countless other social issues, he ignored the actions 

of the administration in order to retain his influence in the 

politics of the country. Ought Musk, for the sake of moral 

conviction, not have continued to advise Trump to restart 

work on sustainability in the environment? Thus, one might 

infer that Musk’s resignation was motivated by a desire to

science/engineering 

24-25

edition four 

lot’s wife 

the science 

of stress 

article by sasha hall 

artwork by lily greenwood 

Week one is an excellent time to tell yourself this 

semester will be different – less rushed assignment 

submissions, no 37 lectures to watch during SWOTVAC, 

and definitely less stress overall. Yes, you tell yourself, 

I can manage my time better, so that for once, I rule 

university and it does not rule me. The fact of the matter is, 

whether you keep your admirable new-semester resolutions 

or not, you will be stressed at some point in the next 

12 weeks. Every student has had to accept that stress is 

an inevitable part of university – just like HECS debt or 

spending too much on coffee and food. However, far from 

being an unfortunate byproduct of meeting the demands 

of semester, stress will take its toll on our wellbeing after 

semester and well after leaving university. 

On an individual level, it is no secret stress can make us 

more prone to both physical and psychological ailments 

such as neck pain, headaches, anxiety and depression. On a 

population level, the rising rates of stress-induced anxiety 

and depression among all ages is resulting in increased 

levels of suicide, with suicide becoming the leading cause of 

death for Australians from 15-44. As such, The World Health 

Organisation has dubbed stress the “health epidemic of the 

21st century”. All of this underlies a widespread problem 

that will send tidal waves through the healthcare system 

for generations. 

Fortunately, there are ways we can prevent stress from 

staying the new normal. Apart from addressing this issue 

through population healthcare, it is important to recognise 

the power we have as individuals. As a particularly stressedout 

bunch, we university students owe it to ourselves to 

hone our stress management skills and invest in greater 

long-term physical and mental health. By understanding 

the biology of stress, becoming self-aware of our stressors 

and actively diffusing stress, we are putting ourselves in 

better stead to deal with the next 12 weeks, and investing in 

greater long term physical and mental health. 

The science behind stress 

Regardless whether there are actual physical dangers 

present or if there are invisible stressors – an assignment 

lurking around the corner – our brains will respond 

to stressful stimuli by triggering a cascade of complex 

biological responses. This usually involves the activation 

of metabolic and physiological pathways (hormonal and 

neuronal responses) which act on a variety of tissues and 

organs. The outcomes may differ depending on the severity 

and duration of the stressors, but they ultimately help your 

body to work through the stressful period. However, when 

these pathways are activated for extended periods, they can 

often have a negative impact on overall health. 

A common stress response is known as the “fight or 

flight” response. It is the involuntary activation of the 

sympathetic nervous system, which will prepare the 

body for confrontation by diverting energy towards the 

most essential processes. After the brain has received a 

message of imminent threat, certain nerves are triggered 

and the hormones adrenaline and cortisol are secreted 

into the bloodstream. You might be familiar with the 

“adrenaline rush” feeling you have before a stressful event. 

Adrenaline slows digestion while increasing heart rate, 

blood sugar levels and blood flow to vital organs (heart, 

brain and muscles) as their energy demands increase to 

cope with stressors. Similarly, cortisol, which is usually 

secreted along with your circadian rhythm to regulate vital 

metabolic functions, alters metabolism so that more fats, 

glucose and proteins are broken down for energy. These 

primal responses, common among all mammals, have 

been essential to the survival of many species, especially 

when escaping predators or protecting territory. But in 

a modern human context, before giving a dreaded oral 

presentation,, it is slightly less useful. In this case, it can, 

rather unhelpfully, cause shakiness, heart palpitations and 

a dry mouth. 

Whilst short-term activation of these mechanisms will help 

you focus on the task at hand and facilitate a performance 

boost, long-term activation can be harmful to many aspects 

of mental and physical health. In the immediate future, 

you will experience a weakened immune response, and 

increased muscle tension and soreness. While later in life, 

the heightened blood cortisol and adrenaline levels result 

in elevated blood pressure and heart rate; a risk factor 

for cardiovascular diseases. Most importantly, however, 

chronic stress can rewire the neural circuitry of the brain, 

predisposing you to anxiety, depression and mood disorders. 

But relax! There is a whole long list of things you can 

do to mitigate or prevent the onset of chronic stress 

during semester. By taking regular breaks and engaging in 

these relaxing activities, you can help lower cortisol and 

adrenaline levels, essentially giving your body and your 

brain a deserving break to return to a calmer physiological 

state. 

Less stress, more chill 

Implementing stress reduction is more effective once you 

are self-aware of when and why you’re stressed, and the 

impact it is having on you physically and mentally. It is 

not so hard to recognise stress when you are hunched over 

a desk at 1AM, still trying to finish an assignment. And 

figuring out why you are stressed is easy too – it is probably 

uni, more specifically that ridiculous 3000-word assignment

your lecturers have not explained properly. Or maybe it has something 

to do with friends, family or work. But it might be harder to identify 

exactly how stress is affecting your body, mood and mind. We are often 

only subconsciously aware of these effects, and a concerted effort needs 

to be made to bring the physical manifestations of stress to the forefront 

of our consciousness. 

But once you have recognised all these things, you can do something 

about it! Give yourself the respect and time you deserve to just chill. 

Proven ways to de-stress 

Everyone releases stress differently. Whether it is getting active, starting 

a nice, long Netflix binge or hanging out with mates, it is important 

to try a few options and find out what works for you. What makes you 

go from stressed to chill? In case you do not have something in mind 

already, here are a few (taken from the masses of scientific literature) 

that might be a good starting point: 

Mindfulness meditation. This craze is here to stay, and with good 

reason. It might sound a bit… boring? Like sleeping but not actually 

sleeping? What am I actually supposed to do when I meditate? But 

everyone kind of starts out like that. After you get the hang of it, 

mindfulness really works – it is relaxing, and importantly it brings 

your attention to the physical effects of stress on your body. Plus, there 

is lots of evidence in support of it. You can try a few free apps which 

run through guided mindfulness meditations – Smiling Mind and 

Headspace are both excellent user friendly options. Just try it out – 

persevere for 10 minutes each day for a few days. By the end of it, if this 

just is not for you, try something else. 

Exercise. Whether it is high action sports to blow off steam or 

something more quiet like yoga, both forms of exercise are scientifically 

proven to lower stress levels by setting your body back to a calmer 

resting state. 

Talking and laughing with mates. You don’t need a scientist to tell 

you that spending time with friends and family, and cracking up ‘til you 

cannot breathe correlates to happiness and reduced stress – but science 

does concur. 

Food. Week 11 may have you mindlessly stuffing your face while working 

and worrying; but if you just take 15 minutes to sit, eat and enjoy your 

delicious toasted sandwich, this can go a long way to alleviate stress. 

How to let Monash de-stress you 

(since they are probably the cause of your stress): 

There are many facilities and options available on campus for students’ 

well-deserved stress relief needs. Do you feel like… 

Just walking around? The good news is we have a whole campus for 

that, and a few parts of it (minus construction areas) are actually quite 

picturesque. Take a 10-minute stroll to soak up all the greenery and 

architecture Clayton has to offer, or better yet, go exploring to the parts 

of campus you never dared to venture into before. The change of scenery 

is sure to give your mind a nice break. 

Taking a nap? Sadly, while there are not dedicated napping areas 

complete with masses of pillows, there are select spots that provide 

enough peace and cosiness for a bit of shut-eye. Although not accessible 

to all, the Women’s Room has a couple of beds on offer, and the 

Disability Support Services can provide those in need with access to 

beds (provided you have a suitable diagnosis). For everyone else, the 

easiest places seem to be John Medley Library and the comfy couches 

of Wholefoods, but little quiet spaces can also be found in the many 

libraries and small unoccupied study spaces around campus. 

Patting a dog or two that will sure be happy to see you? As you might 

have heard, Clayton Campus has had regular visits from Boof and his 

L-plater sister, and sometimes even a litter of their canine friends. It is 

truly a wonderful experience, so definitely keep an eye out, especially at 

the Law Library. 

Talking to someone who will actually listen? As much as you might 

not want to see a counsellor, it can help when friends and family are 

too stressed out to talk, or when you just do not know who to turn to. 

Whether it is serious anxiety or a general deflated feeling, talking to 

someone is likely to alleviate some of your worries. Monash counselling 

services are free, confidential and ultimately there for your use to help 

deal with the tougher parts of your university journey. You can book 

an appointment online or call the convenient 24/7 number for Monash 

Counselling 1300 STUDENT (1300 788 336). 

Hopefully, this semester will bring you less stress and more enjoyment. 

But even if it does not, hopefully it will be a start towards reclaiming 

your wellbeing from all kinds of stress, so you can focus on chilling and 

having fun. 

science/engineering 26-27

edition four 

lot’s wife 

the energy crisis 

and the finkel review 

explained 

article by ashley wah & benjamin neve 


Read any paper, news headline or QandA #hashtag, and 

you'll be led to believe Australia is in the grips of an 

energy crisis - a crisis so serious that we should all be 

wondering if our lights will turn on tomorrow. But what 

is an ‘energy crisis'? What were the chain of events that led 

us here, and what does it mean for me? 

A well performing national electricity system needs three 

things: reliability, affordability and low carbon emissions. A 

decade of what can only be described as shambolic energy 

policy has led to an insecure system still dominated by coal, 

where consumer costs are rising every year. 

Unfortunately, energy policy has become a political 

hot potato, between South Australian Premier Jay 

Weatherill's press conference face-off with Federal 

Energy & Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg and @ 

ElonMusk's #batterybet for SA, many people have been 

left understandably confused about how we got here. To 

make things easier to understand, I've compiled some of the 

crucial events surrounding the National Electricity Market 

and cut through the political bull in this explainer. 

Record SA Wholesale Prices - July 2016 

On July 7th, the wholesale price of electricity in SA spiked 

to over 800% of the historical average in similar years. 

This spike reflects a general trend of increasing wholesale 

energy costs across the country, which ultimately means 

higher costs for consumers. But what has caused this 

price volatility? The record prices in SA, in particular, were 

caused by a combination of a low wind power generation 

and limited supplies from other generators in the state, 

but Australia-wide, there is a significant lack of investment 

in new generation capacity to replace old, recently-retired 

generators. When 50-year-old coal stations finally begin 

closing down, investment uncertainty means that there is 

nothing to replace them. 

SA Statewide Blackout- September 2016 

We all saw the headlines and political banter - and no, the 

blackouts were not the fault of wind power. The Australian 

Energy Market Operator's investigation concluded that the 

statewide blackout was caused by severe weather crippling 

transmission lines setting off a chain reaction of inbuilt 

network safety mechanisms resulting in a black grid. 

Drama ensued, with political point scoring evidently more 

important than strong governance. 

Closure of Hazelwood Power Station- March 2017 

Engie, the owners of Hazelwood Coal Fire Station, 

announced the plant would be shut down after 50 years 

in service, citing the plant's age and dwindling economic 

viability as reasons for the closure. The shutdown leaves 

a considerable gap in Victorian generation capacity and 

will cause significant of job losses. And yet, there is still no 

credible plan on where to from here. 

The Finkel Review - June 2017 

Early June saw the release of Blueprint for the Future: 

Independent Review into the Future Security of the 

National Electricity Market (AKA ‘The Finkel Review'). 

This review is intended to bring some certainty back into 

Australia's energy market and was headed up by Australian 

Chief Scientist and former Monash University Chancellor, 

Dr. Alan Finkel AO. In his address to the National Press Club 

in Canberra on 21st June, Dr. Finkel demonstrated a superior 

understanding of Australia's energy market, in comparison 

to the politicians who actually control Australia's policy 

direction. On the causes of wholesale price increase, Dr. 

Finkel debunks the notion that power price increase are a 

result of investment in renewables over coal: 

“But for the longer term, it became clear to us that a more 

fundamental, underlying reason for rising prices in the 

wholesale market...is investor uncertainty. That uncertainty 

revolves around current and future emissions reduction 

policies.” 

The report's recommendation of a Clean Energy Target 

(CET) is designed to end this long and costly period of 

uncertainty and put downward pressure on power prices 

(contrary to what many pro-coal politicians will tell you). 

In his speech, Dr. Finkel addressed the challenges the 

Australian energy market may face in the future, and 

emphasised the concept of disruption. According to Dr. 

Finkel, disruptive forces are positive because they are the 

drivers of change, but if the system is not prepared or 

does not have the flexibility to adjust, then it can hinder 

development: 

“A second technological disruption are the nearly two 

million rooftop solar generators that householders have 

installed...[electricity demand] now ramps rapidly up 

and down during the day to the extent that it becomes 

difficult for slow-responding baseload generation to cope. 

The market into which coal generation operates has been 

forever changed.” 

Sadly, as soon as many politicians read the words ‘Clean 

Energy Target’ and hear of the decline of coal, alarm bells 

start to ring inside their head, and their agenda blinds 

them from recognising that we must reduce our carbon 

emissions. We signed the 2015 Paris Agreement and are 

therefore obliged to follow a certain path in emission 

reduction. The government announced shortly after the 

release of the report that it had accepted 49 of the 50

ecommendations put forth by Dr. Finkel and his colleagues. 

Not surprisingly, the only one which was not accepted 

straight away was the Clean Energy Target, which is 

effectively the cornerstone of the report. If the government 

decided to replace it with a less-effective alternative, it 

would only lead to more of what the report attempts to 

redress: investor uncertainty and higher consumer prices. 

In the future, more disruptive forces will undoubtedly 

emerge, which is why the Australian energy market requires 

certainty and an effective market-based mechanism to 

reduce emissions. Without one, we run the risk of further 

uncertainty and further price hikes in our energy bills. 

What can we do? 

Ultimately, what does this all mean for everyday consumers; 

should we be worried about the ‘lights turning on 

tomorrow'? The short answer is yes, the lights will come 

on, though this might not be the case if we continue on 

the same policy trajectory. Your bill is inevitably going to 

increase, and Great Barrier Reef will continue to be affected 

by global climate change as fossil fuel generation continues 

to dominate. 

As consumers, our options for action are limited. The 

best piece of advice we have is to switch to an energy 

retailer who is holding environmental credentials, actively 

investing in renewable generation in Australia, and backing 

consumers to make informed decisions about the way 

they use power. You can also let our government know 

that it’s time for genuine policy action and evaluation of 

opportunities presented in the recent Finkel Review. 

We recommend http://greenelectricityguide.org.au as a 

starting point for finding an environmentally-conscious 

energy retailer. 

MONASH SAFER COMMUNITY UNIT 

The Safer Community Unit (SCU) is the first point of enquiry 

for information, advice, support and coordination in 

managing inappropriate, concerning or threatening 

behaviours for staff and students. 

MONASH 

SAFER COMMUNITY UNIT 

T: +61 3 9905 1599 

E: safercommunity@monash.edu 

monash.edu 

• 

• 

You can ask for assistance if you: 

• Feel threatened or unsafe 

• Have concerns about someone else’s behaviour or wellbeing 

• Have received unwanted attention 

• Are worried about someone harming themselves or someone else 

What kind of behaviour does the SCU deal with? 

Stalking 

Uttered threats 

• Hazing 

• Sexual offences 

• Family and interpersonal violence 

• Sexual harassment 

• Unacceptable 

workplace behaviour 

For information, advice and support in a safe environment, please contact the Monash University Safer Community Unit on 9905 

1599 or just dial 51599 from a Monash phone.The Safer Community Unit website also lists resources and links to external agencies 

http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/safercommunity/ 


edition four 

lot’s wife 

alcohol poisoning: 

what to do in a pickle 

article by ayushi chauhan & bryan tan 


It’s a Thursday after exams and you’re at the Nott, celebrating your 

exams. As usual, there’s always that one friend who has had a bit too 

much to drink, and you wonder if you should be worried. Turns out they 

were just taking a quick powernap before their next iced beverage. But 

that’s not to say the next person over isn’t in trouble. 

Everyone has known someone who needed to be helped home after 

a wild night. But what should you do when somebody has fallen 

unconscious and you’re worried about them? Alcohol is rampant 

everywhere you go: pubs, clubs, house parties, in Aunty Martha’s “fizzy 

drink”. In fact, it’s been found that the average party goer consumes 

an average of 7 drinks by 1am on a weekend night. So what does this 

all mean? Well, medically that means that you’re binge drinking. Let’s 

break it down. A standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol. So how 

much your beer has in it depends on its alcohol concentration. This is 

displayed on all alcohol bottles. We’ve summarised the standard drinks 

for you below; a full list can be found at alcohol.gov.au. 

According to the National Guidelines, the recommended limit for men 

and women is 2 standard drinks. A binge is any occasion where 4 or more 

standard drinks are consumed within two hours. 

So, what happens when your friend goes beyond the recommended 

limit? You’ve seen (and probably experienced) their slurred speech, foggy 

thinking, and that overly loud behaviour that many revelers exhibit. 

But when should you be really, really worried? Alcohol is a depressant, 

which means that it interferes with the way your brain functions. This 

can result in failure of your gag reflex kicking in, and can alter your 

breathing, leading to dangerous consequences. If your friend shows any 

of the following symptoms- call 000! 

Often these are serious sign of alcohol poisoning: 

• Seizures 

• Choking on their vomit 

• Unconsciousness or unable to be roused 

• Irregular breathing, slowed breathing or no signs of breathing 

• Bluish-pale lips, cold clammy skin 

• Confusion 

It’s important to remember that the only thing that truly helps sober 

someone up is time. But in the meantime there are things you can do: 

The most important thing is to STAY with your friend. Make sure you 

try and keep your friend awake (perhaps by enticing them with the 

smell of Maccas). 

If at any point they do fall unconscious or look like they’re choking 

in their sleep turn them onto their side in the recovery positions (see 

the picture below). This will help open their airway and prevent them 

from choking on their tongue or vomit. Don’t ever leave someone who 

is vomiting and if they exhibit any of the serious alcohol poisoning 

symptoms call 000. 

https://blog.physical-sports.co.uk/2014/09/19/the-recovery-position/ 

Time for a quiz - True or false? 

Beer before liquor, never been sicker; 

liquor before beer, you’re in the clear – FALSE 

This is a common misconception. Getting a hangover is dependent on 

the amount of alcohol you drink rather than the order that you drink 

it in. In the end it’s about how many standard drinks you take and how 

quickly you drink them that determines whether you get a hangover. 

Forcing yourself to vomit up the alcohol helps you sober up – FALSE 

This is really bad because the gag reflex is impaired when drunk and you 

can accidentally choke on your vomit. Moreover, by the time you decide 

to vomit up the alcohol, it’s already in your system and will take quite a 

while to metabolise. The reason you feel more sober though is because 

of the adrenaline released from the physical effort of vomiting. Give it 30 

minutes though and you might not be feeling so great. 

Walking your friend around can work off that alcohol – FALSE 

Only time can overcome the effects of alcohol and dragging your drunk 

friend around the block can result in trips and falls. 

The key guys, is to prevent the worst before it ever happens. Remember 

to pace yourself; by keeping track of the number of drinks you’ve thrown 

back, you’ll be sure to be pleasantly buzzed without all the regrets the 

next morning. The standard drinks table above is helpful to track your 

drinks, but you can always look at the details on any alcohol bottle 

as well. Even if you feel like you’re missing out on all the chugging 

competitions, your wallet (and liver) will thank you by setting a limit on 

the drinks you buy. 

Of course, the number one rule of the game is to NEVER ever drink on 

an empty stomach. Have a nice carb-heavy (if you’re not on a diet) meal 

with your buds before you head out for a great night. Alcohol is absorbed 

straight from your stomach lining, and if there’s food there already it 

will take longer for the alcohol to take effect. Also sorting out a plan to 

get home can motivate you to reign it in. Knowing you have a bus to 

catch or a specific time your ride is going to pick you is helpful. 

No one’s saying not to have fun, but the next time you get really worried 

for your friend you’ll know exactly what to do.

Test Your Inner 

Science Nerd II 

Test Your Inner Science Nerd-II 

1 

crossword by austin luke 

2 3 

5 

4 

6 

7 8 

9 

10 

11 12 13 

16 

14 15 

17 18 

19 20 

21 22 

24 

23 

*for solutions with more than one word, ignore spaces 

Created with TheTeachersCorner.net Crossword Puzzle Generator 

Across 

2. With two outer shell electrons (8) 

5. The number 6.022 x 1023 (9) 

6. Thermodynamics: moving from an ordered state into a 

disordered one (7) 

7. _____ organs have lost their original functions through 

evolution (9) 

9. Geologic period when the T.Rex lived (10) 

11. The first computer programmer (3,8) 

12. Law relating current, voltage and resistance (4) 

14. Only element in periodic table with simple cubic crystal 

structure (8) 

15. Ratio between a circle’s circumference and _____ is π (8) 

16. Number of inputs for binary computers (3) 

17. Samsung’s new digital assisstant (5) 

20. Fear of spiders (13) 

21. Mass movement of volcanic material (ash, lava, rock fragments, 

gases, etc.) (11,4) 

24. In chemisty: flask for standard solutions (10) 

Down 

1. Australian city: home to the largest tensegrity bridge (8) 

3. Malware that blocks computer access until money is paid (10) 

4. Only species of bird able to recognise itself in a mirror (6) 

8. What does the S.I. stand for in S.I. units (hint: it’s French) (7,13) 

10. Why did the apple fall to the ground? (7) 

13. Monash _____ designs, builds and races Formula-style race cars 

(10) 

15. Physics: the substance that makes up 27% of our universe (4,6) 

18. Organelle that assembles proteins (8) 

19. Monash University’s most popular Facebook group (12) 

22. Human CO2 emissions largely come from burning _____ fuels 

(6) 

23. Small circular double-stranded DNA in bacteria (7) 

1. BRISBANE, 2. BIVALENT, 3. RANSOMEWARE, 4. MAGPIE, 5. AVOGADROS, 6. ENTROPY, 7. VESTIGIAL, 8.SYSTEME INTERNATIONAL, 9. 

CRETACEOUS, 10. GRAVITY, 11. ADA LOVELACE, 12. OHMS, 13. MOTORSPORT, 14. POLONIUM, 15A. DIAMETER, 15D. DARK MATTER, 16. TWO, 

17. BIXBY, 18. RIBOSOME, 19. STALKERSPACE, 20. ARACHNOPHOBIA, 21. PYROCLASTIC FLOW, 22. FOSSIL, 23. PLASMID, 24. VOLUMETRIC. 


edition four 

lot’s wife 

Science News 

Science/Engineering Sub-Editor Team 

Art Meets Science: Monash 

University to Highlight Three Pioneer 

Women Scientists in New Play 

THE lives of three inspirational women 

scientists – Marie Curie, Lise Meitner and 

Hedy Lamarr – will be showcased in a oneoff 

performance presented by the Monash 

University Faculty of Science, in conjunction 

with the School of Physics and Astronomy. 

‘Curie, Meitner, Lamarr – Indivisible’, an 

international play produced by the Viennese 

Association portraittheatre will be performed 

at Monash University Clayton on the 15th of 

August as a part of National Science Week. 

The international play highlights the public 

and professional hostility that Curie, Meitner 

and Lamarr faced during their careers as well 

the value of their contributions to science. 

Source: Monash University 

3D Modelling Reveals How 

Plesiosaurs Swam With Such Long 

Necks 

NEW hydrodynamic modelling from 

the Liverpool John Moores University in 

the UK has removed some of the mystery 

surrounding one of the more extraordinary 

dinosaurs. Living during the early Jurassic 

Period, plesiosaurs are famous for having 

incredible long necks - up to a length of 7m! 

These extreme proportions have perplexed 

scientists as to how plesiosaurs moved and 

swam without damaging their necks. Using 

a 3D model, plesiosaur locomotion was 

simulated, revealing that these dinosaurs 

likely only bent their necks at very slow speeds 

to avoid excessive pressure on their spine, and 

may have been primarily ambush predators to 

take advantage of their extensive reach. 

Source: Science Daily 

Tickets Please: Sydney ‘Biohacker’ 

Has Transport Card Chip Implanted 

in Hand 

A Sydney man has had the near-field 

communication (NFC) chip of an Opal 

transport card implanted into his hand, 

allowing him to access public transport by 

simply touching his hand against the reader. 

The ‘Bio-Hacker’ Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma 

Meow-Meow (his legal name) has said that 

increases the overall convenience and security 

of using public transport. “If someone stole 

my wallet, I could still get home,” he said. 

Mr. Meow-Meow had the implant inserted 

into his hand by a piercing expert and warns 

against trying the procedure at home. Meow- 

Meow also has an implant in his arm which he 

uses to keep documents on, and looks forward 

to when implants are widely used. 

Source: ABC News 

Boaty McBoatface Successfully 

Completes First Major Expedition 

THE humorously named deep-sea research 

submarine Boaty McBoatface returned from 

its first scientific expedition in late June, 

having made a total of three dives to a depth 

of 4000m. The submersible was used to 

map the movement of deep ocean currents 

travelling from Antarctica to the Atlantic 

Ocean. Boaty McBoatface received its name 

from a public poll carried out in 2016 that 

intended to suggest a name for the UK’s new 

polar research ship. Deemed inappropriate 

for such a vessel, the name was given to a 

research submarine instead. The success of 

Boaty’s first mission will allow it to complete 

more complex work in the future. 

Source: BBC News 

Elon Delivers: Tesla will build the 

world’s largest lithium ion battery in 

South Australia 

SOUTH Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, 

together with Tesla founder Elon Musk have 

announced together that Tesla will construct 

the world’s largest lithium ion battery in 

South Australia. The 100-megawatt battery 

will be paired with the Hornsdale Wind Farm 

to act as a back-up, storing excess energy to 

feed back into the grid during high demand. 

The announcement comes after the South 

Australian blackouts in September 2016, 

sparking a spate of political and public 

debates on the reliability of new energy 

technologies in Australia. The battery will 

be made up of thousands of Tesla car battery 

units and combined, will be able to power 

30,000 homes. The project is on a strict 100- 

day timelines, however Musk is confident in 

Tesla’s ability to deliver on time. 

Source: New Scientist 

Find out your blood type in 2 minutes 

or your money back! 

SCIENTISTS at the Large Hadron Collider 

facility at CERN, Switzerland have discovered 

a new ‘double heavy’ particle that will assist 

in the understanding of the ‘strong force’, 

which holds the nucleus of atoms together. 

Neutrons and protons at the centre of atoms 

are made up of three smaller particles called 

quarks, which can be either light or heavy. 

Led by Glasgow University, this study has 

discovered the first instance of a particle 

with two heavy quarks (where previously at 

most one heavy quark has been observed). 

The next step for the team is to determine 

how this new arrangement behaves and more 

importantly, how the strong force keeps this 

novel arrangement in place. Researchers 

described the discovery as ‘a new frontier in 

understanding the strong force’. 

Source: BBC News 

artwork by maria volobueva

arts/culture 

32-33

edition four 

lot’s wife 

interview: 

san cisco 

interview by reece hooker 

San Cisco have long felt like a contradiction. On their 

self-titled 2012 debut, they were fresh out of high school but 

were already proficient at steadily balanced raw emotion 

with bubbly humour. They followed that up with Gracetown, 

a melancholy-drenched record of breakup songs written to 

the rhythm of toe-tapping guitar riffs. 

Settling in on The Water, their just-released third album, 

that contradiction seems to have resolved itself through 

the process of organic maturation. Submitting their most 

compact project yet (10 tracks), The Water has the clearest 

direction we’ve seen from San Cisco. 

Frontman Jordi Davieson continues to brood over fractured, 

crumbling relationships but now, the music stands as a 

mirror to the sunny sadness of the lyrics rather than a 

jarring juxtaposition. 

Without losing their signature danceable spark, San Cisco 

have channelled influences across three to four decades 

of pop to find the nuance, maturity and personality that 

elevates The Water up as their best project yet. 

Speaking on the phone to Lot’s Wife a week after The 

Water’s release, San Cisco’s songwriting, guitar-playing 

maestro Josh Biondillo talks the recording process, getting 

his mum’s approval and how he writes so many bloody good 

melodies. 

Hey Josh, thanks for making the time to chat. How’s the 

day been? 

Good, I’ve just been easing into the day. We’ve just come off 

the back of a month of rehearsals so this is our first day off 

– kind of, not really. We’re doing promo today. 

There’s never really a day off, is there? 

No, there’s not… 

How’s the live show coming along, is it shaping up well? 

It’s good, yeah. I think we’ve levelled it up this time around, 

it’s starting to take shape which is good. 

You’re heading down our way soon for Urban Spread, 

where you’ll be playing some shows out in the suburbs. 

Does this feel like a bit of a return to your roots after 

touring the world? 

I guess so, it’s part of the Australian tour so it’s just another 

show on the tour. It’ll be a good one. 

Do you notice anything different when you play the 

smaller-sized venues or is it all the same good time? 

I think it’s a good thing to do, it’s definitely good to play 

smaller, more intimate shows which I like actually, I think 

it’s good. It’s kind of a better connection to the crowd. 

Does it change anything in the way you play or plan out 

the set? 

It’ll probably be the same set, but I think the crowd and the 

venue make for a different kind of experience for all of us. 

What are your earliest gig memories? 

To be honest with you, I didn’t really get out very much 

when I was younger. It’s only been very recently that I’ve 

been able to get out and watch gigs. When I say very 

recently, I mean the past five years since I left school. 

The early shows that I saw were kind of the big touring acts 

that were coming out in the big, huge venues like arenas, 

like your Bob Dylans and stuff like that. 

How much of that stays with you now? 

I’m still a huge Bob Dylan fan. It has all kind of trickled 

through to my understanding of how live shows should 

happen, I guess. 

Let’s chat music. You’ve got a hot new album out that 

everyone’s talking about. What’s the first week after 

release like? 

It’s been good! I think people seem to like it, it has been 

well-received but I don’t know. We’ve not really spoken to 

our manager about it just yet because, like I said, we’ve been 

making the live show so we haven’t really had time to get

the word on it. 

But yeah, I think it feels good. I don’t feel like it has hit any 

walls, really. 

Were there many nerves going into release or were you 

comfortable and happy no matter what happened? 

I was definitely nervous, I think [the album] came from a 

very different place and feels like a very different effort this 

time around. In some ways, it feels like a very exciting social 

experiment. 

There’s really no way of knowing, it’s not like an engineer 

who mathematically knows that his product is going to live 

up what he intends it to. With music it’s a lot to do with 

personal taste and for me, it’s like – I like it, [vocalist] Jordi 

likes it, my mum likes it. That’s all you’ve really got to go by. 

And mum’s approval is probably the most important, isn’t 

it? 

It definitely is! Always. 

I find that comparison to an engineer really interesting. 

You’ve got an incredible knack for writing melodies and 

I think it’s one of the first things that jump out to people 

listening to San Cisco. Is there a bit of a science behind 

the art, or does it come completely naturally to you? 

It’s partly natural, but I feel like we’ve gotten better at 

writing songs. Obviously, the more you do something the 

better you get at it, but I feel like my mind for melodies is 

definitely something that I’ve developed and I feel like I’m 

getting better at with the more music that I listen to and 

as my taste evolves, I guess as well it changes the way I 

approach melody. 

When you did Gracetown, Daft Punk came up as an album 

you were smashing in the studio, which maybe leaked 

into the record as an influence. What did you listen to 

this time around? 

What was I listening to? I don’t know, I’ve been listening to 

a lot of old music. I haven’t really found any new music I’ve 

been digging, I’m on this 1970’s West Coast Americana thing 

at the moment, like The Eagles and that whole scene. 

After the 60’s, these bands had established themselves 

as artists and had made a fair bit of cash, and they were 

looking to reinvent themselves. 

At the same time, producers were getting a lot more 

savvy in the studio with pushing things further, pushing 

production techniques and I’ve been really digging that era 

of music. Bands like The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers, bands 

from Los Angeles and bands from the West Coast. 

Is this your first deep dive into that sound or are you 

revisiting after previously going in? 

It’s my first deep dive into it, it’s the first time I’ve given it 

a listen. 

Is it important for you to delve into the history of the 

genre and understand where each era fits? 

I guess it’s important because it helps me understand where 

it comes from, how they went about doing it and why it 

presents itself the way it does. 

You touched before on producers, I’ve read that on 

Gracetown you weren’t planning on producing with Steve 

Schram until it just happened. Was Steve your go-to man 

from the start on this one? 

Yeah, he really was. We were – not apprehensive – but we 

were trying to do it ourselves with Gracetown and then it fell 

into doing it again with him because we had worked with 

him in the past. 

we decided to go with him again with The Water and it 

definitely came from a different place in the sense that, 

with Gracetown, we had a lot more ammunition going into 

the studio but with The Water, we did a lot of writing in the 

studio – it almost entirely came about in the studio. 

I did hear that you had a more collaborative approach to 

song-writing on this record, what did that result in? 

Yeah, like I said, because we had less coming into the studio, 

there were less things that had been done start to finish 

on my phone or laptop or whatever. Because it was done 

together in the studio, it was a lot more collaborative like 

that. 

Steve’s apparently the man to rein in the band’s 

weirdness, but it seems like you’re getting a longer leash 

on each record. What would it sound like if you were 

completely left to your own devices? 

It probably wouldn’t be too different; we’ve learnt how to do 

this together. I think, because of our understanding and our 

approach to making music, it would be pretty similar. 

Each of your albums feel like a maturation of an earlier 

sound, which I think is really rewarding for fans tracking 

each release. I’ve heard you describe it as a natural, more 

mature and professional growth – can you detail what 

those changes look like? 

I just think that songwriting-wise, songwriting in its 

raw state, I think it’s a lot more mature effort … I think 

melodically it goes to different places than it has before and 

even production-wise, we just got our hands on new bits of 

software that have been inspiring for us. 

I think that comes through on the album, we can hear a 

whole bunch of sounds that are just different to anything 

we’ve heard on a San Cisco album and it’s really cool. 

Yeah, I guess it’s a very natural kind of progression. 

Gracetown got its name from a small town with some 

heavy ties to the band. What’s the meaning behind The 

Water and why did that stick? 

The Water was something [drummer] Scarlett really liked 

and latched onto, kind of how it tied into the aesthetic and 

the artwork. I guess that’s really where it stemmed from, 

just the artwork. 

The art is by the same artist as Gracetown, isn’t it? 

Yeah, a local guy. 

Urban Spread has put together some dream 

combinations. I know your special guests are still under 

wraps, but I gave you a magic phone and you could get 

any artist for Urban Spread, who’d you call? 

Who would I get? That’s a hard one. 

Sorry, I’ve put you on the spot a bit there. 

I don’t know, maybe, I reckon the rest of the band would 

agree with me, maybe André 3000? If we could get him out 

the retirement home, that’d be sick. 

San Cisco and 3 Stacks, that’s a show I wouldn’t mind 

seeing. Thanks for making the time to chat Josh, and 

we’ll catch you on the national tour. 

My pleasure, thanks. 

San Cisco’s The Water is available now. 

Because we had such a fruitful experience with Gracetown, 

arts/culture 34-35

edition four 

lot’s wife 

ansel elgort and lily james: 

baby driver is a 

musical delight 

article by nick bugeja 

English director Edgar Wright’s latest film, Baby Driver, has been 

described as exciting Hollywood fare, an action heist film, and a ‘car 

movie’. According to Ansel Elgort, who plays Baby, it is also a musical. 

Perhaps just not in the legacy of Singin’ in the Rain. 

“I loved [doing Baby Driver]. It reminded me of doing musicals, which 

are based around choreography. So, the music gave the film pace and 

structure. If there was a beat to the song, you know the pace of the scene 

and you really feel it.” 

Lily James, who plays Baby’s refreshingly kind girlfriend Debora, concurs 

with Elgort’s appraisal: “You might have thought [the choreography] 

would get in the way… But it felt really organic because we were able to 

harness the momentum it afforded us.” 

Unlike the bulk of Hollywood films churned out each year, Baby Driver 

is almost solely driven by music. This is immediately apparent, when we 

first hear the strains of ‘90s alt-rock hit ‘Bellbottoms’ thundering from 

Baby’s headphones. Wright continues this trend with songs from Queen, 

The Beach Boys, Blur, and Simon and Garfunkel. 

Whole scenes of Baby Driver were shaped by music, a novel and inspired 

decision made by Wright. “The whole cast always had music in their 

ears; I did through headphones, and the others through the airwaves. 

Everyone is moving to music, whether it is noticeable or not,” Elgort said. 

“In the camera tests, Edgar put on the songs that would be in the film, 

and we just danced to it. We were basically jiving to it. He made the 

music feel ingrained in everything we did,” recalled James fondly. 

That music pervades Baby Driver is attributable to Elgort’s Baby, who 

constantly plays music on his iPod to drown out the tinnitus he 

acquired in a car accident. Bats (Jamie Foxx) and Griff (Jon Bernthal), 

Baby’s criminal colleagues, berate Baby for this unique dependence. His 

employer, and ruthless crime boss, Doc (Kevin Spacey), accepts it. After 

all, Baby is the best getaway driver in the business. When Baby wants to 

get out to make a life with Debora, Doc pulls him back in threateningly 

with ‘one final job’. Needless to say, things become more complicated 

than Baby anticipates. 

Thankfully, for Elgort, Foxx is vastly different to his character. “I’m a big 

Jamie Foxx fan, and I wanted to share my music with him.” On the first 

day of rehearsal, Elgort received a surprise when Foxx invited him to his 

home music studio. Elgort even ended up doing a studio session with 

Foxx and Flea from the Chilli Peppers, “which was friggen awesome.” 

Talking about Baby Driver, it was clear James and Elgort had an 

exceptionally positive experience – betrayed by their leaning forward 

and quickening speech patterns when recalling on-set antics. “You’re all 

sharing the music and the moment, which is great,” said James. 

It is easy to forget that James, 28, and Elgort, 23, are relative newcomers 

to the screen; such is their professionalism and mature approach to their 

work. Nonetheless, they have made the most of their burgeoning careers, 

with James starring in Downton Abbey, War and Peace and as Cinderella in 

Cinderella. Elgort has, similarly, starred in a host of successful young-teen 

films such as the Divergent film series and The Fault in Our Stars. 

It is hardly surprising, then, that their chemistry as Baby and Debora adds 

a vital emotional component to an otherwise car-chase heavy, adrenalinefueled 

film. “We didn’t do a chemistry test, as you sometimes do,” James 

said, “but we had rehearsals where Edgar would get really excited. 

Everything felt really natural, and I think the music helped that happen.” 

As was becoming a common theme, James praised Wright for his “wellwritten 

scenes that show how the characters open up and develop. 

Baby’s opening up to Debbie is a really important and powerful part of 

the film.” Elgort certainly felt the same appreciation for Wright, with 

whom he “hit it off. Because he just knows everything about music.” 

The same can be said about Wright’s knowledge of cinema, for his films 

are stacked with nods, gestures and references to other works. When I 

quizzed James and Elgort about a reference to Taxi Driver, both of them 

instantly started nodding in affirmation: “We weren’t told. But I’m sure 

it is [a reference].” Elgort elaborated, “Edgar is always referencing things, 

but it’s not overly obvious. He doesn’t even tell us as cast members. And 

it doesn’t feel like he’s taking us out of the movie, like ‘oh my god, that’s 

Taxi Driver’.” 

Wright’s use of cinema history is not purely referential. “When we would 

do rehearsals with Edgar, he would show us YouTube clips of the best 

scenes in films. ‘When you tell Doc and the whole group what the plan 

is, I want you to spit it back like this guy does in this film’,” Elgort told 

me. “Because of that, I think people will watch clips of Baby Driver and 

say, ‘that scene from Baby Driver is so sick’. You leave it to Edgar Wright 

to do that.” 

Elgort didn’t just do Baby Driver because he admired Wright. He was also 

motivated by a personal connection to the character of Baby. “When I 

first read the script, I thought ‘this is so right for me. I could totally play 

this role’. Like Baby, I have had plenty of sleepless nights while staying 

up making music.” James interjected, jokingly saying, “I like the music 

so much that I’m going to do a one-woman cabaret of all of the songs in 

Baby Driver.” 

Upon wrapping up the interview, I discovered that Melbourne was a 

special place for James and Elgort. James’s brother, a sports reporter, 

lives here. “He took me to a game at the MCG between Melbourne and 

Carlton.” Elgort’s connection to Melbourne is a bit more unexpected: 

“I told Edgar yesterday we were going to Melbourne, and there’s great 

dance music there – Melbourne Bounce in 2014 was this big thing… like 

Will Sparks.” 

Baby Driver is now in cinemas.

accepting that my 

first novel is fan fiction 

article by rachael welling 

artwork by angharad neal-williams 

Like many aspiring writers, I started writing when I was thirteen. Very 

few of my ideas made it onto a page, and most often it was objectively 

terrible. But the passion stuck, and at fifteen I told my parents that I 

wanted to be a writer. 

‘No one makes money writing’ was their reply. Young, impressionable 

and practical, I listened to my parents and studied Engineering. It was 

either a good job, or a career as a writer. But, at twenty, when I had an 

article published in this very magazine, I decided I could try my hand at 

both. 

I began calling myself a ‘writer’ for real, but after a year of ‘writing’ I 

had barely anything to my name except a few articles and a handful of 

short stories. I also discovered that my parents were largely right. While 

writing can bring in money, neither the people making money nor the 

money itself are abundant. It’s a modern conundrum; everyone can write 

and anyone can publish, so why pay for it? 

When I was twenty-one, I played that new Legend of Zelda game. I fell 

in love with the world, and the characters, and the story. All I could 

think was, what happens next? Where does this story lead? On the fly, 

almost as a joke, I brainstormed a ‘sequel’ with my boyfriend over dinner; 

wouldn’t it be cool if, wouldn’t this be fun if… 

The next morning, my ‘sequel’ was still swimming around in my head, 

stuck there unless I could shake it loose somehow. So I thought, fuck 

it. I will write this story. It would be easy enough. Being a ‘sequel’ the 

background was already established, and would be well understood by 

any potential readers. But no ignoring it, my story was fan fiction. The 

term conjures up trashy, wish-fulfillment, self-insert writing set in some 

Harry Potter or Supernatural multiverse and, thanks to Fifty Shades of Grey 

(which has its origins from Twilight), it’s basically the black sheep of the 

fiction family. 

I was different though, I told myself. My fan fiction was just a writing 

exercise, practice for when I was a real writer. I wrote 3000 words and 

put my first chapter online. A day later I had five followers. Then ten. So 

I wrote more, received nice reviews and more followers, leading me to 

write even more. 

I wanted to share my ‘success’ somehow, but was too embarrassed to. 

My partner already knew. He knew it was fan fiction, and he didn’t care, 

“I’m just happy you’re working on something”. I told my parents, vaguely 

describing it as a ‘fantasy novel’, and proudly announcing that I had 

recently hit the 50,000 word mark. “You could have written your Master’s 

thesis with that many words,” my mum said. I told friends as well, giving 

them the same ‘fantasy novel’ line, and they asked if I would let them 

read it. “Oh, maybe once it’s done, it’s a bit niche,” I said, unable to admit 

just how niche it really was. 

And then one of my readers, a Texan woman named Michelle, offered 

to help edit my chapters. She took me to task, held nothing back, and 

together we turned my amateurish ramblings into something of actual 

quality. I received more reviews; ‘This is amazingly well written! Please 

write more!’ 

And I did. I worked hard at it. Michelle and I did research, we talked 

about flow, about tone. We grappled with characterization, with lore, 

with staying true to the source material. We were working double time, 

torn between the need to capture the spirit of the original game and 

my desire to impart my own style onto the work. After all, fan fiction at 

its heart exists to extend the original work, created because fans love 

something so much that they just want more. If we deviated too much, 

then we would lose readers. But having an editor who took me seriously 

made me realise that this wasn’t some silly writing exercise anymore. If 

this was practice for being a real writer, then I had to act like one. 

So I held firm – if I started making creative decisions based on what 

I thought would be popular, then the work really would be ‘just fan 

fiction’. Some reviews came in discussing the direction I took with 

certain characters – ‘Your characterisations are surprising, and kind of 

unexpected, but they really work!’ – and I knew we’d struck a balance. 

We published more, and more, and soon we hit 100,000 words. 

And then someone drew a scene from my work, as they were just so 

inspired by it. And then someone left a review saying that the latest 

chapter made them cry. After that, someone messaged me to say that 

they’re learning English and that they love how clear my style is. I 

checked my stats and was floored to find that I had 300 followers. 

It was too much to be ashamed of anymore. I had affected people with 

something I wrote, and I decided I had to take pride in that. Yeah, it was 

fan fiction, but that no longer mattered. 

Because I’ve now realised that there’s nothing wrong with a good story. 

It doesn’t matter where it comes from, or who wrote it. It doesn’t matter 

if the characters are original, or re-works, or someone else’s entirely. 

It doesn’t matter if it’s told over the dinner, or in print, or made into a 

blockbuster film, or never made into anything at all. If a story resonates 

with people, then it’s real, and it matters. And if the only person that 

it resonates with is you, then all the same. Now, if someone asks what 

I’m working on, I just tell them; “Yeah, I’m writing a sequel to that new 

Legend of Zelda game, it’s called From the Ground Up, and I’m really proud 

of it”. 

I want to keep calling myself a writer no matter what it means, no 

matter what I actually produce and no matter if I actually make any 

fucking money. Fan fiction or no, here’s to the passion that makes 

writers want to write. Here’s to the love of telling. Here’s to un-original 

ideas, and potential copyright issues, and trashy wish fulfilment. In this 

modern age, it’s all derivative anyway. 

If you really want to read my story, and happened to have played The Legend of 

Zelda: Breath of the Wild (in classic fan fiction style, the work doesn’t make any 

sense unless you have), you can find it here: 

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10515429 

arts/culture 36-37

edition four 

lot’s wife 

the politics of 

metropolis 

article by nick bugeja 

artwork by nathan kaseng um 

The film begins with a group of workers walking mechanically into 

one of the many factories that lie beneath the surface of the city. Their 

work is what created, and sustains, the apparently wonderful city of 

Metropolis. Yet they receive none of the fruits of their labour. The 

workers are confined to underground factories and tunnels, bereft of the 

colour and life that seems to define the innovative Metropolis. 

The workers are zombified – their labour is exploited beyond measure 

by the rich industrialists, and they are dormant to the possibilities of 

working life. They are literally forced to work underground, symbolic of 

their class position. Lang’s organisation of the workers in a large cluster 

attends to their untapped potential: a Marxist, active, collectivised 

proletariat could “break free” of their chains. 

This highly-stylised image of an oppressed, asleep working class stays 

with us. It is a significant point of reference; as we gradually observe the 

workers seeking to emancipate themselves. The opening of the film is 

consistent with Lang’s views of the state of Weimar Germany. 

On the surface of things, Fritz Lang’s seminal Metropolis is one of the 

greatest silent films. It is an incontrovertible hallmark of the sciencefiction 

genre, having paved the way for ambitious, futuristic films such 

as Blade Runner, Gattaca and even Star Wars. The epic sets, atmospheric 

aesthetic and notable set pieces; characterised by a grandiosity not yet 

seen in cinema, ushered in new and exciting cinematic conventions that 

exist to this day. 

Buried beneath the marvellous varnish of Metropolis is a political film 

that demands our attention. The times in which the film was made – 

1920s Weimar Germany – provided a great deal of inspiration for Lang to 

ground Metropolis in a basically political context. Even though Metropolis 

takes place in 2026, it is clear that Lang seeks to comment on the 

contemporary state of German working and economic life. Or, at least on 

the trajectory of German society. 

Germany had just suffered defeat in WW1. It had no choice but to 

sign the treaty of Versailles – its soldiers were dying, and the people 

of Germany starving. Its allies were vanquished into non-existence. 

Consequently, Germany agreed to pay significant war reparations to 

Britain and France, and it ceded 13% of its land. 

Even without the humiliating terms of the treaty of Versailles, Germany 

was struggling economically. Unemployment rates were staggeringly 

high, and lines to acquire even the most basic of goods were long. 

Manufacturing and industrial jobs made up a significant portion of 

the employment market, but the wages were lacklustre compared to 

that of pre-WW1 times. Germany’s rich were mostly left unaffected, 

and class structures began to intensify. Thus, Lang’s Metropolis can be 

understood as a futuristic take on the imbalance of class and the malice 

of unfettered capitalism. 

In Joh Frederson, Lang sees all that which is wrong and imbalanced 

in society. Frederson represents the wealthy, rapacious capitalists of 

the times. He lives and works in the upper echelons of impressive 

skyscrapers, far away from the everyday struggles of the workers. 

Frederson and his kind reap the benefits of the underground labour, 

without need to set foot in the concrete-laden factories. Lang presents 

Frederson as a contemptible magnate that values capital over the 

welfare of his workers. 

The first thirty minutes or so of the film aims to set out the disturbing, 

but stable, class structures. The images of uninhibited wealth, 

juxtaposed with the despair of poverty, denies that there is anything 

natural about such social and economic life. Rather, we are compelled to 

think that there is something deeply unnatural about the status of the 

ruling class. They own and control the city, even though it is the workers 

who create and toil to produce the city of Metropolis. Lang urges us to 

ask: why do the workers live without while the ruling class lives with so 

much? And a further, more specifically Marxist question: wouldn’t it be 

better if the workers owned their workplaces? 

We get the impression that Frederson’s son, Freder, has been spoiled 

with luxury and tranquillity. We first see him in the Eternal Gardens, 

dressed handsomely in an expensive suit. It seems to us he is oblivious 

to the plight of the proletariat, on account of being sheltered by his 

father’s hyper-affluence. Perhaps it was inconceivable to Freder that the 

reality of life for some was far bleaker than his own. 

When Maria brings a group of ‘underground’ children to the Eternal 

Gardens, Freder is enamoured with Maria. Apolitically but romantically 

drawn to her, there are numerous shots of Freder watching her from 

afar – he even follows her to the depths of the underground. Maria’s 

somewhat clandestine infiltration of high society sets off a chain of 

events that changes the structure of Metropolis.

Upon his physical entrance into the ‘underground’, Freder is horrified to 

find the proletariat in such a neglected state. Innocent of wrongdoing, 

but awash in dirt and grime; Freder is immediately sympathetic to the 

workers. Those feelings are compounded when a machine unexpectedly 

explodes, killing and maiming many. Freder rushes back to his father’s 

tower to tell him of the tragedy, but Joh is unreceptive, waving away his 

son’s concerns. He dismisses the plight of the workers by declaring that 

“[the underground is] where they belong.” 

This is a pivotal scene in the film, representing an unholy clash of the 

classes. It becomes clear that members of the disparate classes were 

never meant to meet and interact; for it would inevitably disturb the 

rigid organisation of class structures. Anew, Lang communicates the 

unnaturalness of class evident in Metropolis. If it were natural and 

inevitable, Freder would be unmoved by the sight of a lower class. But he 

isn’t. Freder is appalled at the working conditions and the converse apathy 

of his father. He undergoes an awakening, resulting in his siding with the 

besieged proletariat. The workers, to Freder, are “the people whose little 

children are my brothers, my sisters.” Thus, he elects to blend in with the 

workers, bearing the same dirt-stained face and ragged clothing. 

After the machine accident, the proletariat grow dissatisfied and angry. 

Their discussions, at first, are fractured and spontaneous. Maria, as a 

symbol of power and beauty, assumes the responsibility of being their 

unofficial leader. In a number of scenes, she stands above the workers, 

preaching quasi-religious passages that give them hope and comfort. 

Symbolically, she is closer to Mary than Lenin. Maria does not urge the 

workers towards violent revolution, but rather towards an inner peace. The 

most famous of her utterings is surely, “head and hands need a mediator. 

The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart.” 

She stands atop scaffolding, leaving Freder and the workers in awe 

of her from below. Maria harnesses the power of the proletariat, 

collectivising them through quasi-religious paraphernalia and preaching. 

Although this is discrepant from Marxist ideology, it seems to work to 

attribute power to those in the underground. 

The only problem is that Joh and Rotwang stumble upon one of the 

meetings of the workers. It is obvious to them that Maria is the force 

holding the proletariat together, and they return to the towers of 

Metropolis to plan her downfall. Joh concocts a plan for Rotwang to 

capture Maria in order to create an evil, violent duplicate of her. Their 

aim is to fragment the workers and impel them towards destruction, so 

the ruling class will have a case to forcefully suppress them. 

Maria represents the hopes and dreams of the workers – an embodiment 

of their strong fraternal connections. For the capitalists that wish to 

quash the humanity of the workers, Maria is something very dangerous, 

for in hope there is power to act. 

It is telling that Joh and Rotwang use technology as a means to facilitate 

her fall into disrepute. Lang is certainly conscious of the ways in which 

the ruling class exploit powerful apparatuses to maintain power: the 

printing press, destructive weapons and corrupt police officers. The 

robot incarnation of Maria is a fantastical, futuristic display of what the 

wealthy can acquire and deploy against those they wish to crush. 

This whole sequence seems to be a thinly-veiled warning against 

granting one inspiring individual the power to dictate and organise the 

working class. Although it is not Maria who leads the proletariat on a 

path of destruction, Lang communicates to us that too much can go 

wrong with only one symbolic leader. Particularly, Lang acknowledges 

the ease with which the ruling class can manipulate and discredit the 

entirety of the working class struggle if there exists one, unquestioned 

saviour – an apparent rejection of Leninism. 

Simultaneously, Lang presents the proletariat as an enormously 

powerful entity, capable of reshaping and determining the future of 

an urban city. Even though they initially seek to destroy the city’s 

infrastructure, the surge capacity of the workers is undeniable. They 

dismantle, discard and destroy large parts of the city. As an active, united 

group, the workers have the autonomy and authority to improve or 

ravage the spaces and conditions in which they live. 

Even though Lang advocates against vesting power in one authoritarian 

leader, he doesn’t make much of a case for the self-determination of the 

proletariat. They are regularly shown to be mindlessly submissive, lacking 

the mental faculties to self-govern. The carnage they exact on the city 

is fuelled by anger that blinkers their common sense – as they flood the 

places in which their children sleep, play and live. Only after they destroy 

the heart machine do they realise what they have done. In response, the 

workers, in a frenzy of revenge, burn the robot Maria at the stake. 

Pure luck saved the workers from murdering the real, benevolent Maria. 

As she emerges with Freder and the children, the workers exhale with 

cathartic relief. At best, the proletariat are temperamental; and at worst, 

agents of self-destructive violence. 

Metropolis concludes with an agreement between Joh and the 

industrialists, and the workers resolve to respect each other and work 

co-operatively. This is manifested in one of the final images of the film – 

with Joh, Maria and Freder standing out the front of the city centre with 

their arms entangled. We are encouraged to view the conclusion with 

a newfound sense of hope, of productive solidarity. The head and the 

hands have finally been co-joined by the heart. 

What is probably more regularly felt is betrayal. The shift towards 

social-democracy is indeed jarring and baseless within the film’s context. 

There is no point at which we see the potential for the working and 

ruling classes to be reconciled. Rather, they are shown as competing 

and antithetical. Lang’s compromised ending rings with naïve 

sentimentality, acknowledged even by himself. In years following the 

film, Lang labelled the film’s final message “absurd”, and other parts of 

the film “too simplistic” in evoking the “evils of mechanisation.” 

Ultimately, Metropolis is a notable and brilliant film that speaks to the 

anxieties and ambitions of an undervalued, oppressed proletariat. Even 

though it often fails to present a coherent political message, the power 

of its insights into the social and economic structures of capitalism is 

indubitable. Beyond that, it is a genuinely entertaining and engrossing 

film that has retained relevance for almost a century. 

In a similar sense, the robot represents a dangerous, almost foolproof 

future in which the wealthy can discredit the working classes. In the 

past, the ruling class had used plants at demonstrations, the printing 

press to disseminate lies and unlawful arrests to portray dissidents 

as scheming, violent and ‘enemies of the state’. The robot is certainly 

tethered to this past history, but it is also a futurist warning of the 

power that capitalists will have in a century’s time. Although robots 

are not in regular use, the development of technology, particularly the 

internet, bears out Lang’s worries. 

Once developed, Rotwang unleashes the robot on the proletariat. 

Subject to the whims of an unrecognisably violent, belligerent Maria, 

the workers rise from the underground to carry out terror against the 

privileged in Metropolis. The workers rabidly destroy the machines in 

the city, including the heart machine. This causes the underground 

to flood, while the children of the workers have been left to fend for 

themselves. Their lives are only saved by Freder and the real Maria, who 

rush to sweep up the mess of frenzied workers. 

arts/culture 38-39

edition four 

lot’s wife

creative/comedy 

40-41

edition four 

lot’s wife 

stanley kubrick on napoleon 

and many other things 

interview by christian blackwell 

artwork by john henry 

Despite turning 89 this year, Stanley Kubrick just concluded principal 

photography on his new film Napoleon. It is Kubrick’s first work since 

the hypnotic Eyes Wide Shut, and he is quietly confident about it. 

Upon pulling up at Childwickbury Manor, it is impossible to resist the 

allure of the place. Its character announces itself from far away, like one 

of the mansions in Kubrick’s beautifully-shot Barry Lyndon. The abode 

absolutely reflects the man: mythic, but still concrete; isolated, but still 

occupied; aging, but still imposing. 

Kubrick is standing on the front lawn waiting for me when I arrive. I 

feel an irrepressible need to rush towards him, not to waste a second of 

his time. Childswickbury Manor towers over his declining stature, but it 

only makes him seem greater. 

“Hello, yes, thanks for coming,” are the first words he says. He comes across 

as spritely and affable – two qualities I imagined to be antithetical to his 

character. After some of the horror stories told of his behaviour on set, this 

pleasant introduction was unexpected. Perhaps age has mellowed him. 

I follow him up to the front of the house. He walks with a cautious 

steadiness, which gives me time to formalise my thoughts. “We will do 

the interview out here. It’s a nice day for once, so we will get it done out 

here.” We sit down on some outdoor vintage furniture, and he locks me 

in with his penetrating gaze. 

“Relaxing out here, isn’t it?” He remarks. “I don’t get out here enough, it’s 

really quite nice.” 

“Actually, before we get started, no questions about politics. I’m over it 

all, if we could just focus on movies, that would be great.” 

“Sure, we can do that,” I reply. 

The filming of Napoleon was secretive. Can you tell us whether you 

used film, or whether you used digital technology? 

Yes I can reveal that. These days, everyone is always ‘revealing’ 

something. Not, uh, telling you something, but revealing it. I find that 

strange really. 

We chose to film the picture on 35mm. There were some discussions 

about using digital, which I have experimented with and enjoyed, but 

this just wasn’t the film to use it. With Napoleon we are going back to 

the 19th Century, and we thought that 35mm would better capture the 

time period we were going for. I’m eager to use digital technology in my 

films, but this wasn’t the film for us to do that. 

That choice did cause us a few problems, because of the cost of shooting 

on film. 

Is that one of the reasons why there’s such a gap between this and 

Eyes Wide Shut? 

Yes. It was a bit of a fight for us to get our way, but I wasn’t going to 

make the film any other way. It had to be done on 35mm. It would be 

a totally different picture if it was filmed with digital technology. It 

wouldn’t be the film I wanted to make. And when you get to this age, 

you only want to be making the films that you want to make. You don’t 

want to spend your years making things you aren’t happy with. You 

might as well work at a desk job. 

I had a few health problems that set me back a bit in between this and 

Eyes Wide Shut. That was irritating to me; health getting in the way of 

work. But, I suppose you can’t always get around that. 

Does the amount of time you’ve invested in the film mean it’s an 

almost perfect product? 

I couldn’t really answer that because the whole process isn’t done. 

There’s still a lot for us to do to finish the film. And even if it was done, 

I don’t know if any film could be considered perfect or not. Maybe some 

could, but there’s always that human error element in films. Something 

could always be done better, whether that’s my doing or one of the cast 

and crew. I think you can minimise the faults with a film, absolutely; but 

I’m not sure you can make a perfect film. Something like Bergman’s Wild 

Strawberries is close to a perfect film, and maybe it is. 

Actually, Metropolis is a good example. It’s a good film, a really 

marvellous, grand piece of cinema. But it’s full of flaws. The story 

in places is downright implausible, and its tone is sometimes a bit 

disorientating. But that’s because parts of it are missing. 

You usually make emotionally distant films… 

I don’t know if that’s the way to put it. I always get told this, but I don’t 

see it. The kind of films I make are the ones that appeal to me, the ones 

that stick out to me. I think they do deal with emotion, most of them. 

They deal with human characters, and there’s always an element of 

emotion connected to that. 

So you think the commentators are getting it wrong? 

I’m not in a position to say that. Obviously, everyone brings different 

things into their experience of a film, and I think they’re entitled to their 

judgements of my films. Of course, I’ll have my own ideas of my own 

movies, and others will have theirs. That’s what creates a healthy film 

community – discussion and interpretation. I don’t believe in forcing my 

opinion of my films down the throats of my audiences, so let’s just leave 

it at that. 

What made you pursue this film so strongly? What motivates you to 

keep working? 

The story of Napoleon has always intrigued me, he’s one of those 

characters that never seems to stop bothering you in your mind. I think 

to be a ruler like he was, uh, you have to be an interesting person. He 

actually wrote a romance novel before he became a military leader. It 

was called Clisson et Eugénie. He was such an adept military leader, a 

powerful man; but he wrote a novel about love? See, that kind of thing is 

interesting. It reminds you, no matter how history is told, that people are 

multi-faceted creatures. You can’t just pin someone down as one thing. 

They might be something else as well.

His life, I think as I’ve said in the past, is a real epic poem of action. To be able to capture that in 

a movie is just something I have wanted to do for a long time. There’s not really a good way to 

explain it, other than that there is something that really draws me to him and his life. 

As for why I still work, what else would I be doing? Making movies is something I have to do, it’s 

much more preferable than rotting away in a home or something to that effect. 

Do you have any regrets looking back? On the way you conducted yourself or anything like 

that? 

As I said before, there are always things you could do differently. But is there much point worrying 

about that? No. I think there’s something to be said for acknowledging the past – your triumphs, 

your less pleasant times – but regrets aren’t something I think about. I don’t worry about them. In 

the moment, I always do what I think is best. That’s what you do. 

Is there a film that you’ve made that stands out to you? 

The simple answer is no. All the films I’ve made I’ve made for a good reason, bar a few I made 

early in my career. Fear and Desire is one of them, there’s only a few good moments in that. I’m not 

ashamed of it, but looking back it’s not a great film at all. 

I’m not in the habit of ranking my movies, and prefer to think of them all as discrete expressions 

of my thoughts and ideas. They are all different, and offer different things to an audience. A 

Clockwork Orange questions the authority of the state: should the state have complete control to 

modify our behaviours? Eyes Wide Shut explores the dynamics of marriage, and the insecurities 

we all hold in relation to our partners. Another film I wasn’t happy with was Spartacus. There’s no 

truth to it. 

Personally, I find 2001: A Space Odyssey to be your most ambitious film, if not your best. For 

the time, and even now, it is just like nothing else we’ve seen. 

I always wanted to make a big film out of 2001. A lot of what ended up in the film came from 

Arthur (Arthur C. Clarke) who was really one of the great science-fiction writers. We wrote up a 

novel alongside the screenplay to the film. As you can imagine, we wanted to get it right, make 

sure it was as unique as possible. I would refrain from calling it my best film, but I am certainly 

very proud of it. And I think it stands up against any sci-fi picture that has been made since. 

Kirk Douglas, Spartacus’ brainchild, recently turned 100. Did you send him your wishes? 

Now you’re just being facetious. My question would be whether he’s still working or not. 

The Melbourne International Film Festival is showing a Kubrick retrospective from November 1. 

creative/comedy 42-43

edition four 

lot’s wife 

the animals 

article by a.a kostas 

artwork by sa pasa 

Kelowna Secondary felt enormous to Ahmed, too big to be an actual 

school. But in reality, because Ahmed’s year level was very small, and 

because the select-entry Christian College up in the hills had finished 

construction, the school was emptier than it had been for years. Over 

the scorching summer all the portable buildings had been wheeled away, 

and the playing fields now seemed to stretch out endlessly from the 

double-storey building, leaving it an island stranded in a golden, sundried 

sea. 

Ahmed met up with Ibrahim before school and was rendered speechless 

at first. Ibrahim had ditched his usual jeans and leather jacket in favour 

of an imam’s outfit: a long white robe that reached to his ankles and a 

taqiyah on his shaved head. Ibrahim wasn’t exactly smiling when Ahmed 

found him next to the bike racks, but his face was proud. 

“You look like my dad,” Ahmed managed to choke out while Ibrahim 

watched people pass by him to get to the school doors. Ibrahim’s 

robes flapped a little as he shifted his weight, and he nodded slowly, 

magnificently. “It’s better than looking like your mum though, isn’t it?” 

He broke into his usual grin as he looked down at Ahmed. 

“You’re not far off her either,” Ahmed mumbled as the bell rang and 

they made their way inside. Ahmed cursed Ibrahim for the rest of the 

day. Not just for the stupid robes, but also for making him think about 

his mother. For the whole day, she was all Ahmed could focus on, and 

everything else felt like a dream. His mother had been beautiful, even 

though everyone who had only known their mother when they were 

young said that. She was a small woman, shorter even than Ahmed’s 

dad, and had black hair that fell to her waist. When he was very little 

they played a game Ahmed called ‘Butterfly Queen’, where they jumped 

together on his parents bed and then his mother would flop back so that 

her hair spread out in every direction. 

“Am I the Butterfly Queen?” she would ask, looking up at him with 

searching, smiling eyes. Ahmed would pause for a second and lightly run 

his fingers over her smooth strands. 

“Yes, you are the most beautiful Butterfly Queen!” he would yell, and 

she’d beam and hug him tight. 

* * * 

Maheera doubled over laughing when she saw Ibrahim. They had all met 

up near the car park, where the basketball courts were. 

“You idiot! I didn’t think you’d actually do it!” Maheera was standing 

with a girl Ahmed didn’t recognise, but next to Maheera the girl looked 

plain. Like a dandelion next to a sunflower. 

“Be the fearful cobra…” Ibrahim intoned deeply, looking around at them. 

“…And shrink not from your nature…” Maheera followed on. They both 

looked at Ahmed to finish. 

“…For you are as He has made you,” Ahmed finished, reluctantly. 

Ibrahim bowed his head and spread his palms. “I am now the cobra.” 

The girl Ahmed didn’t know was watching them carefully. 

“What’s that from?” Her eyebrows jolted as she spoke. “The thing you 

just said.” Maheera stepped in. “It’s from a book we all just read. Inara, 

these are my friends, Ibrahim and Ahmed. Guys, Inara’s from West Side 

and she goes to the mosque there.” 

They all shook hands, which felt so strange to Ahmed, like they were 

old people at a country club. He glanced at Maheera and before he could 

help himself, he was thinking about how if his mother was beautiful, 

then Maheera was radiant, like the sun compared to the moon. 

Ibrahim was in the middle of asking Inara something convoluted about 

what she thought about a certain verse in the Quran, when suddenly 

an object flew into their little circle and hit Ibrahim square on his big, 

round nose. Laughter rose from the other side of the basketball courts 

and Ibrahim swore under his breath while he grabbed his face. A patched 

up football lay wobbling at his feet. None of them knew what to say, 

even the usually reactive Maheera, and Ibrahim kept quiet while he 

searched for the source of the football. Then they spotted the group of 

tough-looking boys and girls on the other side of the court, and saw a 

skinny, hunched figure start striding towards them. Ahmed felt like he 

was watching it all through glass, like at the aquarium when the sharks 

closed in on the fish dumped into their tank at mealtimes. But then he 

realised that it was just Dylan walking towards them, not a shark. He 

almost raised a hand in welcome, but then saw Dylan’s red, angry face. 

“I bet you liked that, didn’t you?!” Dylan yelled at Ibrahim, while staying 

a safe distance back. “Getting your face slapped by some pig skin. You’re 

all pig-fuckers, aren’t you?” He shot a nervous look back to his group and 

someone made an ‘oink’ sound. Ibrahim kicked the ball out to him and 

Dylan stooped to get it. Ibrahim was glaring, but uncharacteristically 

holding his tongue. Ahmed realised that he was scared, Ibrahim’s eyes 

kept flicking over to the big group. 

“You’re animals,” Dylan spat, before turning to leave, but his voice 

wavered so it sounded more like he was answering a teacher’s difficult 

question than actually insulting them. 

“Shut up,” Ibrahim said, finally regaining his voice. 

“Sand-monkeys!” someone shouted from the group, and they all took it 

up as a chant. “Sand-monkeys! Sand-monkeys!” 

And as Dylan re-joined them, head hung low, Ahmed glimpsed Angus, 

standing in the middle, his long, curly hair like a halo around his head. 

Suddenly, Ahmed knew why Ibrahim’s outfit had so unsettled him. 

Ibrahim had made them – Ahmed, Maheera, and now Inara – stand 

out, scapegoats for anyone to use. Angus and his friends now had a 

shockproof way to begin high school, gathering people to them. After all, 

Ahmed thought numbly as the jeers and laughter rang through the air, 

having someone mutual to hate is a great way to make friends.

has nerd culture 

gone too far? 

article by alex horner 

artwork by hugh brooks 

If you have attended university, you have probably run into some of 

the more “unpleasant” individuals roaming the campus. You can’t 

always tell at first, but as you get to know your fellow peers, it quickly 

becomes apparent that some of them have an agenda to push. It can 

start out as an innocent joke or remark, but the more you learn, the more 

you realise these people spend their days living in a fantasy, detached 

from reality. You soon understand that they spend their evenings sitting 

in a dark room lit solely by a computer screen, typing furious replies to 

anyone who dares to question or challenge their views. I am, of course, 

referring to ‘nerds’. Join us as we break down just how detrimental this 

group is on the good, wholesome experience that is Tertiary Education. 

Bad for your health 

Nerd culture blatantly glorifies anti-physical behaviour, as a common 

point of pride for a nerd is how little exercise they have done. In nerd 

culture, traditional sports (such as football or the American national 

treasure, Super Smash Bros. Melee) are flouted in favour of foreign 

e-sports such as League of Legends, Starcraft, and Viva Piñata, where 

contestants play entire tournaments without leaving their chair. This 

self-destructive behaviour is being normalised, stranding nerds in a 

vicious feedback loop of a sedentary lifestyle, poor health, and skinny 

legs. A staple food of the ‘gamer' nerd archetype during their depraved 

meetings known as ‘LAN parties' is the consumption of disgusting 

amounts of snack food. Doritos, Skittles, and Bega Cheese Stringers 

washed down with a hedonistic mix of Pepsi, Monster and Strawberry 

Rekorderlig. During these parties, ‘gamers' will often compare how many 

litres of Dr. Pepper they have consumed over the holidays, commonly 

referred to as ‘Drs Per Season', or ‘DPS' for short. 

Nerd culture also actively discourages healthy eating, as the effort 

required to learn to cook may impact the time spent on other, prioritised 

pursuits such as ‘grinding', ‘cosplaying' or ‘binge watching'. Also called 

the ‘Netflix Binge', this activity sees nerds spending upwards of twelve 

hours watching television shows on the capitalist propaganda platform 

known as ‘Netflix'. This nasty habit leads nerds into erratic sleeping 

patterns, rousing in the late afternoon, and only knowing when to retire 

by the judging gaze of the sunrise. 

Bad for the species 

As well as being physically detrimental, nerd culture also encourages 

anti-social tendencies. The standard for comedy among this group has 

devolved into a cancerous cesspool of derivative content known as 

‘memes'. Comedy is a way for a group of people to come together and 

agree on fundamental values. When society is pressured to find humour 

where none exists, we undermine the basic morals in our community 

that comedy instils. Where comedy subverts expectations, memes 

take expectations and repeatedly bludgeons them until there are no 

expectations left - only disappointment. 

Nerd culture stifles disagreement as diversity of thought is strongly 

frowned upon, and agreeing on approved nerd viewpoints is how most 

discussions unfold. Someone will express an entirely uncontroversial 

opinion, such as The Princess Bride is an underrated gem or Fallout 4 

took the RP out of my G, and the whole group agrees. Not only does this 

make for ridiculously mind-numbing conversation, but it doesn't allow 

new ideas to foster in the group, which is why you will find most of 

them have not progressed past a high school level of introspection. 

Beyond this, nerds will also try to simulate human interaction through 

online profiles and chat rooms, where there is no need for them to 

take care of their personal appearance or hygiene. Obviously, this has 

immediate adverse effects on society as a whole. For the species to 

continue to exist, people must be attracted to each other, and nerds 

take little to no action in making themselves desirable. This in of itself 

is not the worrying issue, however, when they try to drag society down 

by advocating for platitudes like, beauty is on the inside, and everyone is 

beautiful to someone, and it becomes an issue that affects everyone. 

Not even real 

Aside from killing people and bringing about the end of the species, 

‘nerd culture’ is largely a sham. There is no such thing as ‘nerd culture’. 

In the digital age, when everything is accessible to everyone, typically 

‘nerdy’ media such as Doctor Who, Star Wars and League of Legends are 

actually quite mainstream. Since its rebirth, Doctor Who has become 

a British national treasure. Star Wars: The Force Awakens grossed 2.02 

billion dollars at the international box office. The season finale of the 

2016 League of Legends World Championship had 36 million unique 

viewers, more than the record breaking viewership of the NBA finals 

of that same year. Nerd culture claims to offer exclusivity, such that 

its members can avoid being ‘normies’. But the numbers are proof; 

the ‘normies’ have become the nerds themselves, and the nerds are 

becoming the norm. And clearly this now a global phenomenon, and it 

must be stopped. 

How to avoid 

Once a nerd has been identified one can arrange their schedule to avoid 

possible meetings, however, sometimes they may be unavoidable. In 

these scenarios, it is best to lay low and not draw attention to oneself, 

lest you be barraged with an onslaught of meaningless drivel and poorly 

concealed depression. 

One way to diffuse an encounter is to bring a group of friends. Due to 

their absolute lack of social prowess, the nerd will be unable to approach 

you or anyone else in the group. This is a handy method but can be 

difficult to pull off if your friends are unavailable or otherwise nonexistent. 

Another technique one can employ is the ‘fake phone call', 

which can be applied at a moment's notice with little to no counterplay 

from the nerd. Overuse of this tactic, however, may raise suspicion 

and resentment from the recipient, which would usually not be of 

any great concern except that chances are, they know three different 

ways to hack your social media. So even though nerds are a steadily 

growing part of the university experience, don't let them discourage you 

from being yourself. There will always be challenges in life, and when 

you get through your degree, you will find yourself a better person for 

overcoming them. 


edition four 

lot’s wife 

a sonnet for the 

menzies revolving doors 

words by nicole willis 

artwork by kim tran 

You know of which I speak there are five 

doors 

Stupid dumb and just a bit moronic 

Through these doors do we pass each morn in 

scores 

But for the pain it would be so comic 

Stop start all day so that I have but flinched 

Every time do they force your walk to halt 

The man who chose these dumb doors must 

be pinched 

We must find he who is so much at fault 

How can it be for them to work so hard 

Always at least one door out of order 

In my morning walk does it leave me scarred 

In my soul does this sow much disorder 

These doors each morn do make me fall apart 

The birth of your demise shall I kick start. 

ながる 

words by zahra ymer 

artwork by stephie dimofski 

のはのをした。がっていたに、をるがした。になるはなを 

たにきたくなったが、そうしないと、ってしまっているは 

ぶかもしれないか。 

がきながら、ののはくなった。まれたにになるの一人だ 

ったらしい。げようとしたが、はまったにしくられてしま 

った。 

はなんのをたないで、ただのなのようにわれた。「のせ 

は、するとになって、をむことというがある。そのはくな 

いけど、それのはにでもるよ。はにしかできないことを 

やってみたかったけど、ここにはみたいな生きだわ。」の 

はそうえた。 

のをまたられるために、をきらせるために、つのがくなら 

ければならない。こののようなはからしたなだったとい 

うがある。そのがだんだんづくにつれて、は非常にをに 

じた。「まれなければよかった。このいはしみとだらけだ。 

かがになれば、のはきびられる。私がんでも、みんながき 

ていってくれればというえなのね。」そいうきながら、が 

ぷるぷるえた。 

なぜのをにげるのだろうか?がにするのなら、やがむじ 

ゃないかな。だが、はで、やりでのをえたいだけかもし 

れません。 

「さあ……に立って」とがした。がないそののしいのはに 

えていた。だかりのているをして、やっとできた。「ようや 

くかった。どこからてもこれはただのショーのように。と 

かどうでもいいで、このたちはのさをめてほしいだけだ。 

じゃあ、になったのちは?のりやしみはどうしろ?にをに 

せてあげない。」とはした。にもがった。がって、のている 

はがくなって、ってしまいそうだった。なくでやされてい 

るをけていた。もがけても、のいはえなかった。 

いがって、のはながしたをれた。しずつ、はになって、べが 

にめて、はになりそうだった。しかし、そのなはいにきっと 

をさせる。それをやめるには、どのようながあるか?のに 

にしいがしている。

when i see red 

words by kit mun lee 

When I see red, 

I feel heat, right in my chest. 

It’s the glow 

Right before excitement, 

The feeling of light, 

The smell of desire, 

The knowing that something is there - 

Just beyond 

Your grasp, driving you forwards. 

Red is what people want. 

It’s that little bit faster 

That little bit brighter 

That little bit more attractive. 

Red is the loudest thing you hear, 

The hottest thing you touch 

And taste. The alluring aroma of a hearty meal, 

And the gasping, staccato cough 

From a bite of hidden pepper. 

It is the body-jerking, tearful regret, 

And the soaring chill of victory. 

Red is the collision between two worlds, 

The colour of friction, 

Of movement and ambition. 

Red is the fury 

At injustice 

And the spike of pride after a job well done. 

Red is the colour of success, 

And the screaming downfall, 

The raging denial. 

Red gets you over the finish line, 

And picks you back up when you 

fall. 

Red tells you that ‘you are good enough’. 

Red is not humble. 

Red is glory and the highest flavour of the 

human condition. 

come 

words by kit mun lee 

Thunder. 

Clouds darkened and his weariness overtook him, pulling 

him down onto the sand. Waves rolled in and out. In and 

out...In and out. Skies darkened and the world started to fly 

away. Up and down...Up and down. 

The rain started to fall; it was heavy on his back. He tried to 

rise but failed, he could barely crawl. It weighed upon his 

shoulders driving his hands and knees further and further 

into the sand. Thunder crackled above and threatened to 

capture everything he knew but for the waves it sounded 

far away, ephemeral, fleeting, almost as if a cover was placed 

over his ears. In and out...Up and down, down, down. Then a 

hand rested on his head. 

“Come”. Weary, he looked up and saw a figure. In damp light, 

his face shrouded by the halo of the horizon-glow behind 

him. 

“Come”. Weary, he grabbed the hand and heaved. In and 

out...Up and down. The figure lifted up the man and walked 

through the storm. In a haze, cradled in his strong arms, the 

man managed to say with his last breath, “Oh, Love that 

would not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee.” In and 

out...Up and down. 

Thunder. 


46-47

edition four 

lot’s wife 

postcards from 

the middle 

article by jeanne carlos 

artwork by yusra shahid 

looked solidly red. 10/10. It could probably make the Hall of 

Fame of high-fives. Maybe I should high-five Annie. Looks 

like a great way to establish contact. Will need a situation 

first. Can’t just high-five her out of fucking nowhere. 

How does Suzy do it so easily? She just goes for it. Whoosh, 

here I am! Hurricane Suzy. Just come in and fucking 

demolish the place with my never-ending, oh-so-wonderful, 

Playschool ‘kindness’. 

Any idiot could smile and wave. 

I’ll try it tomorrow. 

Day Four 

Whoever said friendship is a gift is a fucking liar. 

I spent the worst five hours of my life sipping warm beer, 

watching people play an assortment of beer pong, cards, 

Charades, and a mix of all three. 

Day Three 

Two more days to go and I really hope Suzy learns how to 

shut up. Just stop talking to me. Fuck. I mean, how hard 

could that be? I get that we’re all here to ‘make friends’ 

and ‘learn leadership’ but there’s a line. Why isn’t there a 

workshop about knowing when to leave someone alone? 

“No, Suzy, I haven’t watched any movies recently.” 

Who has that kind of money? And time? God. 

Why can’t Annie ever bother me like that? I’d talk to her 

myself but she’s always surrounded by everyone else and I 

don’t need that kind of social anxiety in my life. 

I come into the workshops, participate, stare at her a bit, 

and then leave. I’m a solitary person. I value my space. She’s 

killing that vibe. And honestly? I think Suzy might have a 

crush on me. How do I let her down gently? She’s not bad or 

anything but she’s just too friendly. Is that a thing? Could 

someone theoretically list down ‘being too friendly’ as a 

flaw on their resumé? 

SKILLS: Photoshop, photography, second language 

(Spanish). 

FLAWS: Friendly. Way too fucking friendly. 

I think she’s trying too hard. She does it to everyone. Always 

saying hi. Smiling and shit. Completely unnatural. She’s 

too nice, but I can’t tell yet if it’s fake or not. Punchline is, 

everyone else seems to like it. 

Suzy’s talking to Peter right now. Laugh, smile, serious 

comment, chuckle, high-five. It’s a conspiracy. Is she 

recruiting them for something? We’re already part of a cult, 

what does she think we’re doing at camp? That high-five 

looked really good, though. Strong, timed right. Hands 

Bonus: Annie was there. She was playing beer pong. A girl 

after my own heart. 

I reckon the people who advertise this socialising shit don’t 

actually understand how stressful it can be. I’m there, and 

I’ve said ‘hi’. I accepted someone’s offer for a drink. I cheer 

when someone finally gets a shot in. I joked about how 

shitty that one lecturer is. Patted someone’s back when they 

told me they should be doing a 3000 word essay right now. 

“That’s rough, buddy.” 

They’d forgotten their laptop. The essay’s due on Monday. 

They’re going to die. 

Day Five 

Fuck. Shit. Fuck. I did it again. Shit. 

On the way back, the bus broke down near a gas station 

with a Maccas, so I bought Annie a McFlurry and she 

thanked me. She kind of looked like she was crying, so I 

asked her if she was okay. 

But wait! How could you fuck up asking if someone’s okay? 

Here’s a hint: ask her if she’s okay à la Michael Jackson’s 1987 

hit classic ‘Smooth Criminal’. 

I literally saw the light leave her eyes, and I could have 

fallen on to my knees begging for forgiveness. I think she 

actually hated me for three seconds. She kept the McFlurry 

at least. Didn’t tell me why she looked like she was crying. 

Fair enough, since even I wouldn’t have spoken to me. How 

would I feel if someone sang a song at me because of my 

name? I don’t think about these things enough. Later, I 

told her I thought she’d make a good leader. She won that 

prize with her group at the end of camp. I probably cheered 

louder than necessary, but I was sort of, like, actually proud. 

People were still loopy from hangovers (I found out who 

stole my booze). We’re all feeling pretty leadership-ed out.

Sidenote: Suzy’s been leaving me alone. Reckon she got the 

message. I think I might have actually said “Fuck off, Suzy” 

out-loud and not in my head. I was drunk, so it’s fine. She 

knows I was drunk. She just laughed and high-fived me. 

I got back home and my first thought was how that guy 

with the 3000 word essay was doing. Is he doing it right 

now? Is he okay? Is he playing DOTA? Is he crying? 

Day Six 

This is sort of fun. I reckon one day we’ll all just forget how 

to write with our hands. All we’ll know is how to point. 

What’s gonna happen to the drawers and painters? 

Not at camp, which means I’m back at home and back 

to telling my mum to stop gossiping about the man two 

houses down. Just let him walk his dog. Jesus Christ. But 

she can’t help herself. 

She’s a little racist. He’s tall and doesn’t smile. She’s 

fascinated. She wants to know everything, and if she can’t 

find out everything then she’ll guess. This is what happens 

when you move to a country halfway through your life 

and settle in a suburb where everyone else has come from 

somewhere else. You’re bored and stuck, trying to figure 

out what the fuck you’re meant to be doing now that you’re 

here. 

This is what you get. You get an Asian lady calling her sister 

and now they’re comparing notes. Turns out my aunt has 

‘criminals’ on her street too. She lives in the south-east so I 

don’t know why I’m surprised. I’m just glad they’ve stopped 

bothering me about not dating anyone. 

Wonder if Suzy has ‘criminals’ on her street. Gangs! Maybe 

that’s why she’s so over-friendly. She’s just used to being 

friendly to save her life. 

Day Seven 

Can’t make any of the Wonder Woman showings this week 

because I’ve got unrecorded lectures, tutes, labs, and then 

work. What the FUCK. 

Day Eight 

First meeting since camp and how does Annie look better 

than last time? Made sure not to reference Michael Jackson 

at all, or any other artists of the 70s, 80s, and beyond. 

Wouldn’t want to trigger anything. Maybe she has a brother 

called Jessie. And a sister called Stacy. And all of her dogs 

had been let out at one point. I don’t know. 

Meeting was boring, just went over everything. What went 

good. What didn’t. I suggested we tell people not to steal 

other people’s booze. Trent asked how exactly I planned to 

implement that. I shrugged and asked her: isn’t this why we 

have meetings? For ideas to be told and then other people 

actually doing it? He told me that there’s no point to an 

idea if you can’t follow it up with a plan. 

For fuck’s sake. Can’t even brainstorm anymore. I can’t 

believe I ever liked him. Asshole. 

No one else brought it up too, so I guess everyone’s fine 

with having their booze stolen. 

Annie stayed pretty silent. She mentioned that we can’t 

really control people that much, they’re all there for a good 

time. Sure. 

Suzy didn’t high-five anyone today. Same, Suzy, Same. 

Day Eleven ? 

Will I ever have my shit together. 

Day 22 24 

How do I get so tired from not doing anything? I go to 

uni and I sleep in lectures. I go to meetings and I sleep in 

meetings. I go to work and I sleep on the bus. I get home 

and I don’t sleep, and then I’m tired the next day. Shouldn’t 

they all cancel out or something? 

Sidenote: I don’t think I’m a very good leader. I forgot I was 

the mentor of five jaffies (I can’t be completely at fault, 

though, because they never contacted me). 

Maybe I could be the leader of some quiet group or 

something. All I have to do is book a room, open the door, 

let people in, and we could all just enjoy each other’s silent 

company. No need to get to know anyone else, this is Where 

the Silent People Are. 

Our constitution: 

1. Be silent. 

2. Don’t pressure anyone to talk. 

3. Always have booze. 

4. Don’t steal anyone’s booze. 

5. Don’t judge people for being quiet. Fuck you, if you do. 

6. Listening to music on earphones is permitted, but not 

loud enough so we can hear it. 

7. High-fiving is encouraged. 

Maybe I can book two rooms: one for the Totally Silent and 

one for the Somewhat Silent, so people who actually want 

to exchange a few words can do it in there. I could have 

snacks there too. Food gets noisy when you chew. Mouthbreathers 

go in this room too. That way, people like Suzy 

can come in, to balance it all out. I reckon I could probably 

have her as VP or something, so you got someone quiet and 

you got someone loud to, like, help people who are quiet. 

Yeah. 

I caught up with Suzy after a lecture. Never realised she 

was in the same lecture as me but I knew we did the same 

course. Always thought she was the type to say things all 

the time and actually participate and answer the lecturer’s 

questions. Turns out she’s been sitting two rows behind me 

this whole time. SHE was the one who always took pictures 

of lecture slides on her phone. Never participated once. 

Small world. 

She told me her cat died. It was a long-winded story about 

how she adopted him, and then how long the cat had 

been in the family. Then something about her uncle being 

allergic to cats, so she had to chase him out of the room all 

the time. The cat, not the uncle. I reckon she’d been waiting 

to tell someone about her cat for a while, and I didn’t have 

much else to do but study so I stayed. She also had some 

chips with her and she was sharing. I hadn’t eaten lunch yet. 

I had an essay to finish start but to be honest, I thought this 

was a good opportunity. Experience the other side for a bit. 

Suzy In Camp was draining and annoying and really just 

leave-me-the-fuck-alone, but Suzy By Herself wasn’t all that 

bad. Wonder if people think that way about me. 

The last thing I remember from what she said was that her 

cat’s name had been Annie. So, I did it again: I asked her if 

Annie was okay. Thank God she found it funny (I think), 

because I could NOT go through another five minutes of 

wondering if someone secretly hated me. Then I asked her 

if she was okay. She said she was fine: 

“Just…fine.” 

Day Sixteen (Fuck I Don’t Know!) 

What if we all collectively decided to not give a shit? 

Asking for a friend. 


edition four 

lot’s wife


START 

52-53

edition four 

lot’s wife

edition three 

wot’s life? 

with agony aunt 

Q. 

Dear Agony Aunt, 

I think I have a crush on my economics lecturer! I always see him looking at me in class, giving me ‘the 

eyes’, so he probably feels the same way, right? How do I approach him after class without looking like I’m 

hopelessly obsessed? 

Kind regards, 

A commerce student looking for true love 

Start up a conversation about his economic beliefs. If he says “jobs and growth” then it’s time to #Brexit as 

quick as possible. If not then continue to make poor puns by telling him how’d you love to acquire his assets or 

manage his stimulus package. He’ll catch on eventually. 

Dear Agony Aunt, 

My boyfriend and I are looking to move out of the nest and get a flat together, yay! However, there’s a 

slight issue. I work in hospitality while I study, and I have been trying to save up as much as I can. However 

he doesn’t work at all and has rich parents who are going to fund everything he needs. Should we still split 

the rent and bills 50/50? He keeps looking at apartments that are way out of my price range, and they’re 

cool places that I’d love to live in, but it’s not going to be possible if we go halves on the cost. I have tried 

to bring it up with him and he just doesn’t see why I’m concerned. It’s like he thinks money is just no big 

deal - typical private school attitude, you know. What do I do? 

A. 

Kind regards, 

A working class gal 

Firstly, I’d be telling that lazy-ass to wake up and get himself a job. If he’s too inept to manage that then make 

it clear he will be responsible for 100% of the jobs around the house from dusting to washing and cooking 

too (I think you’ll find that he’ll suddenly be able to get a job after saying this). Secondly, make your budget/ 

contribution very clear to him and teach him how to double numbers. If this number is higher than the rent of 

an apartment that he is interested in explain that he’ll have to sell his collection of Ralph Lauren polos that his 

parents bought for him to make up the difference. PS go girlfriend

edition four 

lot’s wife 

sport the difference 

article by celaena june sardothian 

artwork by ?? 

Content Warning: sexism, cissexism 

It is impossible to escape stereotypes about women. I think everyone 

has seen, heard, or been subject to some sort of stereotype, especially 

when it comes to women in sport. Across the whole industry, those 

stereotypes affect how women are treated from the court to the playing 

field. Girls never get picked first for teams. People hesitate before passing 

you the ball, or avoid throwing it to you altogether. Boys and girls 

play on different courts, and in different leagues, because otherwise it 

wouldn’t be fair. 

I never really cared much for the whole ‘boys are better than girls in 

sport’ thing, because for the most part I thought it wasn’t all that 

true. I’ve always considered myself quite good at sport. I tried a bit of 

everything, from football to badminton to gymnastics, and usually did 

just as well as my three brothers. Looking back, it’s obvious I was lucky 

in that I had male siblings (even if they did take it easy on me when 

we played together) and a sporty family, who encouraged me to pursue 

sport. I also found a sport that I loved, and so I never really lost interest 

in physical activity. It could have so easily gone the other way, like it 

does for a lot of us. 

I have 3 distinct memories about sport in my childhood: 

I used to get out of running laps at school because my (male) sport 

teacher knew later that day I would be playing representative basketball 

and wanted me to save my energy for the game. I played with my best 

friend and we were the only “representative” basketball players in 

our year so it was a pretty big deal for our school. My teacher seemed 

genuinely impressed at our sporting abilities and knew we could deal 

with the extra exercise but wanted us to really excel. 

My Dad said to me one Saturday evening, the night before an early 

basketball training session that he didn’t want to take me there anymore 

because “[I] wouldn’t get anywhere with basketball anyway”. I didn’t 

really understand why he said that, everyone at school was so supportive 

and my brothers played basketball too and Mum was happy to take me… 

so why did my Dad have an issue? I still don’t know. 

In year six, my school basketball team (girls) played in the boys’ division 

because we were too good for the girls’ competition. We couldn’t play 

in any other division; we were the oldest age group for primary school 

sport and were in the top girls division so the boys division was the 

only realistic option. We assumed the boys division would be more 

stimulating; the competition was better because they enjoyed the game 

more and played more aggressively, so it was more of a challenge. The 

boys, though, were angry at the audacity of the league to allow such a 

‘violation’ of rules. My mum remembers the boys’ parents being appalled 

at the idea and wanted to watch us lose. We finished 3rd! 

Primary school was great for me. I won sports awards and had heaps 

of athletics ribbons and loved being on the oval at lunch time with 

my friends playing any sport we wanted. My best friends and I fit in 

perfectly amongst the boys and they loved the competition! Back then 

we weren’t afraid to show some friendly aggression. 

After primary school comes high school, and well, puberty. I watched 

friends’ interest in physical activity drop, and was disheartened to find 

that everybody else found this normal. At lunch, we self-segregated, 

with the boys playing footy and the girls sitting in the shade. The 

average Beep Test score for girls in my age group dropped each year, 

while the boys’ would rise. I hated it and it made me sad. It didn’t make 

sense to me, and still doesn’t really. 

In basketball, girls nails had to be kept short because scratching was a 

major concern, the boys didn’t seem to have that rule; I guess if the boys 

got scratched they just had to suck it up? Maybe it was just because long 

nails were more of a “girl thing”? Who knows? I didn’t love the idea that 

in tennis the girls had to play 2 fewer sets than the boys. If I’m playing 

a sport then I wanted to make the most of it! I came to tire myself 

out!! I never tried netball, the girls at school would always talk about 

how bitchy the girls were and I wasn’t for that at all. Maybe I’ll never 

understand why rules and regulations in sport are so sexist. 

Ultimately, I found the biggest difference between boys and girls when 

it came to sport was aggression: boys could get away with playing rough 

without judgement or fear for their safety, while for us girls, aggression 

was seen as unladylike. Aggression was perceived as a male trait, and 

girls who played sport with some attitude were often labelled “manly”. 

It was important to me that I had an avenue to be aggressive without 

feeling unladylike. 

Once I found a sport that worked for me I latched onto it. Volleyball! It 

was perfect for me in so many ways: a full body work out, a team sport, 

offence and defence combined, and the best part? It’s aggressive as hell 

(but there’s a net between you and the other team so aggression is more 

than acceptable). In fact, we are constantly told to be more aggressive, 

and at the end of the games when you shake hands with the other team 

they comment on how well you play if you play aggressively!! It was the 

only sport I found where I could show aggression and refs didn’t take it 

the wrong way. 

I’ve been playing volleyball almost exclusively now for about 10 years. I 

like to imagine the other sports I tried in my childhood are different now 

to how I experienced them, and are less dependent on stereotypes about 

girls and women. It’s possible I had a completely different experience to 

others, and that they never experience sexism in sport, but I fear that’s 

wishful thinking. Women in sport aren’t taken as seriously or treated the 

same way as men. 

In the meantime, I’ll wait patiently for our turn and cheer on any 

movement in the right direction! Women’s AFL, Michelle Payne, the 

Williams sisters. It’s looking good.

“it’s just locker 

room talk” 

article by hamah hosen 

artwork by lily greenwood 

Content Warning: sexism, sexual assault, rape, rape 

culture, sexual harassment, victim blaming 

A newly structured version of “boys will be boys” has 

emerged, highlighting the continuation of sexism within 

our society. 

The framing of sexist comments as banter suggests 

this behaviour is tolerated, 

this behaviour is acceptable 

That is of course, 

as long as no one opposes them, 

as long as it’s not taken seriously, 

as long as they can be seen as a joke 

Disrespect is no joke. 

cat-calls while walking on the street 

sexist jokes on the public bus 

non-consensual grabbing at work 

But don’t worry, “It’s Just Locker Room Talk”. 

The reality is, 

these words are rarely ever only confined in the private 

environment of locker rooms. 

But somehow… 

they remained said with an excuse 

they remain said with a justification 

they remain said to facilitate rape culture 

It becomes a constant struggle to win the game … 

when we constantly have to tug and re-adjust our clothing 

while passing the players 

when we constantly have to try to speed up our pace while 

passing the players 

when we constantly have to watch that we aren’t provoking 

while passing the players 


There’s no win-win in this situation 

The odds are not in our favour, 

as long as the rhetoric remains intact 

at the office, 

at the shops, 

in the bathrooms. 

This tired rhetoric needs to be challenged. 

It’s been overused and reused. 

We need to refuse to accept these conversations as a norm 

We need to refuse to stay silent 

We need to refuse to see this rhetoric as an excuse 

“Locker room talk” is not simply locker room talk. 

It’s a dangerous game facilitating an attitude of no 

accountability 

in a culture … 

where 1 in 3 women will become victims of sexual violence. 

where 1 in 6 men are victims of sexual violence. 

where less than 15% of rapes are reported 


The ‘Game of Life’ is automatically sabotaged 

Free unlimited spins of the rhetoric 

Rewards for moving on in the journey 

Lucky chances for not being the 1 in 3 


dissent 56-57

2017 Ed4

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