Issue - University of Sydney Union

Transcription

LS! GIRLS! GIRLS! GI
10
14
18
21
28
SKIP-HOP: BEATS OF OUR LAND
SYDNEY’S SMALL BARS
THE HEROES WE NEED
CHERRY-CHAPSTICKED GIRLS
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE TRASHY
first 4,000 copies with interfaith publication inside.
issue 06, 2012
Have you subscribed yet?
Fri Jan 20 10:10
WHY THIS MAN
SPENT $17,000
ON A NEW NOSE
LITTLE
MASTER’S
MISERY
GOOD WEEKEND
OVERSEAS
INVASION
When children’s
shows become
naughty
NEWS, PAGE 7
FIRST PUBLISHED 1831 NO. 54,375 $2.50 (inc GST)
January 14-15, 2012
MEET THE
$10b HEIRESS
First published 1831 No. 54,366 $1.50 (inc GST)
PAUL McGEOUGH
BOMB BLAST THAT
ROCKED THE WORLD
NEWS REVIEW
NEWS, PAGE 6
Gillard
rebukes
Hawke
on unions
Jessica Wright
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
THE Prime Minister has dismissed a call by the Labor elder
Bob Hawke to slash the power of
unions within the ALP.
Julia Gillard defended the factional and union influences that
were responsible for the destruction of Kevin Rudd’s leadership in 2010.
Mr Hawke, a former prime
minister and boss of the ACTU,
said in an interview with the
Fairfax publication The Australian Financial Review that while
his ‘‘first love’’ was the trade union movement, its influence over
the Labor Party had grown to
‘‘suffocating’’ proportions.
‘Our great trade
union movement is
important to
Australian society
and to representing
the needs of working
people.’ Julia Gillard
But yesterday Ms Gillard said
the unions were the champions
of ‘‘working Australians’’.
‘‘I believe our great trade union movement is important to
Australian society and to representing the needs of working
people,’’ she said.
‘‘It was the trade union movement, shoulder to shoulder with
the Labor Party, that fought back
and got rid of Work Choices.’’
Responding to Mr Hawke’s advice to the ALP to recognise the
perceived negative association
with the unions, Ms Gillard said
the matter had been adequately
addressed at the party’s national
conference last month.
She tried to soften the public
rebuke to Mr Hawke, once the
nation’s most popular leader,
saying he was an important part
of the ALP’s history.
‘‘Bob Hawke is of course a living legend,’’ she said. ‘‘Bob is
right to say that the Labor Party
needs to keep modernising.’’
His criticism of undue union
influence within the ALP mirrored the view of another former
prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who
savaged the power of the unions
and factions in a speech to the
national conference.
Mr Rudd said the party had
failed to take any significant
steps to rein in the power of factions and union bosses.
‘‘While some claim we have
moved forward on party reform,
the truth is we have barely
moved at all,’’ Mr Rudd said.
‘‘The stark alternative remains: either more power to the
factional powerbrokers or more
power to the 35,000 members of
the Australian Labor Party.’’
An internal review by the former premiers Steve Bracks and
Bob Carr and Senator John Faulkner recommended a guaranteed say for unions and Labor
supporters in party preselections and aired dire warnings
that the party faced a membership crisis.
Senator Faulkner has repeatedly warned that the ALP
risks a wipeout of its membership – as ‘‘a small party getting
smaller, [and] an old party getting older’’.
Ms Gillard welcomed the
review but resisted the suggestion that the unions be given a
say in policy and parliamentary
decisions.
‘‘As Labor leader I will insist on
the right to freely choose the
executive of the federal parliamentary Labor Party,’’ she said at
the time of the review’s release. ‘‘I
have chosen my team of ministers and parliamentary secretaries and I will continue to do so.’’
Mr Hawke also addressed the
leadership question that continues to dog Ms Gillard, saying he
believed she was the best person
for the job.
‘‘I don’t think they should
change leaders,’’ he said. ‘‘There
has been a lot of criticism of
Julia, but you have got to give her
credit for a lot of achievements
and tenacity.
‘‘She has shown a lot of courage and determination, particularly on the carbon tax and the
mining tax. When those things
are bedded down they may even
become positives.’’
Ms Gillard has refused to address questions about the leadership this year, telling reporters
on New Year’s Day to ‘‘check the
transcripts’’ of last year for her
answer.
It is more than 20 years since
Mr Hawke was prime minister of
Australia but the ‘‘Silver Bodgie’’
has enjoyed a resurgence in the
media, most recently in a renewed spat with the former
prime minister Paul Keating.
The pair showed the passing
of time had done nothing to ease
the rancour in their relationship
with Mr Keating this week blaming Mr Hawke for the wage
explosions of the 1970s.
Mr Keating said that Mr
Hawke, as the ACTU national
secretary, had ‘‘nearly destroyed
the economy twice’’. The spat
coincides with the release by the
National Archives of the 1982
and 1983 cabinet documents.
Wickets tumble as Test cricket hits fast-forward button
There’s action aplenty as
the five-day game takes
its lead from Twenty20,
writes Malcolm Knox.
AS IF obligated to compete with the
evening’s entertainment, 22 Test cricketers of Australia and India romped
through three bright and breezy sessions. The batsmen clubbed the ball to
all corners when they weren’t losing
their wickets. The bowlers served up
bouncers, wides, late outswingers and
unplayable in-duckers, with the occasional nagging length ball for variety.
Fieldsmen fell asleep if the ball hadn’t
come to them in an over.
What is this new thing, and how can
it be stretched to five days? Perhaps
each team needs three innings in a
Test. Perhaps there is no problem. Test
matches have a natural duration of 31⁄2
days, and we should celebrate the
plebeian uprising of the bowler.
While M.S. Dhoni and R. Ashwin
were together, putting on 54 in 81 balls
for India’s seventh wicket, an anxious
Australian voice in the Churchill Stand
muttered, ‘‘They’re digging in now –
we need a wicket, Hilfy!’’
Resurgent Punter
holds key to series
If the opening day was all
about Sachin Tendulkar, the
central character leading
into today is Ricky Ponting.
Summer – Page 26
How good is James Pattinson? ... Australia’s hottest new quickie celebrates the wicket of Virender Sehwag. Photo: Steve Christo
Bowler Ben Hilfenhaus did his bit,
and concerns about a partnership
lasting more than an hour were
allayed. Mexican waves couldn’t even
make a full circuit as a wicket fell first.
When security guards seized beach
balls, they weren’t booed, because
something had happened on the field
to distract the crowd’s attention. Bill
Lawry surely couldn’t cry ‘‘It’s all happening!’’ for fear of understatement.
When Dhoni won the toss, the
crowd cheered – they were going to see
Sachin Tendulkar. Of course, they never considered the Indian top three
might bat all day, and they were right,
though it did look, for a moment after
tea, as though they might be back in
for their second innings.
Tendulkar did not make his 100th
international century. Two constants of
his career – that he scores runs in
Sydney and that his teammates let him
down – collided, resulting in his dismissal for 41. He came to the crease at
2-30 when not one ball had been hit
convincingly in front of the wicket.
From there it was a contest of his cover
drive versus Australia. The bowlers fed
the shot. He laced drive after drive
between point and mid-off, then dragged one onto his stumps. As wickets go,
it was a cheap buy.
In general the bowlers didn’t have to
strike any bargains. Hilfenhaus rediscovered his fast bouncer to remove
Ashwin. Then, like a child who remembers last year’s Christmas present was
even better than this year’s, Hilfy used
Continued Page 2
Economic woes hit US defence ambitions
Daniel Flitton
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
AUSTRALIA is about to confront
the biting reality of US military
decline as its cash-strapped ally
moves to abandon the longstanding doctrine of being ready
to fight two wars simultaneously
on opposite sides of the globe.
The New York Times reported
yesterday on cuts expected to be
announced this week by the Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, to
slash hundreds of billions of dollars in defence spending across
ground forces, navy, air force
and the nuclear arsenal.
Coming after earlier reduc-
tions, the US’s formal strategy to
fight two large adversaries at
once – as it did during World War
II against Nazi Germany in
Europe and Japan in the Pacific –
will also be surrendered.
For 60 years the Defence chiefs
in Canberra have had the luxury
to assume Washington will be
free to come to Australia’s aid, no
matter what the US entanglements outside the region.
But those days are gone as a
teetering economy forces deep
cuts to the US defence budget –
at the same time as many are
concerned about China’s growing military ambitions.
Buzzcut
Pentagon prepares to
slash spending.
World – Page 8
The troubled F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter, of which Labor has committed to buy between 14 and 100,
is also reported to be targeted.
Despite the cuts, the US would
remain the pre-eminent military
power with the ability to fight
and win one major conflict and
‘‘spoil’’ a second adversary’s
ambitions in another part of the
world. But The New York Times
2012 FACES
TO WATCH
SPECTRUM
WEEKEND
2011 a year in weather
summer
F
Foreign-made
car
ttops sales NEWS, PAGE 3
Wednesday January 4, 2012
WEEKEND SPORT
reported that the cuts inevitably
posed questions such as whether a reduced aircraft carrier fleet
could counter an increasingly
bold China or whether a smaller
army could fight a long ground
war in Asia.
Australia has already made
plain its hope to see a greater US
engagement in the ‘‘Asian century’’ as the Obama administration withdraws from Iraq and
Afghanistan.
The agreement to train up to
2500 US Marines near Darwin,
announced during Barack Obama’s visit to Australia in November, was widely interpreted as
insurance against China’s rise.
The US has also made clear a
desire to shift the focus to Asia
and Mr Obama used his speech
to federal Parliament to pledge
the US was ‘‘here to stay’’.
The shift from fighting two
simultaneous wars against
major forces recognises the significant changes to warfare during recent decades, with insurgent conflicts the norm and
the growing use of drones and
other high technology.
The Defence Minister, Stephen
Smith, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd, would
not comment on the change.
Killer given
passport,
licence and
freedom
Year of job Who’s for a dip? But there is a dark side
pain to hit
banks, shops
Saffron Howden
and Alicia Wood
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TRENT JENNINGS packed his
passport, driver’s licence and,
unsupervised, took off in a
stolen car from a prison psychiatric hospital.
As authorities scrambled yesterday to shift the blame for the
bungle that allowed the killer to
walk free on Friday and outsmart
police hours later, the nationwide hunt for him continued.
Jennings, 26, stabbed a man to
death eight years ago during a
casual sexual encounter.
He was granted day leave
rights from Morisset Hospital,
near Newcastle, only a month
before he absconded from custody and allegedly arranged over
the internet to meet a man, 50, at
his home in Sydney’s Zetland.
Last Thursday, Jennings,
pictured, tied
the man up
with his consent then stole
some of his
belongings, including
his
black Mercedes four-wheeldrive, police say.
That night he returned to hospital after curfew, having contacted staff to tell them his train
was running late.
Satisfied with this explanation, hospital staff allowed him
out unsupervised at 2pm the
next day, the eighth anniversary
of the night he stabbed Giuseppe
Vitale, 32, in the neck after binding him at the hands and feet in a
park at Narwee.
Jennings did not return on Friday evening and, four hours
later, he was pulled over by
police in the stolen car south of
Coffs Harbour. His licence and
vehicle registration were checked, he was issued with some
fines, and allowed to drive off.
Last night, police across Australia were searching for the former Sydney waiter, who in 2005
was found not guilty of Mr
Vitale’s murder because a court
concluded he was in a druginduced psychosis at the time.
Yesterday the Premier, Barry
O’Farrell, ordered a report from
all relevant departments into the
circumstances surrounding the
getaway and the delay in notifying the public.
‘‘I share some of the concerns
about the lack of information
about his release or his escape,’’
he said.
This week the NSW chief psychiatrist, John Allan, will review
Jennings’ case and patient leave
procedures at Morisset Hospital.
The local health district
Continued Page 2
ANNE SUMMERS
SILENCE LIKE A
CANCER GROWS
NEWS REVIEW
Gareth Hutchens
Tertiary advisory days: your five-page guide to starting universityAUSTRALIA
STARTS PAGE 12
is on the cusp of a
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
summer
FESTIVAL OF THE COUCH
200
The son
also rises
The world of the box-set addict
SPORTSDAY
Monday January 2, 2012
Call to cut
city speed
limits to
40km/h
Anna Patty
STATE POLITICS
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
TRAFFIC across the city would
be slowed to 40km/h as part of
City of Sydney plans.
Terry Lee-Williams, a transport strategy manager at the City
of Sydney, told the NSW Parliament’s joint standing committee
on road safety that the council
would like a “blanket” 40km/h
speed limit across the city
in “predominantly residential
areas”. He said 20 per cent of the
existing city speed zones were
40km/h.
‘‘Once we do the CBD, that
would take it up to about 35 per
cent and we would progressively
like to roll that through. I say
progressively because it is a cost
issue,’’ Mr Lee-Williams told the
committee late last year.
The costs include hundreds of
thousands of dollars in studies
‘‘and hoops we must jump
through for the RMS [Roads and
Maritime Services]’’.
The NSW Labor MP Walt
Secord, who is a Staysafe committee member, said he disagreed with the council plan to
introduce the 40km/h speed
zone across the city, saying it
would further congest traffic.
‘‘Recently at a Staysafe parliamentary hearing, the staff from
Sydney City Council were advocating changing the entire city to
40 kilometres,’’ he said. ‘‘While I
understand they have safety
concerns, I fear that it could slow
city traffic to a snail’s pace.
‘‘This would make journeys
across Sydney even longer in
duration and slower, especially
at night.’’
A spokeswoman for the City of
Sydney said it was the responsibility of NSW Roads and Maritime Services to approve any
changes to the speed limit.
“The RMS is responsible for
signposting and speed limits
throughout NSW,” she said.
“The City of Sydney supports
improving road safety and minimising the risk of injury and
death in pedestrian areas
Howard honoured, for Queen and country
ROAD RULES
Pedestrians in the city
centre: 600,000
Vehicles in city centre:
85,000
International safety speed:
30km/h
City of Sydney safety
speed: 40km/h
through the reduction of speed
limits, as is international best
practice. On any given working
day, there are 600,000 pedestrians in the city centre and 85,000
vehicles. The slower the vehicle,
the less risk of severe trauma to
the pedestrian.’’
A spokeswoman for Roads and
Maritime Services said it had
“received a copy of the concept
proposal for a speed zone reduction from the City of Sydney on
Christmas Eve and is reviewing it
early this year”.
The former Labor premier
Kristina Keneally and the City of
Sydney lord mayor, Clover
Moore, agreed to a plan to slow
traffic within the city centre to
40km/h by early 2011 in a
memorandum of understanding
dated September 13, 2010, when
Mr Secord worked as chief-ofstaff for Ms Keneally.
A spokesman for the NSW
Roads Minister, Duncan Gay,
said the minister had not yet
seen the City of Sydney proposal.
Mr Lee-Williams told the Staysafe committee in late November that someone hit by a car at
40km/h was far less likely to die
than if they were hit at 60km/h.
‘‘Internationally it is 30km/h,
but because it has taken about
12 years to get the RTA down to
40km/h, we did not want to push
the envelope to 30km/h,’’ he
said. ‘‘Traffic also flows better in
crowded areas at a slower speed
because . . . you do not get compression between intersections:
the vehicles are moving easily;
they do not have to accelerate,
decelerate, accelerate, decelerate.”
700
2100
white collar recession with insiders warning that thousands of
ANZ jobs to go this year
jobs are at risk in the finance sector, after it emerged yesterday
that ANZ planned to cut 700 jobs.
But the Herald has established
the job cuts will total as many as
Australian jobs cut by ANZ
1000 by the end of this year,
in past two years
which will be more than the
bank shed at the height of the
global financial crisis.
They come a day after the Royal Bank of Scotland announced
Local jobs lost in Bank of
plans to close its investment
Scotland closure
banking business, leading to the
loss of more than 200 jobs in
Australia.
First published 1831 No. 54,364 $1.50 (inc GST) you count all those jobs since
Economists have warned Aus- October, along with what will be
tralia is vulnerable to a recession announced in the next week . . .
this year with a INSIDE
wholesale fund- we will lose more staff than we
ing squeeze inBowser
Europe blues
raising did as a result of the GFC.’’
NSW drivers
more
The national secretary of the
debt costs for banks
suchcould
asface
ANZ.
petrol price rises when the
Finance Services Union, Leon
Experts havegovernment
warned
bansthousregular
unleaded
fuel,from
pushingthe
up
Carter, criticised the bank for
ands of jobs willdemand
be lost
for ethanol-blended and
industry this premium
year unleaded,
as banks
the industry shedding jobs when it had
has warned.
Fromera
July, petrol
scramble to adjust
to an
of record profitability. ‘‘Yet again
stations will no longer be allowed
low credit growth
andunleaded
higher
to sell regular
in a bid the first time anything gets
promote renewable biofuels.
tough in finance the only trick in
funding costs. toNews
— Page 3
This comes on top of cuts of their locker is to put jobs on the
2150 jobs between March 2009 line,’’ he said.
Weather,
not
and last September
in or
ANZ’s
‘‘It continues to be a highly
The most miserable summer in
Australian division.
‘‘We
have
Sydney in 50
years. The
coldest profitable organisation that is
autumn
nationally in more
than making multibillion-dollar prorun a policy of50
shedding
jobs
years. Record flooding in
Victoria.
A Christmas
Day in
fits. They have an obligation to
through attrition
since
October
Melbourne with hailstones the
last year,’’ an executive
said.floods and keep everybody employed.’’
size of eggs. Massive
cyclonebeen
Yasi in rehired
The Financial Services Minis‘‘Temps have not
Queensland.
ter, Bill Shorten, said: ‘‘We
once their contract
What’s ithas
all expired.
mean? been stophaven’t been briefed specifically
Secondments have
Paul
ped. We have outsourced
two on any decisions of the ANZ in
Sheehan,
Opinion —
whole floors of operations
staff term of jobs.We regard any job
Page 11
from a [Melbourne] office to losses as unfortunate.’’
Experts say banks will be forManila [in the Philippines]. If
DY
YNASTY
THE TENDULKAR DYNASTY
Road toll falls
ced to cut staff numbers for the
next few years to protect profit
margins. The high levels of consumption and lending they enjoyed in recent years will not
continue.
At the start of 2007 Australia’s
banks, excluding ANZ Asia, employed 155,000. Four years later
that figure had grown to 178,000
people, an increase of 23,000.
In ANZ alone, the number of
employees in the group’s global
operations increased by 12,000
since September 2008, from
36,900 to 48,900.
But ANZ’s Australian division
has shed more than 2100 jobs in
the past two years – from 19,922
to 17,768 – as it sends more jobs
to offshore.
The job losses could exacerbate
conditions in Australia – already
vulnerable to recession. The chief
economist at JP Morgan, Stephen
Walters, said: Australia has not
undergone adjustments observed
elsewhere ... it remains vulnerable to shocks.
Economists also say we might
expect a further shake-out in the
retail industry, which employs
1.2 million people, following the
jobs losses last year.
The Grattan Institute’s Saul
Eslake said: ‘‘I wouldn’t be at all
surprised if 2012 was a year in
which some of the almostinevitable consequences for employment in retailing of the
deterioration in retail trading
conditions over the next couple
of years came to a head.’’
ANZ staff wait for axe to fall —
Weekend Business
Sun, sand and fun ... Tabitha Palmer, 6, centre, plays with Liv Knight, 7, and Harry Hamilford, 5, at North Bondi. The girls are in the under-7 nippers. Photo: Dallas Kilponen
Economic conditions are preventing children
learning to swim, writes Nick Ralston.
LIFESAVERS have a simple
explanation for the spate of near
drownings and a record number
of rescues in recent weeks.
‘‘There was pretty poor weather leading into Christmas and I
think that everyone was frothing
at the bit to get out to the beach,’’
said Dean Storey, the lifesaving
manager of Surf Life Saving NSW.
‘‘Then the sun came out. At
the same time we had the big
swell . . . and it all came together
to create a couple of weeks of
entry to existing pools, which is a
barrier to some socio-economic
groups, and the increasing cost
of bus transport.
‘‘The Department of Education tries to minimise the cost
but there are some limitations
on that. It’s just a sign of our economic times at the moment.
People are being pinched a bit.’’
On the plus side, Surf Life Saving is enjoying a boom in the
number of young people becoming involved in the volunteer rescue organisation.
This year it has 30,000 nippers
on its books and the number has
been rising annually for the past
four years.
The 2011 road toll was the second
lowest since 1944, according to
provisional figures from the NSW
Centre for Road Safety. Last
year, 376 people were killed on
NSW roads, down from 405 the
previous year. The toll has
dropped from 524 over the past
10 years.
SUVA, FIJI
News — Page 5
First Tuesday
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NOT since Sir Robert Menzies
has the monarchy bestowed
such approbation on an Australian politician.
John Howard’s decade-long
prime ministership and his dogged adherence to a constitutional monarchy have earned him
admission to an exclusive club
with a capped membership of
just 24 after Buckingham Palace
announced yesterday he had
been appointed a member of the
Order of Merit.
Only Menzies’ Knight of the
Order of the Thistle, to which the
Liberal Party founder was invested in 1963, carries more kudos.
‘‘I’m very honoured,’’ Mr
Howard told the Herald from his
home in Wollstonecraft. ‘‘It’s a
compliment to Australia and a
recognition, among other
things, of the respect the Queen
has for this country. I’m very
grateful for it.’’
Mr Howard, along with the
British artist David Hockney,
IN GOOD COMPANY
Mitt Romney and Ron Paul
THE Fijian regime
ofbe running
Voreqe
appeared to
neck and
as may have rendered exceptionneck in Iowa before tomorrow’s
‘‘Frank’’ Bainimarama
has really meritorious services in Our
first vote on the candidates
Crown Services
or towards
the of Washington’s
vying for the Republican
Party’s
cruited
one
most
advancement of the Arts, Learnpresidential nomination, with
notorious
firmsmounting
– that
ing, Literature,
and Science orlobbyist
Rick Santorum
a late
such other exceptional
service
as
charge.
Contenders
been
has been
raided
by the
FBIhave
and
We are fit to recognise’’.
blitzing shopping malls, public
regimes
in
Althoughrepresents
writers and artistsrepressive
meetings and
local media.
have traditionally
dominated East World
Page 8
the Middle
and— Africa
– to
the field, politicians appointed
manage
its reputation and
to the orderhelp
have included
Sir
Winston Churchill, Clement
lobby foreign journalists.
Attlee and Baroness Thatcher.
Mr Howard becomes
ninth
And the
diplomatic
sources be- lations, only to enshrine them in
Australian appointed, following
lieve
firm, Qorvis Commu- a permanent law.
in the footsteps
of thethe
philosopher Samuel Alexander,
the intel-may be behind the
nications,
The company is represented
lectual Gilbert Murray, scientists
decision
by Commodore Baini- in Suva by a fresh-faced former
Sir Frank Macfarlane
Burnet,
Howard Florey
and Robert to lift the widely conmarama
business journalist, Seth ThomMcCredie May, former chief
demned
public
emergency regu- as Pietras, who has been in the
justice of Australia
Sir Owen
Dixon, artist Sir Sidney Nolan and
Chloe Hosking won a thrilling
soprano Dame Joan Sutherland.
first race of the Bay Classic and
Mr Howard is expected to
promptly called Union Cycliste
receive his Order of Merit – an
Internationale boss Pat McQuaid
eight-pointed cross bearing the
‘‘a dick’’ for failing to implement
imperial crown to be worn
a minimum wage for women.
around the neck – at a ceremony
Third placed Rochelle Gilmore
later this year.
also called for change.
Frank Bainimarama ... advice.
On merit ... clockwise,
from top left:
Baroness Thatcher,
Prince Charles, Sir
Tom Stoppard, David
Hockney and Sir
David Attenborough.
who was also appointed to the
order yesterday, will join
luminaries including the former
British prime minister Baroness
Margaret Thatcher, the playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, the
naturalist Sir David Attenborough and Prince Charles.
The Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, said she warmly congratulated Mr Howard on
receiving such a distinguished
award. ‘‘This is a rare and singular honour for his service to Australia,’’ she said.
The Order, founded by King
Edward VII in 1902, carries no
title but is considered an
extremely high mark of honour
and a personal gift from the
Queen.
According to the Royal Family’s
website, it is to be given ‘‘to such
persons, subjects of Our Crown,
Classic stoush
country on and off since October. A contract published by the
US Justice Department under
the Foreign Agents Registration
Act reveals that in October the
Fijian Attorney-General, Aiyaz
Sayed-Khaiyum, signed a deed
with Qorvis worth $US40,000 a
month for a year. In return,
Qorvis has agreed to provide
‘‘public relations services relating to business and investment
to the government of Fiji’’.
But it appears to the Herald,
which spent the week in Suva
being lobbied by Mr Pietras, that
his ambit is far greater than spin.
It is likely Mr Pietras, described
as Qorvis’s chief speechwriter,
helped draft Commodore Bainimarama’s recent speeches, including his New Year’s Day address announcing the lifting of
emergency regulations.
Several countries with an interest in Fiji expressed a belief to
the Herald that, given the timing,
Qorvis might have played a role
in Commodore Bainimarama’s
decision to lift the emergency
regulations.
A diplomatic source also expressed concern that the kind of
role played by such lobbyists in
the Middle East and Africa was
being imported to the Pacific.
SportsDay — Page 32
Debra Jopson
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Dirty business
... litter lines
the foreshore
at Iron Cove.
Photo: Jon Reid
before, NSW Maritime’s latest
annual report reveals.
‘‘One can draw the conclusion
that there would be more litter in
the harbour,’’ said Peter McLean,
the NSW chief executive of Keep
Australia Beautiful. ‘‘I hate to see
through an Education Department, two-week intensive program in schools for students in
years two to six.
The program – the most
affordable in the state – is offered
to 100,000 students but is not
compulsory.
The peak industry body AUSTSWIM said in recent years issues
of cost had made some parents
reluctant to send their children
for lessons.
The chief executive, Gordon
Mallett, said: ‘‘If there is no local
pool, despite any efforts the
Department of Education may
make, it starts to get more difficult. Then you’ve got the cost of
Come in spinner: Fiji pays Washington lobbyists for image makeover
Dylan Welch
Exceptionally meritorious services ... Mr Howard at home in Wollstonecraft yesterday. ‘‘It’s a compliment to Australia,’’ he said of his award. Photo: Quentin Jones
Kelly Burke
programs like this not continue
in some form. It would certainly
be very detrimental. We have
millions of people living in that
catchment.’’
Research indicated it was
likely that since the end of the
drought more rain has meant
more litter washed into waterways, he said.
Most of the man-made refuse
consists of food and drink packaging dropped on streets and
swept into the harbour through
stormwater drains, a NSW Maritime spokeswoman said.
While the fall was partly
caused by Maritime’s environmental service losing its flagship
vessel for more than six months
as a replacement was built, it
also followed a decision in
December 2010 to stop using
detainees provided by the
Department of Corrective Ser-
vices for the foreshore clean-up,
she said.
Minimal risk detainees began
working with government waterways cleaners 17 years ago and
the program has contributed
between 12 and 28 per cent of
the volume of waste collected
every year up to 2008-09, official
figures show.
However, the program was
suspended when the Department of Corrective Services
began to phase out its periodic
detention program last October,
according to NSW Maritime.
The Herald understands that
staff were unwilling to work with
higher-risk detainees receiving
intensive correction orders,
which have replaced periodic
detention.
The detainees’ assistance was
hailed as a success in previous
years, as NSW Maritime crews
worked to remove boating hazards and rubbish from Sydney
Harbour and the navigable
waters of the Parramatta and
Lane Cove rivers over a combined foreshore length of 270
kilometres.
Four minimal risk detainees
worked three times a week with
government staff to clear debris
in areas inaccessible to boats,
News Review
Fiji’s future of
uncertainty
Mr Pietras, an executive vicepresident of Qorvis’s geopolitical
solutions section, is at least the
second Qorvis employee to travel
to Fiji, after Tina Jeon, an Olympic archer and Qorvis spinner.
In early November Ms Jeon
posted on Twitter a photo of herself and Commodore Bainimarama aboard a boat in Fiji
with the caption: ‘‘No better
place to write a press release’’.
Last year, during the Arab
Spring, Mr Pietras was Qorvis’s
spokesman when its role in defending Middle East regimes was
the subject of debate.
‘‘Our clients are facing some
challenges now,’’ Mr Pietras told
The New York Times. ‘‘But our
long-term goals to bridge the differences between our clients and
the United States haven’t
changed. We stand by them.’’
In 2004 when Qorvis was
raided by the FBI as part of an
investigation into whether an
advertising campaign it helped
run broke federal law by not disclosing Saudi funding.
At the time, Qorvis was the
beneficiary of a six-month contract with the Saudis worth almost
$US15 million to help improve its
reputation after the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001.
Last year an Egyptian steel
tycoon with ties to the Mubarak
regime retained Qorvis to manage
his public relations during a trial
regarding claims of widespread
corruption. He was eventually
sentenced to 10 years in jail.
The company has also represented the man widely known as
‘‘Africa’s worst dictator’’, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang
Nguema Mbasogo.
‘‘We have kids who are doing
nipper training, who are rescuing kids their age on days
when the surf is a bit tricky,’’ said
the nipper manager at North
Bondi Surf Life Saving,
Jim Walker.
North Bondi has 1400 children
doing nipper training, up from
850 a few years ago.
A Bondi resident, Julia Palmer,
was raised in England and
wanted her daughter, Tabitha, to
gain a better understanding than
she had of safety at the beach.
‘‘We offered for her to do it and
she loves it. She’s much more
confident now in the surf than
she was,’’ Ms Palmer said.
SYDNEY CITY shower or two 19°-23°
LIVERPOOL shower or two 17°-24°
PENRITH shower or two 18°-24°
WOLLONGONG showers clearing 18°-21°
GOSFORD few showers 17°-23°
NEWCASTLE few showers 20°-23°
CANBERRA shower or two 12°-24°
ARMIDALE showers, storms 12°-22°
DUBBO shower or two 15°-31°
COFFS HARBOUR storms 19°-26°
DETAILS PAGE 19
ISSN 0312-6315
9 770312 631063
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Harbour rubbish pile on the rise after prison drain gangs get the brush-off
THE amount of litter and waste
Sydney Harbour garbage collectors pick up each year has plummeted to the lowest level in more
than a decade after NSW Maritime suspended a long-running
clean-up program that used
prisoners on periodic detention.
The environmental services
team, which clears debris ranging from plastic drink bottles to
fallen trees from more than 5000
hectares of waterways, collected
just 2284 cubic metres of waste
last financial year, almost 500
cubic metres less than the year
carnage.’’ The solution to the
problem is not as simple. Water
safety groups are concerned that
pool closures and entry costs are
denying young children the
chance to learn to swim.
While an estimated 1.2 million children have private lessons, experts conservatively predict that each year at least 50,000
children nationwide graduate
from high school without being
able to swim 50 metres.
In NSW classes are offered
SYDNEY CITY sunny 18°-26°
LIVERPOOL sunny 15°-31°
PENRITH sunny 16°-33°
such as mangrove swamps, the
WOLLONGONG sunny 18°-26°
NSW Maritime spokeswoman
GOSFORD sunny 15°-28°
said.
NEWCASTLE sunny 18°-26°
The agency expects to restart
CANBERRA partly cloudy 15°-35°
the program using volunteers
ARMIDALE mostly sunny 10°-27°
provided by a non-government
DUBBO sunny 17°-35°
organisation in the first quarter
COFFS HARBOUR partly cloudy 16°-26°
of next year, another spokesDETAILS PAGE 18
man said.
p.a.
Mr McLean said volunteers
were difficult to attract. He
ISSN 0312-6315
warned that the loss of extra
Variable and comparison rate
assistance with garbage collection coincides with the NSW
government setting a target in its
new state plan of achieving the
lowest litter count per capita in
9 770312 631018
Australia by 2016.
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WOLLONGONG storms, showers 20°-32°
GOSFORD shower or two 16°-34°
NEWCASTLE shower or two 20°-31°
ARMIDALE shower or two 12°-29°
DUBBO partly cloudy 19°-37°
COFFS HARBOUR mostly sunny 18°-29°
DETAILS PAGE 16
ISSN 0312-6315
9 770312 631032
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BULL USUONLINE.COM
FEATURE
Issue 06
contents
cherry chapsticked girls
14
28
10
21
Editors
Bronte Lambourne
Lawrence Muskitta
Misa Han
Pierce Hartigan
Xiaoran Shi
usubullmag@gmail.com
Contributors
Mariana Podestá-Diverio, James Mackay,
Robert Pilla,Yuan Lu, Tom Cashman, Jeff Li,
John Rowley, Rob North, Olivia Gao, Erin
Stewart, Jeevan Hariharan, Katie Davern,
Gabi Kelland, Emily Claire Swanson, Miki
Higgins,Yana Smagarinsky, Stephanie
Hayes, Sophia Bashford, Loren Nilsson,
Frankie Yen
Publications Manager
Louisa Stylian
Design manager
Anjali Belani
Design
Nina Bretnall
Simon Macias
www.usuonline.com
Like Us
Facebook.com/usubullmagazine
The views in this publication are not necessarily
the views of USU. The information contained
within this edition of Bull Magazine was correct
at the time of printing.
This publication is brought to you by the University
of Sydney Union and the University of Sydney.
Issue 06, 2012
contents
express yourself
10
the small bar
revolution
14
the heroes we need
18
trash talkers inc.
28
Shutter Up News
Columns
What’s On Interview
Campus Chatter
Youniversity
Food & Booze
Travel
Fashion
Sport
Science & Tech
The Arts
Reviews
Club Hub
Stop. Puzzletime
The Bull Pen
04
05
06
08
17
24
31
32
33
35
36
37
38
40
43
45
46
4
bull USUonline.com
usuonline.com
what’s
shutteron
up
perseus in
bloom
Perseus looking towards
Andromeda in the garden
near Pharmacy Building.
shutter up
PHOTOGRAPHER: YUAN LIU
[OLYMPUS E-300 F5.6, 1/80]
snap!
Send us your unique, arty or just plain cool (as in, not another quad shot) campus snap to usubullmag@gmail.com.
We’ll publish our faves each edition in full page glory. High-res, 300dpi jpegs only – portrait-orientation.
Issue 06
news
1 Jessica Fox wins Silver at the
London Games. Photo courtesy of
Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness (SUSF).
1
2 Bondi Hipsters Dom and Aids were
totes stoked with Jessica Fox’s Silver,
“She’s like one part athlete, one part
babe and two parts foxy.”* Image
courtesy of madeinshoreditch.co.uk.
2
*Quote written by Bull.
NEWS
OLYMPIC GLORY
HERMES
You’ve probably all OD’d on
Olympic-related news but this
latest issue of BULL couldn’t go
to print without mentioning the
amazing achievements of fellow
student Jessica Fox at the London
Games. At just 18, Jessica won
Silver in the women's K1 canoe
slalom at the Lee Valley White
Water Centre. She even got to
meet Wills and Kate during her
London jaunt, which is pretty
spesh. However, according to
some reports, Jessica did decline
invitations to go to a totes
underground rooftop house party
with Dom and Aids.
Submission entries are now closed
but this year’s edition of Hermes is
sure to set your literary loins on fire
with ‘Odyssey’ being the chosen
theme. Provided by the USU,
Hermes is the oldest literary journal
in Australia and showcases creative
and artistic works by students of
the University of Sydney. This
year’s edition will be launched
during Verge Festival so look out
for your free copy soon.
WOMEN’S SPACE
The much loved Women's Space
has moved to a new ‘space’.You
can now find it in Manning House
on Level 1. For those of you who
don’t know, Women's Space exists
as an autonomous, protected area
for women on campus and is used
for a number of different reasons
including meetings, quiet study,
breastfeeding and in general, as a
safe space for women.
The move came about after
calls for Women’s Space to be in
a more central location, closer to
amenities and have better lighting.
Kicked off by previous Board
Directors Nai Brooks and Viv
Moxham-Hall, the move comes
in light of a revamped Women's
Portfolio, ‘Women of the USU’,
which seeks to encourage women's
leadership within the USU and is
backed by the new USU Gender
Policy. Events and mentoring
sessions are also available.
Women's space is open to all
women on campus. Some groups
will seek regular bookings while
others can just drop in when they
feel like it!
For more info or to apply
for the current Women’s
Event Co-ordinator role, email
womenscoordinator@usu.usyd.
edu.au.
DOES MARRIAGE
EQUALITY MATTER?
The USU Queer Event
Coordinators are teaming up with
the Catholic Society of St Peter
to bring you a controversial panel
discussion on same-sex marriage
titled ‘Does Marriage Equality
Matter?’ during their series of Life
Matters talks in Week 4. Promising
engaging and diverse speakers, it’s
going to be a standout event not
to be missed. Tuesday 21 August,
Manning Bar, 1pm-2.30pm.
6
bull usuonline.com
columns
columns
EDITORS’
NOTE
Bronte, Lawrence, Misa,
Pierce and Xiaoran
president’s desk
The usu's president gives you the lowdown on what's been happening
in the busy usu offices
ASTHA RAJVANSHI
With Semester 2 in full swing, the USU kicked
things off with a bang! Week 1 saw a stream of
festivities including the Welcome to Sydney Uni
Party, The International Students’ Day Trips
and Re-O Day.
Getting back into the routine of lectures
and tutorials can make university a boring
and lonely place at times. That’s why the
USU is committed to providing events and
opportunities like these to help you make new
friendships and have fun on campus.
Just walking down Eastern Avenue and seeing a flurry of stalls with so
many different clubs and societies got me excited about everything there is
to do outside of the classroom. Re-O Day was a great way to catch up with
friends and to sign up to new activities for the semester, whether it's doing
Roller Derby or practicing French.
The International Food Fair ensured lunch was a great selection of
multicultural cuisines. And to top it all off, many of you dared to get on
the mechanical bull in the middle of Eastern Ave with live bands playing
throughout the afternoon!
It’s shaping up as a massive year for science. Between
the discovery of the Higgs field and a roll around the red
planet, a lot of people are convinced we’re on the cusp of
a new age of wonder. Much like the moon landing in the
midst of the Cold War, these inspirations have come at a
time of global uncertainty to remind us just how clever
we can be. But let’s not crack out the champagne just yet
– my upbringing leads me to believe there’s still a lot at
stake.
If Space Jam has taught me anything, it’s that there
is life on Mars and that Curiosity had better be good at
b-ball or we’re all screwed. Judging the athletic ability of
most NASA technicians from their attempts at high fives
upon the rover’s landing, we’re not looking good.
Independence Day says the outcome of the upcoming
US presidential election is important not only for global
politics and finance, but also because the human race can’t
survive without an eloquent, decisive dreamboat for a
president (notwithstanding 2001-2008).
I still don’t really get what Prometheus taught us. I
do know, however, that it was probably long-winded,
unnecessarily complex and involved Charlize Theron in
some way.
Space may be the final frontier, but our dreams about
it are made in a Hollywood basement. And that’s OK with
me, as long as I get a lightsaber out of it.
Dream big, homies.
BULL xx
Student Leader Diary
Each month, we ask some of the students in
the campus community about their experience.
Nathan Li and Diana Kalkoul
USU Queer Event Coordinators, 2012
The Queer
Students Program
aims to bring to
the university
community an
awareness of queer
issues whilst at the
same time providing
a safe and accepting
environment in
which all students
feel comfortable and welcome.
We’re passionate about making your university experience the most
fun filled (and debaucherous) time of your life. This semester we’ve
planned two of the hottest events on campus for queer identifying students
and their friends.
Coming up next month is Pride Week Party. Held on Wednesday
12 September and starting at 6pm, the theme is sure to be extravagant.
Full details will be released soon so you can get shopping. As always, we'll
have the most flamboyant performers and plenty of food and drinks for
everyone.
Verge Festival in October is set to see an explosion of queer artistic
talent and celebration with another party called Glitterarti. It’s sure to
be the most glamourous red carpet affair Usyd has ever seen so make
yourselves beautiful and bring your friends to Verge’s most colourful event.
To make sure you keep up with our event announcements, like our
Facebook page: USU Queer Coordinators. And you can always email us
with any questions: queercoordinator@usu.usyd.edu.au
Win
a return trip to
par S!
omG!
Simply like
‘iSic auStral
ia
on facebook ’
or Scan belo
W
Global Student Discount and iD card
41,000 Discounts Worldwide
Travel Further | Stay Longer | Experience More
8
bull USUonline.com
what’s on
WHAT’S ON
20
TUE
21
Clubs and Socs – remember to submit your events on the website!
WED
22
TALK: DOES MARRIAGE
EQUALITY MATTER?
THU
27
28
FRI
23
24
band comp final
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
HIGH: EDUCATION REVIEW
Manning Bar
7pm, Reginald Theatre,
Seymour centre
1-2.30pm, Manning Bar
29
30
31
2012 COMEDY DEBATE
THE REINVENTION OF
GRAVITY: RESPONSES TO
WORKS FROM THE USU
ART COLLECTION
5.30pm, The Great Hall
wk 6 (september)
03
wk 7 (september)
Verge Gallery
10
wk 8 (september)
wk 5 (AUGUST)
wk 4 (AUGUST)
MON
For the FULL CALENDAR OF EVENTS – head to
USUONLINE.COM AND CLICK THE CALENDAR.
04
05
06
07
INTERFAITH
WEEK
INTERFAITH
WEEK
INTERFAITH
WEEK
INTERFAITH
WEEK
INTERFAITH
WEEK
13
14
17
11
12
mba & postgrad expo
PRIDE PARTY
12-7pm, Sydney Town Hall
6pm, Hermann’s Bar
NATIONAL CAMPUS BAND
COMP STATE FINAL
Manning Bar
18
19
20
21
Issue 06
what’s on
MONDAYS
EVER
WEEKY
FREE FILM SCREENING
6pm, International
Student Lounge
TUESDAYS
WEEK 04
TUESDAY 21 AUGUST
LABOR CLUB AGM
5-6pm, The Loggia,
Labor Club
WEDNESDAY 22
AUGUST
EVER
WEEKY
Australian
discussion group
SU COMBINED MEDICINE
ASSOCATION (COMA) AGM
3-4pm, International
Student Lounge
12pm, Bohdan Bilinsky
Room, Holme Building
tuesday tv
THURSDAY 23 AUGUST
12-3pm, Manning Bar
rock ya balls bingo
5-6pm, Hermann's Bar
FRIDAY 24 AUGUST
HERMANN’S TRIVIA
1-2pm, Hermann’s Bar
WEDNESDAYS
BAND COMP FINAL
Manning Bar
WUTHERING HEIGHTS HIGH:
EDUCATION REVIEW
EVER
WEEKY
7pm, Reginald Theatre,
Seymour Centre
FORNIGHTLY MARKETS
11am-3pm, Eastern Ave
(1 August-17 August)
FORNIGHTLY FUNCH
(fun @ lunch)
1-2pm, Eastern Ave
(8 August-24 October)
MANNING TRIVIA
WEEK 05
MONDAY 27 AUGUST
SOCIAL BASKETBALL SOCIETY
AGM
1-3pm, International Student
Lounge, Wentworth
5-6pm, Manning Bar
THURSDAY 30 AUGUST
FILM SOCIETY FREE
FILM SCREENING
5.30pm, The Great Hall
6pm, International Student
Lounge
SUNSET JAZZ
6:30-9:30pm, Manning Bar
PROJECT 52 COMEDY
7.30-10.30pm, Hermann’s Bar
THURSDAYS
EVER
WEEKY
THEATRESPORTS®
1-2pm, Manning Bar
POOL COMPETITION
4-6pm, International
Student Lounge
FRIDAYS
EVER
WEEKY
COMEDY DEBATE
FRIDAY 31 AUGUST
THE REINVENTION OF GRAVITY:
RESPONSES TO WORKS FROM
THE USU ART COLLECTION
31 August - 14 September
Verge Gallery
WEEK 06
THURSDAY 06
SEPTEMBER
SYDNEY UNIVERSITY
SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
GENERAL MEETING
7-9pm, Common Room,
Holme Building
FRIDAY 07 SEPTEMBER
WEEKEND WARM-UP DJs
POSTGRAD DRINKS
FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE
5.30pm, Hermann’s Bar
Free food and drinks for
Access members
4-7pm, Manning Bar
7-11pm, Hermann’s Bar
t.g.i.f (tell grads
its friday)
Postgrad Drinks first Friday
of the month
5:30pm, Hermann’s Bar
(3 August, 7 September,
5 October)
Confirmed so far
(prices vary):
REVUES!
top picks
ARCHITECTURE
30 August-1 September
Reginald, Seymour Centre
2012 COMEDY DEBATE: WE
SHOULD CHASE IDLE DREAMS
ARTS
23-25 August
Everest, Seymour Centre
COMMERCE
29-31 August
Everest, Seymour Centre
EDUCATION AND SOCIAL
WORK
22-24 August
ENGINEERING
13 September
Manning Bar
LAW
29 August-1 September
York, Seymour Centre
MEDICINE
12-15 September
QUEER
5-8 September
SCIENCE
6-8 September
Keep an eye on usuonline.com
for more info
Thursday 30 August 2012
6-8pm (doors open at 5.30pm)
The Great Hall, University of Sydney
Every second year, the USU partners with the
University of Sydney’s Alumni Relations Office to
host the Comedy Debate, a battle between three
distinguished alumni and three current student
debaters. A battle of sharp minds and even sharper
wits, this year’s Comedy Debate will be moderated
by comedian and journalist Julie McCrossin.
Experienced debater Vice-Chancellor and
Principal, Dr Michael Spence, and the multitalented media star, Adam Spencer, are back this
year to defend the alumni title, and will be joined
by Gates Scholar and dual University Medallist,
Fiona Roughley.
Their inspired arguments for the motion – that we
should chase idle dreams – will be matched point
for point by our talented, hand-picked student
debaters: Edward Miller, Eleanor Gordon-Smith
and Nicholas Kraegen.
Tickets at: sydney.edu.au/alumni/comedy
Students $10 / Alumni $15 / Guests $20
BLATHERSKITE – SINGLE LAUNCH
Friday 14 September 2012
8pm, Hermann’s Bar
Blatherskite is a five-piece Alternative Metal band
from Sydney. Having been through four drummers, two bass players and a guitarist since Where
theWasteland Ends was released in 2009, Blatherskite have come back swinging with two new
singles, ‘The Envoy’ and ‘The Orbital’.
Featuring fresh sleeves Katrina Tuffy on drums,
Mat Newton on guitar and Ben Nicholls on bass,
along with repeat offenders Tim Lim on guitar
and Nick Goryl on vocals, these two tracks begin
the series of the Defwolf Sessions, which see
Blatherskite exploring new sonic wastelands alongside some heavy Richard Morgan referencing.
9
10
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feature
TOM CASHMAN goes looking for real in the world of Aussie hip-hop.
In
1973 at his apartment in the Bronx, a gentleman named Kool Herc deejayed his
first house party. Hip-hop was born. Over the next thirty odd years, hip-hop music
and culture spread across the globe like wildfire, such that today it dominates popular
music. Its trends, clothes and attitudes have permeated countless other musical genres, and
the subculture itself is one of the most recognisable in the world.
Issue 06
feature
Much has been written about hip-hop’s
beginnings, the communities involved and
the reasons for its popularity. Suffice to say,
the music and culture emerged from a very
specific experience. This experience, often
associated with urban and disenfranchised
African-Americans, is completely alien to
many, if not most, Australians today.
For some, this means that Australia’s
local brand of hip-hop lacks authenticity.
Many even cite it as an example of Australia’s
apparently newfound, ruinous obsession with
American culture, which is strange considering
the American origins of rock, blues and country
– staples of the modern Australian musical canon.
While Aussie hip-hop is young and yet to truly
earn its stripes, these negative assumptions are
broad and often ill-informed.
Rappers and audiences alike have a lovehate relationship with the idea of authenticity.
At once it’s what defines many people’s
motivations, but at the same time it’s impossibly
vague and open to criticism,
as Australian artists
know too well. For
Adelaide-based MC
Koolta, hip-hop
is “keeping it real.”
“It’s about staying true
to yourself when you
make your art,” he says.
Koolta’s interest
in hip-hop sprang
from a feeling of racial
‘otherness’ he felt
growing up, something
he had in common
with the black rappers
on his TV as a kid.
“I grew up as a ‘mixed
race’ child, so I
always felt this lack of
belonging anywhere,”
he says.
“For me, the
struggle I saw AfricanAmericans speaking
about through their
music really resonated.
I related to the antiauthoritarian attitude
of this minority group
in a Western country
– I got what they were
on about.”
Clearly, then, the
American experiences that spawned hip-hop
aren’t completely irrelevant in Australia. It’s
certainly not as though race isn’t still a big issue
here for a lot of people. Even so, Koolta is fast to
point out that the majority of hip-hop artists in
Australia have Anglo-Celtic heritage.
This doesn’t mean that a sense of ‘otherness’
can’t remain a strong motivator, though.
“I’d always been the odd one out,” says
Canberra’s Ciecmate, who is Caucasian. For
him at least, the connection was still there
between ‘otherness’ and hip-hop.
An American message about an American
experience is not necessarily useless outside
American borders. If it were, Bruce Springsteen
would have no shtick whatsoever. It’s unclear,
however, why hip-hop attracts people who
feel this sense of ‘otherness’. Some believe it’s
due to the ways in which the genre encourages
rebellion and aggression. The very texture of
the music, those visceral beats, the explicit
language and the rapid pace – the whole genre
revolves around throwing down a challenge
and seeing how the listener deals with it.
The culture is recognisable enough that even
getting into hip-hop may be considered a protest
by some. A desire to dissent was there from the
beginning for Ciecmate, a self-described “rebel.”
He first found out about hip-hop when he was
13, reading a magazine about NWA. As soon as
he found out the article was warning kids away
from the music, he was hooked.
A feeling of ‘otherness’ also makes
hip-hop appealing for the opposite reason;
11
forged the soul of hip-hop. A similar experience
genuinely drives several Australian artists
towards their music. This, in anyone’s books,
is authentic, but this narrative doesn’t apply
to everyone, and wanting to be part of
the hip-hop ‘family’ will only get you so far.
People don’t step out on stage with a mic
because they like the people in the green
room. What unites all these artists is a love of
performance, not just hip-hop. “I always would
have ended up being a performer of some kind,
it just ended up being hip-hop,” says Koolta.
“Nothing beats the feeling of performing live
in front of people.”
While a high standard of showmanship
is obviously a large part of the hip-hop we
know today, the way some artists talk about
it makes it seem like the driving force behind
their hip-hop careers rather than just a
necessary skill. This throws a spanner in the
Koolta
coptic soldier
for many it provides somewhere to fit in.
Feeling alone can make you lash out, but it
can also force you to search for community.
Nearly every artist I spoke with cited the
Australian hip-hop community as a major
reason behind their love and drive for the
music. For Sydney MC Coptic Soldier, the
hip-hop community meant more than just
friendship and career guidance. “It’s family.”
It is commonly said that the disenfranchisement
still felt by African-Americans after the victories
of the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s is what
works for critics of local hip-hop. Love of
performance, in itself, can’t really be authentic
or inauthentic – love is love. It’s what goes
along with that passion that will get you into
either camp. For most Australian wordsmiths,
what goes along with that passion is a burning
need for self-expression.
“I’ve always loved performing, and
I’ve always loved music, but most of all,
I just love communication. I’ve always
been a big writer and talker,” says Sydney
MC Chance Waters.
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feature
CHANCE WATERS
That’s not to say it doesn’t take patience. “It’s
like people who see MasterChef and suddenly
jump in the kitchen and start cooking,”
says Boltz, of Melbourne outfit
A-Diction. “Not everyone
will be the next Gordon
Ramsay, but those with
a real love for the
art form will stick
around and hone
their craft.” For
Boltz, it’s the love
of the music that
drives him. It’s
that simple, and
there’s something
very pure about
that. An extreme
engagement with
the music, more
so than the content,
is perhaps the purest
approach possible to a genre.
The relationship between
local and American hip-hop clearly
plays on the minds of Australian musicians. All
artists I spoke with were adamant that Australia
had carved out a genuine and unique position,
separate from America. But perhaps not that
separate. Every artist I interviewed listed several
American rappers as their main musical
influences, although most also
mentioned Australians. Given
Australia’s short hip-hop
history, you’d be hard
pressed to find an
Australian hip-hopper
who wasn’t influenced
by Americans. That
isn’t necessarily a
bad thing though
– indeed, shutting
yourself off from
the world and its
influences doesn’t
make you a better
artist. Music can be as
prone to inbreeding as
people can. Aussie hip-hop
does, however, have to find
a space between imitating the
US and producing music that is too
different from the original sound. Too far either
way, and we hit identity crisis.
Many artists express disgust at Australians
putting on American accents when they
“An American
message about
an American
experience is not
necessarily useless
outside American
borders. If it were,
Bruce Springsteen
would have
no shtick
whatsoever.”
perform. This is a great example of Australian
musicians overstepping the line. On the other
hand, hip-hop staples like freestyling, beatboxing and scratching are all skills firmly rooted
in the East Coast block party scene of the 1970s
and 80s. So, has Aussie hip-hop fallen too close
to the tree, or have we strayed too far?
“Our sound is local and it’s unique,” says
Boltz. “Our music hasn’t gone the way of
US hip-hop. All the elements of hip-hop are
alive and well in Australia.” For the most
part, Australian artists aren’t confused about
their sound. They aren’t confused about their
influences. And why should they be? They know
themselves, where they are and where they want
to go. Their influences are their influences, their
sound is their sound.
Musically, the next generation of hiphoppers seem to know their place. Concepts
like ‘authenticity’ will always be around and will
always be debated. And Australian hip-hop has
a long way to go to move beyond those debates.
But for what it’s worth, these young enthusiastic
artists aren’t chasing an American dream. It’s an
Australian dream. And they’re living it.
PhotograPhy :: art :: Literature :: Music :: short FiLM
$15,000+
in prizes to be won
Entries now opEn and
close Friday 7 September
Register online at www.usuonline.com
For more information contact
The ACCESS Desk - Manning House, info@usu.usyd.edu.au or call 9563 6000
14
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FEATURE
~ T HE ~
SMALL BAR
REVOLUTION
Jeff Li Has A Beer and Drinks It Too.
T
here was a time when a night out meant drinking Smirnoff
Ice at a nondescript corporate joint, dancing to LMFAO at
a club in King’s Cross or playing pool at a local pub. All of this is
about to change, according to Anna Scot, the co-owner of The
Little Guy, a small bar tucked halfway along Glebe Point Road.
“It happened so quickly in Sydney. Everyone is
calling it ‘the small bar revolution’,” Anna says.
A change to the Liquor Act in 2008
created the General Bar Licence, which
became known as the ‘small bar licence’.
Unlike a hotel licence, small bar licence
does not allow its holders to install gambling
machines or sell takeaway alcohol.
But with a licence fee of only $500,
compared to $15,000 for a hotel licence,
many don’t mind these limitations. Since
the end of 2011, 52 small bar licences have
already been granted.
Anna, 25, and her business partner Dynn
Szmulenicz, 31, opened The Little Guy in
December 2011 after returning from a year
of travelling in Europe. “Obviously it’s saving
a lot of money, but it also made us realise that
it’s something people our age could do,” says
Anna. “With small bars, you don’t have to have a
ridiculous amount of money, like when
you open a pub,” Dynn adds.
Without the big financial burden and the
associated pressure to recover costs, small
bars have the freedom to retain their own
character. “I think every bar has some sort
of thing that they specialise in. Some do
cocktails, some do massive wine lists, but
that’s what appeals to customers,” Dynn says.
Martin O’Sullivan, one of the owners
of Grasshopper agrees that all the small
bars have their specialties. “Grasshopper
does food and cocktails; Grandma’s does
rum; Stitch does scotch; Shady Pines does
country western music,” says Martin.
“None of these really compete with each
other; we all see each other as complementary.”
Small bars offer all the pluses of staying in –
a quiet and relaxed setting, not having to
scream to talk to friends, and couches more
comfortable than the one in your living
room – without the expensive entry fee or the
boom-boom music or the prospect of being
surrounded by drunks.
“I think most people are up for a bit of
social interaction, whether it’s with their friends
or with new people. And you want a space you
can do that in a comfortable setting,” Nik Hoar,
the owner of Mr Falcon's, says. “Different bars
will have a different vibe and a different set up
but they’re still trying to create this same sort
of thing, which is to create a comfortable space
for people. We’re actually catering to an underserviced market. This will get more people to
go out to bars.”
Dynn believes that small bars have given bar
goers a choice to head out for a night of dancing
or for a quiet catch up with friends. “In the past
you could only go to a pub, now you have the
choice.You can go watch football in a pub,
Issue 06
FEATURE
15
The Little Guy. Image courtesy of dailyaddict.com
or you can come here and relax – no TV,
no pokies, and music that you would prefer
to listen to.”
Anna thinks that small bars also offer the
added advantage of a sense of community.
“People come here to sit up to the bar to talk
to us, or our staff, who helped us build the
place. It’s not going to the pub and getting
served a schooner of Carlton Draught by a
different person every time.”
“The idea of trying to be part of the
community is quite important and that’s
something we’re trying to do here,” Nik says.
“I’m more interested in running a place that’s
a part of the community than, say, the Ivy,
which is just trying to attract tourists from
everywhere. I prefer to have all locals and all
regulars and just be that kind of a place.”
According to figures from the NSW
Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research,
the number of alcohol-related incidents did
not go up with the proliferation of small bars
around the town. Nik believes that the explosion
of small bars and the associated bar-hopping
helps reduce alcohol-related incidents. “You’re
not just sitting in one spot and slamming down
beers all night.You have a couple of nice
drinks – a beer here and go across the road
for dinner, and then go for a cocktail to finish
off the night,” he says.
Martin
believes the
fact that small bar
owners are always
present at their bar
means that they can
monitor their bars
more closely
than pubs.
Martin believes the fact that small bar
owners are always present at their bar
means that they can monitor their bars more
closely than pubs.
But the revolution does not come without
resistance. Alcohol-fuelled violence such as
those in King’s Cross are often attributed to the
proliferation of bars in general, not just small
bars. Some people are concerned that small bars
often escape the responsible service of alcohol
requirements which stringently applies to the
more established joints. “We would like to see
small bars have to meet the same responsible
service of alcohol requirements as other licensed
premises,” says Paul Nicolaou, the CEO of the
Australian Hotel Association NSW.
Whether small bars will continue to be
embraced by bar-goers or will continue to stand
themselves out in the bar scene in Sydney, with
backing from the City of Sydney Council, one
thing is for sure – there will be more small bars.
“Small bars are a key component of the City’s
efforts to revitalise Sydney and bring life and
variety back to our laneways and small streets,”
a City of Sydney spokesperson argues.
Already small bar owners have formed
a group, the Small Bar Association, which
gives them an alternative voice to that of the
Australian Hotel Association.
Some hoped that small bars will inject the
much needed energy and vibrancy by drawing
people out to the streets, especially in the
suburbs. This was more apparent to Nik when
he first moved to Sydney. “Particularly when
tied in with the Council wanting to change their
late night trading idea a bit, so that there’s more
livelihood within the various urban centres, I
think it’ll change Sydney for the better and make
it more cosmopolitan.”
Issue 06
interview
INTERVIEW
Xiaoran Shi is a Miranda, just FYI.
You have held down a fuckload of jobs in your
lifetime – you’re practically Barbie. What have
been your best and worst gigs so far, and why?
Writing a column at Vice was probably the most
game-changing job I’ve ever had. The worst job was
answering phones at this architecture company. No
one was really training me, so I wasn’t catching on to
the phone system as fast as they wanted me to. Plus all
I had to do was answer the phone, but I wasn’t allowed
to go online or read; just sit there and wait for the
phone to ring. It was a fucking nightmare. I got fired.
You are responsible for the advice column ‘Go
Ask Arfin’ at Rookie and numerous Vice guides, so:
(i) Are you known as the dispenser of wisdom in
your everyday life?
Ha! No, not to my knowledge. I personally go to other
sources to seek wisdom rather than rely on my
own skills.
(ii) Who/what do you turn to for advice?
My therapist, my friends, my mother. I love books by
Melody Beattie and Eckhart Tolle and Pema Chodron too.
(iii) What’s the best advice you’ve ever received
and from whom did you receive it?
There are so many gems I’ve heard through the years
that have helped me.
“Nothing is ever personal.” - My old shrink.
“When someone tells you who they are, always
believe them.” - Oprah.
“If there’s no challenge, there’s no change.”
- My SoulCycleinstructor.
“If we want what we’ve never had before, we have to
do what we’ve never done before.” - Don’t remember
who said that.
The best advice really is the corny, old school sayings
like “To thine own self be true” - Shakes, and “Do
unto others as you would have others do unto you”
- my kindergarten teacher?
What has it been like writing for HBO show Girls?
In what direction would you like the show to go?
Writing for Girls has been so much fun and such a
great learning experience. It’s hard to say personally
where I would like the show to go, but I will say that
I would love to see it continue to push boundaries in
terms of comfort and normality, combined with some
delicious serialised storytelling.
What are your thoughts on Girlsgate, aka
the furore over the supposed lack of racial
diversity and representation in Girls?
‘Girlsgate’? I love that. If a show gets people talking
and connecting then I’m all for it, period. The diversity
debate seems a bit like a red herring to me. I think
people are not uncomfortable with the lack of diversity,
but rather women/girls having a platform that is so
uncomfortably honest and raw that no one knows
how to react or feel. It’s sexism, but it’s not just about
men being sexist towards women. Lots of women
17
girltalk with
Lesley Arfin
(dare I say more?) have more problems with other
women than men do. It’s easy to watch Sex and the
City and say “Oh, this is unrealistic so I’m allowed to
like it because it’s a Manolo Blahnik fantasy with a lot
of puns,” but Girls is not that, and in a culture that is
addicted to fantasy and fame, this show is not always
embraced with open arms.
Girls is a show about the lives of 24 year old
women. What is the difference between girls
and women in your opinion? How do you know
when you’ve made the transition?
Good question! A big growing pain for me was that
in order for me to get, I had to give. Meaning that
treading through the rough waters of womanhood,
I have tried to become a less self-centered, selfish,
narcissistic person. It is impossible to have that kind
of awareness when you’re still young, not because
you’re not intelligent enough, but only because it is an
experience-based revelation. Some women don’t ever
learn it. Most don’t (i.e. Real Housewives). I also think
we grow into feeling good about ourselves, which is, in
my opinion, a very womanly feature whereas when I
was a girl, I worked very hard on fitting in and looking
pretty and depending on others in order to feel good
about myself. I needed an outside source. I feel as I get
older that an outside source is total fucking bullshit.
You wrote in the Vice Guide to Girls that all
feminism means is “that you don’t hate yourself.”
Can you elaborate? What is your personal take
on feminism and how do you put it into practice?
I think at the time Amy [Kellner] and I wrote that
piece, we were annoyed that women all over the
place were into being ‘independent’ but wouldn’t call
themselves feminists because it was never a word that
was connoted with Beyoncé but rather like, Carole
King with her unshaved armpits or whatever. And we
were like “why are women so afraid to call themselves
feminists?” because we were thinking more along the
lines that all that word meant was you liked being a
woman. We weren't thinking about the political aspect
that hides behind the word. I have to say, I am not an
extremely political person. I don’t go on marches or
anything like that, but I do consider myself a feminist.
Maybe I should go on a march or something? I guess
I just wouldn’t march for the sake of marching because
of a vague ‘women’s rights’ thing. I almost think that
can be a little counterintuitive.
Your humour is often seen to transgress what is
deemed socially acceptable and/or tasteful. Are
there any boundaries comedy should not cross,
and why? Are rape jokes ever funny, for example?
Yeah, I mean, doesn’t Sarah Silverman have some
good ones? Amy Sedaris? I think the point of comedy
is really not to take yourself too seriously, so I don’t
really believe in boundaries. If something isn’t funny to
me then I don’t watch it or listen to it but it should still
exist. It’s sort of like, I can make fun of my family but
you can’t. So if I’m a woman, I can make rape jokes
but you can’t. Or if you’re black, you can make black
jokes but I can’t. Those seem to be the rules. I do love
comedians who push boundaries and buttons, but I
also really like silly, childish, goofy stuff. If a rape joke
is funny, it’s probably not because the joke is
condoning rape, but rather, making a cultural remark
on rape and being a woman in general. I’m sure
websites like Jezebel will write really long articles about
how we should ban rape jokes or something and if
someone doesn’t agree with them it means that person
is a rapist or even worse, a hipster rapist or some shit,
but censorship in my opinion, is on par with rape.
Anything that keeps people silent is no good.
Forgive me for this, but I can’t help myself.
Are you a Hannah, Marnie, Jessa or Shoshana?
Ha, love it. I see myself as a Jessa, but I might be
more of a Hannah.
What’s next in the life of Lesley Arfin?
I’m about to take a nap with a new energising
nap app I just got. Can’t wait!
image courtesy of brittansalisbury.com
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feature
THE
HEROES
WE NEED
Lawrence Muskitta gets bitten by a radioactive spider and
only gets a super-powered rash.
Y
ou don’t need to be a sociologist to see that superheroes are sort
of a big deal right now and they’re getting bigger by the year.
This season’s highest selling movies were all about superheroes:
The Avengers, Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spiderman.
The Avengers is now the third highest selling movie of all time, and
just below are James Cameron’s monoliths Avatar and Titanic. Next
year won’t be much different with Christopher Nolan (director of the
Batman trilogy) rebooting the Superman franchise with Man of Steel
and, also coming out next year, Iron Man 3, TheWolverine and a new
Thor movie.
But why superheroes? Out of all things, why
are we so interested in men in capes and latex?
What’s the appeal?
Superheroes are no new fad. Although
Superman is known for starting the superhero
industry in the 1940s, the first recorded comic
book superhero was actually Mandrake the
Magician in 1934. He was a crime-fighting
hypnotist who used illusion and trickery to
subdue wrongdoers.
And before Mandrake or even the advent
of the comic book, prototypes of the modern
superhero were evident in almost all cultures,
dating as far back as ancient civilisations. These
superheroes didn’t wear tights but instead came
in the form of gods, prophets and mythical
warriors.
Professor Ben Saunders from the University
of Oregon is one of the world’s leading
academics in the field of superhero studies.
He actually started as an English professor in
Shakespeare but once he got tenure, researched
superheroes instead. Good work, bro.
In his book Do the GodsWear Capes?, he
argues that our fascination with superheroes
stems from our need for transcendent beings
who can solve previously unsolvable problems;
they are the humanist’s answer to religion
and God.
According to Jungian psychologists, the idea
of a superhero activates hardwired systems in
our collective unconscious. In his 1914 book,
The Birth of a Hero, psychoanalyst Otto Rank
maps out the ‘hero’s journey’, a common plot
found in most stories about heroes.
In it, the hero is born in a house of privilege
but during childhood, some tragedy occurs
that threatens their parents and the child-hero
ends up abandoned or displaced. The hero is
then raised in humble circumstances and forced
to use their ingenuity to find their own way in
the world. The adventure begins when they are
called away from this common life to defeat an
evil force using a special skill and reclaim their
family’s former glory.
If you think about it, nearly all heroes in
history fit this mould. From ancient heroes like
Hercules, Romulus and Perseus to their more
modern incarnations Superman, Batman and
Spiderman, they were all born in noble families,
lost or became estranged from their natural
parents and were raised by simple folk. They
then spent most of their lives discovering their
family’s legacy and defeating evil. If you need
more examples, just look at the Avengers, they
all have major daddy issues. And don’t even
start with Luke Skywalker - he definitely has
something Freudian going on.
The appeal of this sort of story, according
to Rank, is that it reawakens the childhood ideals
of perfect parents and unlimited opportunities.
Whether you admit it or not, there was a time
when you used to think your parents were
the coolest things on the block. In your eyes,
your mum was the prettiest and your dad
the strongest and you could be anything or
anyone because they were so great. Time and
experience have long since demisted those
delusions but through hero stories, we commonfolk can imagine another life beyond the realm
of our upbringing.
Been arguing with your dad lately? No
worries, he’s not your real father anyway.You’re
actually Zeus’ love-child, an alien from Krypton
or a Jedi. Take your pick. Still don’t know what
Issue 06
feature
19
Happy heroes: first gay marriage in comic book (image courtesy of X-Men, Marvel Comics).
you’re doing after your degree? Not a problem.
You don’t need to be employable when you have
magic or mutant powers. See how easy that is?
There’s something primally satisfying about
this sort of thinking. We follow and cheer on
these heroes because they are who we could
have been had we a better upbringing. They
are who we think we should be and perhaps
still want to be: virtuous, courageous and
above all, powerful.
Though this process of transference is fairly
stable, the values our heroes embody change
depending on what society needs at any given
time. For example, from the end of World War
II till the start of the new century, Superman
was the go-to superhero. According to Saunders,
this is because Superman represented civic
virtues, patriotism and self-sacrifice - the very
characteristics needed for post-war
nation building.
This century, on the other hand, has been
dominated by grittier and more juvenile heroes.
Disillusioned by the power and benevolence of
the state, heroes of the 21st century tend to work
outside the system, preferring to enforce justice
folksy. In fact, he was a bit of a boy scout (check
rather than the law. Spiderman, Kickass and
out the side-bar for some vintage Batman quotes
the Watchmen are classic examples of this new
type of hero. But in Saunders’ eyes, there is one
from the 60s).
character that stands out as the ultimate postBut that’s the point: integral to the
9/11 hero. That is, of course, Batman.
continuing popularity of superheroes
“He is the fantasy resolution
is that they’re always changing.
of an impossible contemporary
To use his own words, Batman
problem: how do we keep
became the hero we needed,
ourselves safe without
and that’s why he’s our
"With his
violating civil liberties?
badass hero of choice.
minimalist black
Batman skips right
One of the more
over that. He tortures.
interesting ways the
leather dress
He'll shoot you in the
superhero myth has
and all his gadgets,
kneecaps and waterhad to adapt over
board you. But he's still
recent years is to social
BATMAN IS the perfect
cool. With his minimalist
change, specifically how
hero
for
the
iPad
black leather dress and
it grapples with feminism,
generation."
all his gadgets, he's the
multiculturalism
perfect hero for the iPad
and lesbian gay bi
generation," said Saunders
transgender (LGBT) rights.
at this year’s ComicCon.
Earlier this year, Marvel
Batman wasn’t always this
wrote and released the first gay
dark and ruthless. Before he got into
marriage in a comic book, between
the hands of filmmakers Tim Burton and
X-Man Northstar and his non-mutant boyfriend
Christopher Nolan, Batman was actually quite
Kyle. Northstar is used to being a ground-
20
bull usuonline.com
feature
Old-School Batman Quotes
Robin: You can't get away from Batman
that easy!
Batman: Easily.
Robin: Easily.
Batman: Good grammar is essential, Robin.
Robin: Thank you.
Batman: You're welcome.
Robin: That's an impossible shot, Batman.
Batman: That's a negative attitude, Robin.
Catwoman: I wanna be alone with you,
Robin.
Robin: Alone with me? But why?
Catwoman: I can see a very important part of
your education has been grossly neglected.
Robin: Gosh, Batman. I never see you use a
telephone directory. How do you remember
all those numbers?
Batman: Elementary, my dear Robin. I simply
transpose the numbers into letters. For
example, Pete Savage's number is the
name of a girl he and I used to date.
Batman: Ah-ah. Give credit where credit
is due, Robin. She may be evil, but she is
attractive. You'll know more about that in
a couple of years.
Still and quotes from American Broadcasting company.
breaking character as, in 2005, he became the
first openly gay superhero in a comic. But, like
most coming out stories, it wasn't without its
complications.
The writers had actually tried opening the
Northstar-closet two years earlier in a sequence
where he would be diagnosed with AIDS but
their management warned them against it. So
instead, they explained his sickness by saying
he was a "fairy from another dimension"
and he had "fairy disease." Subtle.
But, in all seriousness, inequality in the hero
world is no laughing matter. One of the limits
to its growing popularity is the perception that
superheroes are just a glorification of the straight,
white male. And this is true to some extent.
Comic books actually have a pretty good
track record for social inclusion. One of DC’s
best-selling series is called Birds of Prey,
image courtesy of DC.
funded and equally poorly acted. Halle Berry’s
a completely female superhero team. It’s lead by
performance in Catwoman was so pitiful, it
ex-Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, now a wheelchairearned her the Razzie for Worst Actress of the
bound hacker savant who calls herself Oracle.
Year in 2004. Jennifer Garner’s Elektra in 2005
Similarly, ever since the 60s both DC and
was not much better, managing only a 34 out of
Marvel have been progressively introducing
non-Anglo heroes, the first being Marvel’s Black 100 metascore on Metacritic and a 10 per cent
‘rotten’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Panther in 1966 with less caricatured heroes
As much as superheroes are popular
coming later, like X-Men’s Storm and
now, there are limits to their
Teen Titan’s Cyborg.
popularity. They may be as
There’s now also
ubiquitous as religion
an all-LGBT superhero
"Earlier
and etched in our collective
team called Spandex
this year,
unconscious but, unless
written and produced by
they’re able to change
comic book enthusiast,
Marvel wrote and
and make themselves
Martin Eden, earlier
released the first
more inclusive to a
this year. Although,
gay marriage in a
wider audience, these
after reading the first
cape-clad warriors
issue, I still can’t decide
comic book, between
may die away from
whether it’s a legit comic
X-Man Northstar and
popular culture like their
or a form of hentai.
his non-mutant
mythical predecessors.
If we cast our gaze
There is definitely progress
to the silver screen, it
boyfriend Kyle."
being made, especially in
seems not all is as fair and
the comic book world, but
dandy.You could count on one
its counterpart in Hollywood is
hand the number of superhero
lagging behind. This sort of change
movies with a non-Anglo protagonist
will require courage on behalf of the superreleased in the last decade, perhaps the only
film industry but in the words of Spiderman’s
memorable films being the Blade trilogy
uncle Ben, “with great power comes great
and Hancock.
responsibility.” And if they wish to espouse these
Even more appalling are films with female
values in their movies, perhaps they should lead
protagonists. Not only are there fewer of
by example and put them into practice.
them, the ones that do exist are usually poorly
Issue 06
feature
Emily Claire Swanson Wonders Why Katy Perry Kissed A Girl and Liked It.
“T
his was never the way I planned, not my intention. I got so brave,
drink in hand, lost my discretion.” Or so go the first two lines of
pop diva Katy Perry’s 2008 breakout single. The song was catchy, fresh
and even a little bit risqué. But why was a good Christian girl singing
about hitting the tequila too hard and hooking up with one of her
mates? She sings about her boyfriend in the song, so it’s not a case of
‘single and ready to mingle’, nor is it a case of pining after her gal pal,
so what’s the go?
21
22
bull usuonline.com
feature
W
e begin our timeline in the colourful
year that was 2003. In the music world,
a middle-aged Madonna was staging a
comeback and teen idol Britney Spears was
yet to shear off her locks and smash an
SUV with an umbrella. During a performance
at the MTV Video Music Awards, the two
pop starlets locked lips as the camera panned
to Brit’s ex, Justin Timberlake. It rocked the
tabloids, sent shockwaves through the music
industry and undoubtedly took much needed
exposure away from more serious world events,
but two girls kissing? On national television?
Though homosexuality has travelled a
less than smooth road to acceptance, some of
us seem to be quite at ease with homosexuality
and willing to rally for gay rights. Have all
the wrong people caught on to our liberalism
though? Where there’s interest, there’s a
market, and where there’s a market, there’s
a sneaky music exec looking to get in on the
action. The stint at the MTV VMAs marked
lesbian culture’s descent into the mainstream: it
appealed to the masses (both gay and straight)
and it became a product.
It may have once been hip to be square, but
it’s far cooler to be queer, or at least give off the
impression that you are, says Billie*, a University
of Sydney Arts student. “That’s really what it is,”
she suggests. “It’s not sexual experimentation.
I wish it was. If it was that, it’d be awesome,
but it’s not. It’s about being ‘edgy’, which is
sad. What does that say of our perception of
homosexuality? I think we see it as a novelty, not
something which is necessarily positive. It’s all
about the image more so than the sexual state.”
In this sense, ‘barsexualism’ can be seen as a
mockery of homosexuality that makes it seem
like a choice. In a world where the LGBT
community is still fighting an uphill battle, how
is this behaviour from straight females perceived
by their homosexual counterparts?
“It does kind of annoy me when straight
girls make out with straight girls just for male
attention because I don’t think it’s really
“In a
world where
women wax, shave,
primp and preen every
inch of their bodies in the
hopes of male adulation,
it’s hardly a stretch
women use their sexual
exploits for the same
purpose.”
doing anything to help bisexual and lesbian
acceptance,” tells a friend. “The guys who stand
there and fawn at girls doing it in clubs are the
guys who verbally and physically abuse real
lesbian couples when they see them making out.
I feel like to them it is all a big joke.”
If having a quick hook up with your gal pal
at a club is so damaging, why do we do it?
Enter the male fantasy. In a world where
women wax, shave, primp and preen every
inch of their bodies in the hopes of male
adulation, it’s hardly a stretch women use
their sexual exploits for the same purpose.
“I know girls who have hooked up with
other girls in a public setting, like a club,
just to make other guys lust after them,
and coming from someone who is guilty
of having employed this tactic, it works,”
admits Lily*.
“I once kissed a friend at a sleepover in
high school,” tells Alison*. “It was mostly
YOLO fuelled curiosity, as there were only
girls there at the time, but we later carried on
about it at school to get the guys’ attention.”
Feminists may have fought for women
to get out of the kitchen and break through
that glass ceiling, but are women still just too
eager to please? One does not have to be an
expert on X-rated films to figure out that guys
aren’t likely to say no to a little fraternising of
the girl-on-girl variety.
“It’s very attractive. It’s a fantasy for
the guy because he envisions himself getting
with those two girls,” quips Darren*, a mate.
“If I saw it happening, I wouldn’t look away,”
suggests another.
Is porn culture then slipping into the
mainstream? For an answer, we turned to
The University of Sydney’s Senior Lecturer
in Gender and Cultural Studies, Dr Kane
Race. “There is a long tradition of fauxlesbian activity in pornography designed for
heterosexual male consumption, and so it’s
highly possible that some of these current
Issue 06
feature
23
Fun Fact:
Cherry-flavoured
Chapstick sales
increased by 50%
as a result of
the Katy Perry
namedrop.
pucker up!
practices [by straight girls] are being influenced
by and adapting this tradition,” Dr Race says.
“While in some instances being gay
and lesbian is more publicly acceptable
than it once was, and those people who are
same sex attracted may feel both entitled
and comfortable to show affection with their
partners in public, there is also the idea that
some women are putting on a show for the male
heterosexual gaze à la Madonna and Britney.
I imagine some people would see it as a thrilling
transgression intended to attract male attention.”
As far as Marie* is concerned, porn
culture has not only slipped into the
mainstream, but it’s donned a uniform, sidled
into high school and taken a seat up the back.
“When I was in Year Ten, two girls in my grade
made a video of themselves hooking up and it
was spread all around the school,” she says.
“It was definitely the sexy and cool thing to do,
for those who had the guts and could handle
the attention. Hilariously, they were named and
shamed in a school assembly in an effort to stop
the video from spreading and they were both
suspended as they were in school uniform
when they filmed it.”
Perhaps our elders don’t quite get it and
maybe they never will, but with a growing
acceptance of homosexuality and gay culture,
being simply gay or straight just doesn’t cut it
anymore and we’ve kissed our sexual boundaries
goodbye. “In this day and age, sexuality is
notably more fluid, especially for girls,” believes
Lilly*. “I don’t think that everyone who purports
to being ‘just a straight girl havin’ some fun’ is
really all that straight to begin with.”
The science of kissing is
called ‘philematology’.
Kissing for one minute burns 26 calories.
The average person spends about 15 days
kissing throughout the course of a lifetime.
The first onscreen same-sex kiss
happened in 1922 between two women in
Cecil B. Demille's silent drama, Manslaughter.
On 8 March 1564, Naples prohibited
kissing in public under
penalty of death.
Today it’s not completely unheard of to refer
to yourself as a heteroflexible demi-romantic
with pansexual tendencies. We want to live
and we’re doing it the only way we know how:
disregarding all rhyme and reason in the name
of ‘you only live once’. Not only are we living by
our own rules, but we sure as hell want everyone
to know about it. While indulging in the
countless over-shares that have made their way
onto various social media news feeds the world
over, somewhere along the line it became okay
to publicise even our most intimate moments.
“All these so-called ‘daring acts’ are being
performed publically,” explains Dr Jennifer
Wilkinson, a Senior Lecturer in Sociology
at the University of Sydney. “In modern
Western societies, sexuality and intimacy were
traditionally believed to be private and exclusive,
whereas in the example of straight girls kissing
one another, everything is being displayed
and performed publically for others. Here, the
public and private spheres are merging together.
Although there may well be some sort of public
renegotiation of gender norms going on, modern
intimacy and the privacy norms to which they
are attached to are also being challenged.”
So regardless of where women sit on the
spectrum between living in the name of YOLO
to testing the waters, barsexualism seems to be
a sociological phenomenon in an age where
the boundaries between sexual norm and
transgression are shifting. Who would’ve thought
we could gain so much insight from a threeminute pop song?
Names have been changed.
*
24
bull usuonline.com.au
campus chatter
CAMPUS
CHATTER
To girl at
the DarcySoc
picnic,
I liked your fur coat and
comprehensive knowledge of
the Brontes. Let me cream
your scone sometime?
Wet Collin Firth
I’m not a
stalker,
but...
To the hot guy working at
the Co-op Shop,
Can I book you for a coffee?
Avid reader
To boy in Fisher reading
Fifty Shades of Grey,
Hit me up, bro.
Ana
To the sociology lecturer with
the unnatural love of puns,
I can never tell Weber you're
being serious or not.
Punny student
To chubby Ke$ha in my English tute,
Glitter doesn't count as clothing.
Don't Take It Off
To that girl I like,
I wanted to work up the courage
to talk to you, but you were with a
group of friends. It’s okay, they’re
gone now. Turn around. I’m
standing right behind you.
Stalker
HEY YOU!
Someone you
want to woo
and/or passivelyaggressively
complain about?
Send us your
stalker messages:
usubullmag@
gmail.com
To Stalker,
Get off my page, creep!
You don't even go here.
BULL
To shirtless fire-twirler on
Sunken Lawns,
You make my head spin and my
insides smolder.
Interested onlooker
To hipster girl on my bus,
I'll be the Nick Cave to your PJ
Harvey. Minus the messy break-up.
Hipster boy
vox pops
question
WHAT’S YOUR PLAN FOR THE
ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?
James Tynen
Arts II
Funny question, I was talking about
this the other day. I’d get as far away
from cities as possible because if
there was a zombie apocalypse
people would become really
mistrustful – everyone’s out for
themselves. I’m thinking
somewhere North.
Lisa Kobayashi
Cameron Caccamo
I plan to eat everyone because
I’m a zombie!
Stock up as soon as I can and
barricade the hatches at home by
boarding up all the windows and
putting all non-essential furniture
against the doors. Then I’d stay in
the central room in the house so, if
there is an invasion, I’d have some
time to prepare myself.
Arts III
Education/Arts II
Issue 06
campus chatter
Please,
have
a cow
Got beef
with something?
Spill your guts in
400 words or less
to usubullmag@
gmail.com
Stephanie Hayes has a
different set of breasts for
every season.
Women’s magazines need to
give it a breast…I mean rest.
It is not surprising that men’s
magazines are breast-obsessed
but one would expect women’s
publications to have a little more
sympathy, knowing that breast
size and shape cannot be altered
without either intense surgery, or
seriously cunning bras. Why then,
do women’s magazines and shops
insist on offering such mixed
breast messages?
In the past, the desired breast
sizes seemingly remained constant
for long periods of time, altering
only with women’s liberation
movements and the development
of new technologies. In the 1920’s
bras were designed to flatten out
the chest, then along came falsies
and the Wonderbra of the 1960’s,
designed to heighten cleavage.
Now, it appears there is a different
desirable breast size for every
season. Currently, such ludicrously
padded bras are on the market
that I'm convinced could function
quite well as sports cups, should
male cricketers become keen to
adopt the trend.
A recent article by New
York fashionista Simon Doonan
sparked great media debate when
it wondered: “Small Breasts:
Can they make a comeback?”
(And presumably sent all women
scurrying to their drawers to
retrieve their old small breasts
– so lucky we kept them!)
With this kind of breast-size
schizophrenia being bandied
about we best not miss a single
issue of Vogue – God forbid we
exit the house in our modest-sized
March breasts when this month
is promoting a full bust! Are
women expected to have some
keepsake cupboard devoted to
FOR
Miki Higgins
moves to The Shire.
Reality TV. A bite sized portion of another
person’s life, playing to the average
Australian’s desire to escape from their
nine-to-five worlds into a wonderfully
thoughtless existence of the unintelligent.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
It’s endlessly entertaining to watch stupid
people make tragic life decisions. Take Lara
Bingle for example, her life is just one daft
mishap after another and that’s fun to watch.
Just like it’s fun to watch a UFC knockout.
It’s horrifying but you just can’t look away.
And that’s why reality TV is utterly necessary
to Australian culture. Without it, the whole
population would lose heart – because reality TV
gives us constant reassurance that our lives are
better than other’s and that, yes, we are smarter
than the average tanorexic Shire hobbit.
So thank God for reality TV, that everlasting
source of flashing lights and recorded applause.
Without it, how would we remember that
somewhere, somehow, some Big Brother
contestant has just been kicked off the show?
No matter how awful your day at work or uni,
you just know that contestant’s day has been far
worse than yours. Far worse.
25
detachable limbs and body parts
for every occasion? Stashed in
our wardrobes amidst our old
tye-dye t-shirts and acid wash
jeans, should we keep a set of wide
birthing hips and lilly-feet, in case
these particular trends roll back
round again, too?
Why do magazines promote
body shapes and sizes like fashion
trends? People aren’t life-sized
versions of those children’s flip
books where bodies can be mixed
and matched. “Today I think
I’ll opt for my large breasts,
thicker waist and those curvy
thighs that belong in a Rubens
painting.” It’s just not possible!
I'm not about to start burning
bras and leading marches, but
I think we need to leave behind
those pathetic chants of the
1970’s (“I must, I must improve
my bust”), and instead live by
the poetic words of Lil Jon and
“shake what yo mamma gave ya.”
AGAINST
locking
horns
Disputed:
AUSSIE REALITY TV
Yana Smagarinsky
is too busy living her life.
After Being Lara Bingle debuted on
Channel 10 a few months ago, it has seen
a dramatic decline in viewers and I’m not
surprised. With all the amazing shows on
TV these days, why on earth would you
choose to actually sit down and watch this?
I do not give a hoot about the immature
model and socialite that she is. I would
rather poke my eye out slowly with a fork,
quite frankly. Lara felt she had to prove that
she isn’t the crazed unstable person that we
think she is. Can I hear an epic fail in da house?!
Wannabe Jersey Shore show, The Shire, also
aired recently. Vernesa and Sophie can continue
burning those fat cells away for all I care because
I am not coming back to see the results (we all
know them anyway). The tweets relating to the
show are more interesting, read them if you need
to be entertained. Also, fit in a little prayer for
our tourism industry while you’re at it.
Honestly, if you need a reality fix, watch The
Kardashians or you know, actually live your life.
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28 28
USUONLINE.COM
feature
FEATURE
Issue
ISSUE
0606 2929
Feature
FEATURE
TRASH
ERS
K
TAL
INC.
Erin Stewart is browbeaten.
O
n 16 July, 2012 The Shire, described
as a ‘dramality’ or reality drama show
in The Sydney Morning Herald and other
publications, first aired on Network Ten.
On the same fateful night, Facebook
news feeds everywhere brimmed with
statuses proclaiming the worthlessness of
the show, pictorial memes denouncing the
questionable intelligence and attractiveness
of the main cast, and links to opinion pieces
which competed with each other for the wittiest
deconstruction of the televised 'filth' Australia
had become privy to.
Yet, nobody had turned off their television.
Surely, doing that would have silenced the
ruminations of women concerned with which
cosmetic procedure they should undergo first.
Nor did they flick over to the ABC to watch
Australian Story, a show which shares the same
timeslot as The Shire, is suitably dramatic and
not too intellectually demanding.
And it’s not just your typical Facebook
fiend beached on the couch in front of the telly,
complaining about the quality standards of
anything and everything. Various media outlets
have given ample coverage to ‘lowbrow’ material
which they see as ripe for denigration. They
have hacked books, movies and TV shows
to pieces, discussing how culturally and
socially harmful the work in question is, and
in the process, bringing much attention to and
instigating public conversations on the object
of their dismay. The question is: why?
During the height of the Fifty Shades of
Grey craze, one could easily lose count of the
number of reviewers and respected bloggers
who have read the book “so that you don’t
have to.” The Guardian, which ordinarily
runs reviews of literature rather than erotica,
has published several reviews of the book
including one-line gems such as, “when we've
finished being tortured, punished, pierced
and stuck with metal, tattooed, trussed up and
dressed only in a light coating of oil, what do
we do for fun next?” Meanwhile, The Sydney
Morning Herald offers the glib, albeit practical
gem, that “everyone has a book in them. God
forbid they should all let it out.”
30
bull usuonline.com
feature
Let’s not beat around the bush: Fifty Shades of
Grey is popular. In fact, it’s the highest selling
book of all time, surpassing even the Harry
Potter series, despite far from glowing reviews
by People Who Know What Is Good. These
consistently scathing reviews seem to serve
little purpose other than wasting valuable time
which could be spent on providing a meaningful
critical analysis of works of art that do not use
the phrase “holy cow!” 84 times.
Virginia Woolf sheds some light on this
tendency to disparage ‘trash’. She suggests
that there are three types of cultural consumers:
highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow. Highbrow
consumers, she argues, “read what [they] like
and do what [they] like and praise what [they]
like.” Middlebrow consumers, however, engage
with culture in terms of its perceived status.
They are the ones who pile annotated editions
of Shakespeare and difficult Russian literature
onto their bookshelves, not because they
particularly enjoy the works, but because
the tomes make them look good. Woolf is
disparaging of the middlebrow because they
are most interested in the link between cultural
forms and “money, fame, power, or prestige.”
This current media obsession with
‘trashing’ lowbrow culture suggests something
of a middlebrow inferiority complex and the
need to affirm an alliance with traditional
standards of taste. There is even a name for the
phenomenon: ‘hatewatching’, which essentially
describes what you do when you consume a
cultural object you know you will hate so that
you can tell the world in 140 characters or less
all about how much you hate it.
What has been attracting a landslide of
hatewatching recently has been Monday and
Tuesday nights on Network Ten, which have
become infamous for ‘trashy’ programming. In
June, The Monthly published an overview of The
Shire before it even aired. The article provided
a historical overview of the area and examines
how the new show has already upset locals,
including the Sutherland Shire Mayor, Carol
Provan, who received hundreds of emails asking
her to stop the TV camera crews from filming.
The author argues that the show “plays on the
prejudices of participants and viewers alike”
by showcasing and giving attention to a very
select few, rather than showing the full diversity
(intellectual or otherwise) of the area.
Being Lara Bingle is another example of
a Network Ten show that has attracted disdain
as well as, oddly enough, a huge following.
The series launched to an audience of some
925,000 people. The Brisbane Times were part
of the almost one million spectators, but they
were not wooed by the “behind the scenes
look into Lara’s life,” offering that “we all got
to see pretty much what we expected – not
much.” A review in the Herald Sun is further
unimpressed, pointing out that in one episode
where nude photographs are taken of her
through her bedroom window, “Lara Bingle
seemed more concerned about how she
“Let’s
not beat around
the bush: Fifty Shades
of Grey is popular. In fact,
it’s the highest selling book
of all time, surpassing even
the Harry Potter series,
despite far from glowing
reviews by People
Who Know What
Is Good.”
looked than the outrageous breach of her
privacy.” The review condemns her as a
“fame-seeker” although the article itself is
yet another piece of publicity.
It is fair to counter that The Shire and
Being Lara Bingle are problematic and should
not be taken seriously at face value. Fifty
Shades of Grey worryingly degrades women;
the sadomasochistic relationship at the heart
of the book can be defined as messed up at
best and abusive at worst.Yet, as Woolf
argues, there is integrity in lowbrow viewing
habits, which are not caught up in the shoulds
and shouldn’ts of having what is collectively
understood to be ‘refined taste’.
Admittedly, Woolf’s division of the different
‘brows’ is far from perfect. She presupposes
that people cannot move between categories.
A genuine appreciator of classical music who
attends the ballet on occasion because she feels
she ought to and who voraciously watches
America’s Next Top Model un-ironically could
not possibly exist within her rigid system.
It’s not necessarily convincing either that
the value of a work of art can be objectively
classified and assigned a designation of high,
middle or lowbrow on the basis of whether
people genuinely like it or pretend to.
Nonetheless, Woolf’s theory gives us some
insight into the prevalence of hatewatching.
Through her lens, attempts to deride lowbrow
culture are the flipside of pretending to like
highbrow culture: it makes you look smart,
and besides, it’s much easier to deconstruct
an extremely flawed work to fill a 600-word
column than a more polished one.
Similar kinds of taste negotiations are
being played out in Australian politics. Recently,
Wayne Swan made a speech revealing his love
for the music of Bruce Springsteen, a working
class hero – no doubt to align himself with
working class values and to make himself seem
approachable to the voting public. Joe Hockey,
on the other hand, retorted that Springsteen’s
lyrics were lacking “as the benchmark of
guiding principles for the destiny of a nation.”
Instead, he said that he drew inspiration from
the intellectual likes of Adam Smith, John
Stuart Mill and Robert Menzies.
Swan’s speech and Hockey’s reply show
that taste is political. Politicians can position
themselves to voters in relation to taste, but
being highbrow or even middlebrow is not
necessarily rewarded in all echelons of society.
On a broad scale, aside from cultivating
smugness and the guise of intellectualism by
expressing taste in negative terms, hatewatching
works to criticise certain people, those people
who actually (God forbid) like the thing they’re
consuming. So, before you compose another
hateful tweet directed at The Shire, ask yourself:
why am I still watching?
Issue 06
youniversity
31
youniversity
Fresh Start
With second semester now
in full swing, John Rowley
re-evaluates the plight of
being a first year.
I
attended a high school in a
semi-rural area of Sydney’s
northwest. Blue-tongued
lizards, rather than ibises, made
periodic visits to the bins across
the school grounds which were
surrounded by deep bushland.
This relatively sheltered
environment – some might say
idyllic, others suffocating – now
seems pretty far removed from
the hub of activity that is the
Camperdown campus.
For those living a considerable distance from
uni, the biggest changes are not necessarily
emotional or even academic, but pragmatic.
A considerable percentage of my high
school classmates chose to attend Macquarie
University, primarily for its comparative
proximity to their homes. One of the few who
chose to attend Sydney Uni was first year
Aeronautical Engineering student, Nicholas
Robinson. He claims the most painful
modification he has made since starting
university is “the time I get out of bed.”
The daily commute (if that word can be used
to describe a 10 minute car ride) to high school
might increase up to fivefold or more for some,
but for lucky students such as myself, three-day
timetables (and four-day weekends) go some
way in offsetting long commutes.
Less time at uni also has its disadvantages
for first year students. Fewer contact hours
– which is often the case for Arts students,
for instance – mean limited opportunities
to meet new people, especially if one does
not actively participate in the extracurricular
activities uni has to offer, such as clubs and
societies. According to Paul O’Donohue,
Senior Counsellor at the University of Sydney,
students undertaking a more structured degree
like Dentistry might find it “a bit easier to
meet someone” given the amount of time they
spend with the same people each week, and the
faculty’s comparatively small yearly cohort of
about 200 people. This number is dwarfed by
the 2000 new students who join the Arts
faculty annually.
Seeing someone for an hour or two each
week in a lecture hall or tutorial room isn’t all
that conducive to getting to know them. In my
experience, uni friendships often grow at a
glacial pace, or simply peter out after semester
is over. Not that this is necessarily a problem.
Hopefully, we have all evolved from our Year
7 selves, and no longer spend too much time
trying to find someone to sit with at lunch.
Nonetheless, the majority of uni students already
have some social base – be it from high school,
the workplace or elsewhere – upon which they
can rely outside of their degree.
Tertiary study also represents a departure
“Seeing
someone
for an hour or
two each week in
a lecture hall or
tutorial room isn’t
all that conducive
to getting to
know them.”
from the form of rote learning that characterises
high school learning. New focus is instead
placed on what Paul O’Donohue describes as
“self-directed learning and engaged enquiry.”
Those who studied HSC Extension units are
at an advantage because those subjects are
aimed at developing the research and citation
skills needed for university. However, first year
Media and Communications student Madeleine
King confesses that uni sometimes “feels like
I’m doing my HSC over and over again.”
A sense of removal from years spent
adhering to the routine of the school system
can also skew our impressions of the time we
spent within its bounds. Nicholas Robinson
says that the diverse community and activities
on offer at uni have led him to become more
“jaded about the rigorous nature of school life.”
Similarly, Madeleine King embraces the sense of
self-determination that comes with being a uni
student as “a lifestyle rather than an institution.”
It is this sort of freedom that makes it “so much
more fun than high school.”
No transition as significant as the one from
high school to university is made without some
difficulty. Uni life can present both pleasure and
pain to recently-certified adults. As Nicholas
Robinson declares, “the best thing about uni is
that there are two bars on campus, and the worst
thing is that there are two bars on campus.”
32
bull usuonline.com
food & BOOZE
Eat A Wish.
Sophia Bashford meets ethical food’s PR rep.
M
any of us are happy to spend the extra money and
time buying brands we think are good for social
justice or animal welfare. But are the notions we’re
buying into – ‘eco-friendly’, ‘sustainable’, ‘cruelty-free’ –
little more than clever marketing tools used by companies
to cash in on our ethical consciences? A wealth of evidence
suggests we may be unwittingly funding an endemic
culture of misinformation in some food industries.
It’s a dilemma we face on a daily basis: should
you walk the extra four blocks to a café that uses
fair-trade coffee beans? Should you spend a few
dollars more on free-range eggs? Should you
buy more expensive products from
independent local suppliers?
The ‘free range’ deception
When we think of free-range eggs, we think of
eggs laid by happily roaming hens. However, the
Free Range Farmers Association estimates that
around 90 per cent of the eggs sold in Australia
as ‘free-range’ do not meet the welfare standards
expected by consumers. Ian Littleton, the
president of the Association and a free-range
egg farmer, says that overstocking on farms is
the biggest problem, with many eggs coming
from farms that he “wouldn’t describe as
free-range at all.”
Packaging doesn’t reveal that many farms
have stocking densities well over the limit of
1500 hens per hectare set by statutory code.
Overstocked farms have severe problems of
feather-pecking, cannibalism, disease, fox
attacks and inadequate manure cleaning.
In order to avoid paying extra for battery
hen farms with a ‘free-range’ label on it,
Littleton says that it’s necessary to look at the
label on egg cartons carefully, and “if you can,
even meet the farmer.” With growers’ markets
popping up all over Sydney, talking to the egg
farmer isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds.
Unfair Trade Coffee
Share The World’s Resources, a think-tank that
consults the UN on resource sustainability,
advises that we buy coffee that is Fair
Trade-certified, as some companies use various
ethical-sounding certifications to try to undercut
the movement. In addition, we should buy from
a company dedicated to Fair Trade for all of its
products, instead of one that sells only a token
amount of Fair Trade coffee.
Microbrewery factories
Sipping on wine or beer bearing an independent
label gives us a warm, fuzzy feeling that we
don’t get from sculling Heineken. However,
Nick Ray, co-ordinator at the Ethical Consumer
Group, warns that the big chain supermarkets
have started advertising their beer and wine
as products from “small, independent, local
microbreweries or vineyards.” Ray explains
this as an attempt to join in on the “trendiness
of microbreweries” that has boomed in the
past five years.
Ray says that many consumers are
unknowingly buying wine and beer they
believe is contributing to the local economy,
when in reality they are “funding a further
concentration of ownership” in the food and
beverage industries. He advises that we try to
support local manufacturers by sourcing local
brands and reading product labels carefully.
Know Your Onion
(And Their Labels)
Being aware of misleading labelling will help
The fair-trade coffee campaign has made
you distinguish the truly ethical food from their
huge headways in the past decade in reducing
wannabe counterparts. Websites such as The
injustices for some coffee farmers in developing
countries who were being exploited by international Ethical Consumer Guide and RSPCA’s ‘Choose
Wisely’ campaign provide extensive advice on
coffee companies. The movement has been
criticised for giving big chains, such as Starbucks, how to choose food brands and outlets that sell
humane and socially responsible products.
the opportunity to jack up prices to consumers
To learn more, visit their websites at:
without fully passing on the relative profit
increases to farmers.
www.ethical.org.au and www.choosewisely.org.au.
FOOD &
BOOZE
RECIPE
FAIR TRADE PANCAKES
You can cook your own ethical (and delicious)
brekkie using Fair Trade ingredients. Using the
good ol’ pancake recipe, you can add an array
of scrumptious Fair Trade fillings.
WHAT YOU NEED:
•
•
•
•
•
50g plain flour, sifted
2
4 free-range eggs
500ml milk
50g butter
1 tsp Fair Trade rum
Filling options
available as Fair Trade:
•
•
•
•
•
oney
H
Chocolate spread
Lemons and sugar
Bananas
Berries
HOW TO MAKE:
1. In a large mixing bowl, crack eggs into
middle of flour
2. Whisk together, gradually incorporating flour from
around the edges of the bowl
3. Add the milk slowly by pouring in small quantities,
beat vigorously
4. Whisk continuously until batter is smooth and
lumps have disappeared
5. Stir in the rum and leave the batter to stand for
one hour
6. Proceed to cook the pancakes in the traditional
way, and feel free to try as many exotic
combinations as you feel – don’t hold back. Enjoy!
NOTE TO P-PLATERS:
Some big chain supermarkets are catching on and
have recently began to expand their Fair Trade range.
Alternatively, do an Internet search to find where your
nearest Fair Trade or ethical food-store is.
Issue 06
travel
33
country
japan
Tokyo Story
Loren Nilsson gets
lost in translation.
I
n a country as diverse
and dynamic as Japan,
Tokyo has something
to offer everyone. If the
thousands of years of
history and culture, or the
impossible beauty of the
place don’t interest you,
do it for the “lols.”
You won’t regret it because,
in Tokyo, the “lols” are
about as easy to find as
a hipster in Darlinghurst.
In fact, it’s as simple as
getting comfy in your hotel
bed and turning on the
television. Just prepare to
be freaked the fudge out.
Watching Japanese television may seem like
something that can be easily done at home with
the help of YouTube, but one really has to be in
the country to feel the full force of wonder and
merriment that is Japanese TV. Tired after a day
spent wondering the streets of Tokyo? Recline in
front of the TV for an hour before bedtime and
explore the wonders to be found there.
Every show, except the news, has at
least three judges whose faces are inexorably
plastered in windows in the corners of the
screen. The only free-to-air broadcasting for
the summer season seems to be game shows,
or tele-novellas based in the Edo period. Don’t
speak Japanese? Don’t worry. It’s more fun that
way! While flicking through the plethora of game
shows, you can make up your own drinking
game by trying to figure out the rules in the
show and who the contestants are.
A memorable highlight of my recent trip
includes one particularly hilarious game show
where the contestants were Olympic athletes
from nations as far apart as Angola and Norway,
who had to choose from three teams which lady
Still from
Lost In Translation.
they found the most attractive. And what were
their choices? Team number one was compiled
of beautiful, über feminine drag queens. Team
number two was made up of cute, overweight,
young Japanese girls, and team number three
consisted of famous TV personalities (think
the Japanese equivalent of Karl Stefanovic and
Kochie) dressed up in drag.
Once you’ve soaked up enough crazy
through the TV screen, you can try your luck
on the streets of Tokyo. Maid cafés are a new
phenomenon which have taken the city’s nerd
hub, Akihabara, by storm. These cafés boast
waitresses clothed in full maid garb who happily
serve the male otaku (anime geeks) that dote on
them. As you approach level seven, otherwise
known as “level heaven” in Akihabara’s most
popular maid café, MaiDreamin, it is suddenly
clear that whoever introduced Google Translate
to the good citizens of Japan have unleashed a
cruel, cruel joke that is sure to delight Englishspeaking visitors from around the globe.
The service in maid cafés is renowned
for being extremely friendly, if not a little
over-the-top. A chorus of maid waitresses greet
you, addressing you as “prince” or “princess”
accordingly, as soon as you walk through the
door. As each course arrives (I ordered sodas
served in jugs from a bar made of ice and a
parfait in the shape of a cat), allow yourself to
drift further and further into the strange world
of the maid café and their patrons. Each order
is welcomed by a chorus of “we hope you enjoy,
prince/princess” which is proclaimed merrily
by all the staff, who in turn heckle the rest of
the patrons to join in. The main meals are not
to be touched by patrons until the maid waitress
has “put her love on it” in the form of a three
second clapping song which you must also
participate in. So, in part due to hunger and in
part due to wanting the rest of the restaurant
to resume eating and avert their collective gaze
from the only two white girls not down with the
customs of the maid café, my friend and I joined
in, raised our hands to our ears, and bowed
saying “nyan nyan” along with our waitress.
If these crazy adventures haven’t convinced
you to get on a flight to Tokyo right now,
then I don’t know what will. Japan is an
impossible, beautiful, funny and curious dream
world. Make sure you pay a visit at least once
in your lifetime.
travel
UsU blUe &
Honorary life
MeMbersHip
awards
A USU Blue is a prestigious award presented to a limited number of
members in acknowledgement of their exceptional and enthusiastic
contribution to the USU.
Have you or somebody you know made an outstanding contribution to student life?
If you are a current member you can nominate yourself or any other member for a
USU Blue.
University staff and non-members are also encouraged to nominate current
USU members for a USU Blue.
Honorary Life Membership is the highest award given to an alumnus
or friend of the University of Sydney Union.
If you know of a long-term friend of the USU who deserves recognition for their
contribution, consider nominating them for Honorary Life Membership.
Nomination forms can be downloaded at: http://www.usuonline.com/Get Involved
Nominations close 21 September 2012 and recipients will be announced at the USU Annual Dinner
on 23 November.
for More inforMation
Email awards@usu.usyd.edu.au or call 9563 6000
Issue 06
fashion
35
PIERCE HARTIGAN went to Splendour and all he got was this crappy t-shirt.
Festival
Fashion
“Festival style” is not an
oxymoron, though it is
often self-contradictory.
Each year, thousands of
nubile young folks (and
more than a pinch of
young at heart) hit the
road for music festivals
in regional centres
all over the country,
packing with them
the silliest get-up they
can lay their eclectic,
attractive hands on.
Splendour in the Grass
2012 marked a return
to the mud-bath days
of old, with Byron’s
Belongil Fields turning
on the brown in a big
way after a bucketing
on Friday afternoon.
Gumboots or disposable
shoes were the order of
the day, while warmth
was at a premium
during the bitchingly
cold evening shows.
In contrast to previous
years, full costumes and
animal onesies were
in short supply among
this year’s festivalgoers.
Here’s how one group
of happy USyd campers
played it:
Antonia Hudson
Joe Smith-Davies
Lachlan Carey
Top: Bassike.
Necklaces: Colette and Urban
Outfitters.
Skirt: Zara.
Socks: Sportsgirl.
Gumboots: Hunter.
Bag: Sportsgirl.
How would you describe your
festival style? I’ve been variously
described as Lara Croft checking
on the septic tank and an urban
hippie, so take your pick.
What’s the most important thing
about dressing for a music festival?
The most important thing is to find
the balance between looking stylish
and wearing clothes that won’t get
ruined by sweat and mud, or that
you can live without if they
get destroyed.
Hat: Given to me by the captain
of the Brazilian one-day cricket
team after an exhibition game they
played against my high school
social 6ths cricket team. I feel like
it exemplifies both Latin vibrancy
and the classic elegance
of cricketing attire.
T-shirt: My mum bought it for me.
Hi Mum!
Shorts: Found in my backyard.
High-vis socks: My dancing style is
Contemporary Cossack, so I need
legwear that emphasises the mad
shapes my lower extremities
are cutting.
festival style? Fluoro trash.
What’s the most important
thing about dressing for a music
festival? There’s a fine line between
dressing conspicuous and dressing
obnoxious. Ignore it.
Hat: Freebie, came with a matching
pair of budgie smugglers
(not pictured).
Sunglasses: Fake Wayfarers that
I won’t be upset about losing,
purchased at this year’s festival.
Beard: I've had a beard for most
of the last two and a half years,
but this present version is only
about five weeks old.
Govt Hons
Laws V
fashion
Govt Hons
T-shirt: Shows Bruce Springsteen
carrying his guitar case, bought at
Splendour in the Grass 2011.
Wristbands: I pick these up
literally everywhere.
Shorts: General Pants.
Shoes: Fake Vans (which I can
throw in the wash), purchased
in Mexico.
festival style? Comfortable and fun
– it’s practical for dancing but good
for sun protection as well.
What’s the most important thing
about dressing for a music festival?
It’s all about the controlled clash –
you don’t want to match but you
need to make it work.You also need
to make sure you’ll handle the heat
of the day and the chill of the night.
36
bull usuonline.com
sport
A Pole New World
Lawrence Muskitta uncovers the bare-all sport of competitive
pole dancing.
F
orget swimming and
gymnastics, the Olympic
sport to watch in 2016
could well be pole dancing.
Yep, that’s right. Pole dancing
is trying to strip off its seedy
reputation (so to speak) and
has submitted an official
bid to be recognised as an
Olympic sport.
"These women are incredible athletes.
They have such grace and elegance and
they absolutely belong in the Olympics,” said
Timothy Trautman, CEO of the International
Pole Sports Federation (IPSF), in an interview
with BuzzFeed.
A far-cry from its sexualised counterpart,
competitive pole dancing isn’t just a nude girl
draped around an over-extended phallus.
It’s true they’re usually scantily clad but this
is mostly for functional reasons (skin helps
grip the pole) rather than for aesthetics.
Anyone who has seen this sport in action
can attest it requires immense strength,
coordination and vigorous training. Their
routines are often impeccably thought-out
and sometimes even awe-inspiring. Naysayers
need only YouTube ‘Pole Dancing Swan Lake’.
The clip has had more than 3 million views
and shows IPSF Vice-President, KT Coates,
demonstrating some of the best this sport has
to offer.
Little-known to its detractors, pole dancing
didn’t even stem from the sex industry – it was
inspired by a form of Chinese dance. It was then
adopted by travelling dance troupes in America
in the 20s who wanted to utilise the tent
pole as a prop.
Despite this, many believe the cultural
resistance against pole dancing will be too robust
to overcome, at least for now. US National
Pole Dancing Champion, Natasha Wang, is
pessimistic about their Olympic aspirations.
"While I support the pole community's efforts
“Anyone
who has
seen this sport
in action can attest
it requires immense
strength, coordination
and vigorous training.
Their routines are often
impeccably thoughtout and sometimes
even aweinspiring. ”
to get pole into the Olympics, I don't think the
general public is ready for the sport yet on such
a mainstream public scale," says Wang.
Regardless of whether it gets into the 2016
Olympics, there’s no doubt that pole dancing, as
a sport, is growing in popularity. Tran, aged 28,
works for the USU and has been pole dancing
since October last year. “I had a lesson for my
22nd birthday and really enjoyed it. Last year, I
saw an ad for a pole dancing class in my area
and thought, ‘Stuff it, I’ll sign up’ and I’ve been
going ever since.”
Tran says pole dancing has improved her
upper-body and core strength and that she
prefers it to more conventional forms of exercise.
“I used to go to the gym but I found the night
classes were repetitive and boring. Pole dancing
is a lot more fun and that keeps me motivated,”
says Tran.
Universities have been quick to pick up the
trend with England’s Cambridge and Oxford
starting pole dancing societies in 2010 – which
was controversial at the time. But now, even the
likes of UNSW have a pole fitness society, which
started mid last year.
Interestingly, we here at USYD don’t yet
host pole dancing lessons. But according to
Movement and Dance Society (MADSOC)
President, Charlotte Marie-Jeanne, it isn’t due
to the lack of interest but rather a lack of poles.
University Management says it’s unlikely they’ll
be investing in dance poles anytime soon.
sport
Issue 06
science & tech
37
science & Tech
Social Media 3.0
Frankie Yen says Facebook and Twitter are
too mainstream.
T
here was a time when being on Facebook and having
a Twitter account gave you street cred and access to
an oasis of stalker information. Now every person
with a smartphone can flood the #qanda hashtag and
even your cat has a Facebook account. Where are all the
organic gluten-free vegan social media sites that no one
except your best friend has heard of?
SPOTIFY
Airtasker
www.spotify.com
www.airtasker.com
Let’s start with the big one. Once you get over
the fact that all of your friends can see what
you are listening to, Spotify to iTunes is what
the Internet was to a computer circa 1998.
It gives you the opportunity to take a break
from your iTunes playlist of Bloc Party and
Vampire Weekend, and see what everyone
else has been getting up to recently.You’ll be
surprised at how many people are listening to
the new Katy Perry and Maroon 5 albums.
When you were about 12 and willing to work
for less than five dollars an hour, you may have
gone through the effort of asking your Mum to
ask all of her friends and neighbours for the odd
babysitting or dog walking gig. Airtasker saves
you the humiliation by connecting you poor kids
with lots of time with rich people with no time.
The tasks range from uploading CDs onto Mac
and assembling IKEA furniture to removing
a dead bird from a garden and drafting an
itinerary for travel in Norway.
Kickstarter
www.kickstarter.com
In a day and age where everything from
art to academic research is crowd-sourced,
there is no reason why there shouldn’t be a
website for crowd-funding. The website allows
you to come up with a project or an idea and
get funding from general members of the
public. As of July 2012, there were 64,216
launched projects. Although most of the
projects are based in the US, there is an
increasing number of Aussies breaking the
equator ceiling, with start-up social media
integration sites like Ninja Blocks reaching
its target in just one weekend.
“You can
occasionally get
Random Acts of
Awesome which
will mean that you
can get a free treat
or offer.”
Posse
www.posse.com
Because simple check-ins or even becoming the
mayor of your favourite bar isn’t enough, Posse
allows you to create a street full of our favourite
local joints like Bourke Street Bakery, Berkelouw,
Stitch and Assembly Bar.You can occasionally
get Random Acts of Awesome which will mean
that you can get a free treat or offer. In that way,
the website works a bit like traditional group
buying websites like Groupon and LivingSocial
Deals, but with a Sim City-like gaming function
and hand-drawn pictures to buying a croissant
at your local café extra fun. Plus you can put the
Eiffel Tower, a guitar or Godzilla on your street.
38
bull usuonline.com
ARTS
arts
Funky Fresh
JAMES MACKAY plays with his food.
The average person will
look at a stack of parsnips
in the supermarket and, if
anything, think to make
a nice parsnip soup. A
few might see minestrone.
Fewer still, some kind of
frittata. There are, however,
a particularly gifted,
particularly special few
among us who will look
at that same parsnip and
think of a clarinet.
Welcome to the world of vegetable
instrumentalism – the craft of creating
musical instruments out of fresh vegetables.
If you’ve ever had the urge to drill a hole
down a carrot to make a flute, hollow out a
pumpkin for a drum, or dissect an eggplant
to create castanets, then you may have an
undiscovered talent for the world’s most
organic form of music.
The sounds produced by vegetable
instruments are legion, and it’s often not easy
to recognise their organic origins. Vegetable
instruments can be tuned or percussive, dark,
shrill, hypnotic, lyrical or rhythmic and funky.
One common feature among them all, however,
is that instruments in this field will generally
only last one concert.
The use of vegetable instruments dates
back at least to ancient Rome. Pliny the Elder
considered the turnip one of the most useful
vegetables of his time, rating it “directly after
cereals (or at all events after the bean), since
its utility surpasses that of any other plant.”
It has been claimed the Romans first used
the turnip to build an ocarina around 46 AD,
though this is unconfirmed. Undoubtedly the
most widely used musical vegetable instrument
throughout history is in fact the humble bean,
which is first referred to by the ancient Incas
for its unique effect on the human body
(Eds:Yep.That’s a fart joke!).
Vegetable instruments today have found
their rightful place in the arena of mindless
YouTube novelty.
Among the leading figures in this “cyber-veg”
scene is the prolific ‘heita3’. Some have dubbed
him the Antonio Stradivari of vegetable
instruments. Others have (more accurately)
called him a crazy Japanese guy with far too
much time on his hands. On all accounts,
there is no doubting his contribution to the
field. Among his creations are the carrot pan
flute, the radish slide whistle, the big broccoli
ocarina (‘brocarina’), and the remarkably
innovative butterbur oboe, which employs
a double reed.
A long-standing problem in the vegetable
instrument world has been how to get vegetables
to project without amplification. In the case
of heita3’s cucumber trumpet, a solution was
found by creating a ‘bell’ out of—what else—a
bell pepper. This rather neat innovation has
been heralded as a breakthrough in the small
but competitive world of vegetable instrument
design. More controversial, however, has
been his ostrich egg ocarina video, which has
been strongly condemned by strict vegan
instrumentalists.
It was only a matter of time, of course,
before YouTube saw its first vegetable orchestra.
The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra is based in
Vienna but plays concerts all over the world
and is about to release its third studio album,
ONIONOISE. They have called themselves
the heirs apparent to Kraftwerk, and after
experiencing the utter absurdity of what they do,
quite straight-faced, I think few could deny them
this title. They write on their website:
“The further exploration and
refinement of performable vegetable
music is a central part of the
orchestra’s aesthetic quest…
There are no musical
boundaries for the
Vegetable Orchestra.
The most diverse
music styles fuse here
- contemporary music,
beat-oriented house
tracks, experimental
electronic, free
jazz, noise, dub,
clicks‘n’cuts…
a concert of the
vegetable orchestra
appeals to all the senses.”
As an encore
at the end of their
concerts, the orchestra
offers the audience fresh
vegetable soup.
Recent years have seen
the YouTube phenomenon
branch out into new and exciting
areas. Linsey Pollack (YouTube name
‘SquealyD’) is perhaps the most prominent
YouTube makeshift instrumentalist. He has
made videos playing the potato, the rubber
glove bagpipe, the watering can clarinet, the
camping chair, and has posted a particularly
moving concert playing the different parts of
a bicycle: from the wheel-and-pedal turntable
to the quite beautiful handlebar flute. Pollack’s
vegetable music is a sight more complex and
virtuosic than others’, but this can be put down
to the fact that he uses parts of traditional
instruments in his vegetables. His carrot clarinet,
for example, uses an actual clarinet mouthpiece
inserted into the bore of the carrot and a funnel
for the bell. Many of his works also employ
digital music techniques like live loops. This
hybridism has prompted a ‘natural’ vegetable
instrument renaissance, with some purists even
eliminating the use of non-vegetable tools to craft
their instruments.
So has vegetable instrumentalism become
an enduring art form, or is it just a passing
YouTube fad, doomed to go the way of those
people who microwave household items? I
have to wonder what Bach would say if he were
alive to hear heita3’s recent rendition of ‘Ave
Maria’ played on a giant radish. Alas, we will
never know, but it’s safe to say even old J.S., like
a blended gazpacho or a vichyssoise approaching
the boil, would find it hard not to be stirred.
image courtesy
of acfny.org
23 aug
14 sept
13 OCT
Sydney Uni Band Comp Final
National Campus Band Comp State Final (South)
DRUNKEN MOON SPRING FESTIVAL 7pm
Feat: BROTHERS GRIM & THE BLUE MURDERS + GAY PARIS + JACKSON FIREBIRD
+ MOTHER AND SON + HOWLIN’ STEAM TRAIN + PAPA PILKO & THE BINRATS
30 nov
18 jan
manningbar.com
usuonline.com
PAUL DIANNO & BLAZE BAYLEY – on sale Dec 8th
Ex IRON MAIDEN vocalists – performing nothing but MAIDEN
together for the first time
Hypocrisy (sweden) 8PM
+ Ouroboros + Anno Domini + Deprivation
40
bull usuonline.com
reviews
REVIEWS
ALBUM
confess
twin shadow
George Lewis’ second release
under his Twin Shadow persona
delivers a more melancholy
rendition of the electronic newwave sound and Morrissey-esque
vocals than his debut. While just
as catchy (if not more) as 2010’s
Forget on a first listen, Confess takes
this textural blend to a new level.
Twin Shadow’s sound has
matured markedly. The album
successfully evokes angst and
raw sentimental turbulence while
simultaneously steering the listener
into an uplifting, harmonious
plane. If for nothing else, Confess
warrants a commendation for its
experimental percussion.
By far the most distinguishable
evolution in Twin Shadow’s
sound, the drum tracks boast
a considerably higher level of
sophistication than those of Forget,
which had beats so haphazardly
arranged, you could be forgiven for
wondering whether the aim was
irony. To an extent, this simplicity
worked well with Twin Shadow’s
sincere melodic charm.
Confess demonstrates an avantgarde delivery of pulsating rhythm
somewhat reminiscent of 80s rock
ballads. Some songs are almost
danceable at times but never pick
up enough momentum for more
than a light jig.
Confess reads like an earnest
break-up album, yet sounds like a
mellow soundtrack for a Sunday
afternoon.
Mariana Podesta-Diverio
*****
Game
Kingdom Hearts 3D
Nintendo DS
Kingdom Hearts tries its hand at
Inception in this latest instalment
of the franchise, and although it’s
yet another spin-off before the true
trilogy draws to a close, fans and
newcomers alike will find plenty
to keep themselves entertained
both gameplay and plot-wise.
Taking off where Kingdom
Hearts II left off, players assume
the roles of Sora and Riku as they
are tested to become true ‘keyblade
masters’. The two are whisked
away to the land of dreams and
tasked with reawakening seven
sleeping worlds in order to prove
their worth, all in preparation for
the imminent resurrection of
series’ villain, Xehanort.
While the game tries to
brief newcomers with small text
summaries of the previous main
events, it’s the thrilling combat
and monster collecting mechanics
that’ll truly pull you in. On top of
the regular hack n’ slash fun, a new
‘flowmotion’ combat system puts
badass wall-flips, aerial assaults
and all other kinds of movie-like
combat moves at your disposal.
The heavily criticised new ‘Drop
Meter’, although cumbersome, is
easily forgotten with the correct
use of special in-game items.
It would be a sad mistake to
write this off as a useless side-story.
If you like a bit of melodrama,
Disney characters, or are just after
a polished new action game, you’re
well advised to add this ‘exam’ to
your timetable.
Robert Pilla
*****
album
ill manners
plan b
film
take this waltz
sarah polley
Plan B’s third album is a far cry
from the soulful sounds of previous
outing The Defamation of Strickland
Banks. Released alongside his film
of the same name, Ben Drew (the
alter ego of Plan B) returns to his
East End inspired hip hop roots
with ill Manors.
The album opens with the
title track, an anthem protest song
for post-riot Britain where Drew
delivers an acerbic criticism of
the Cameron ministry and the
conservative media. Punctuated by
witticisms and metaphors, the track
maintains a swift and nuanced
lyrical flow placing it on par with
seminal rap-protest song ‘Fuck
Tha Police’.
Now and then the record
fails to match its stellar opening.
A number of tracks feature short
sequences of dialogue from his film,
also called ill Manors, but lacking
the visual accompaniment, these
vignettes are difficult to follow and
feel out of place. The album is far
better at telling its own story, and is
more of a companion piece than a
soundtrack. At other times, Drew’s
depictions of delinquent youths
seem to do more to reinforce the
stereotypical media depictions
he attacks.
The overall success of the
album stems from its jarringly
gritty realism and Drew’s
emotional sensitivity. Fans of the
previous album may be caught
off guard, but the grim stories of
inner-city crime and depravity are
as thought provoking as they are
depressing.
The trailer for Take ThisWaltz
sold it as an offbeat indie chick
flick, comparable to 500 Days of
Summer or Juno. Complete with a
stellar cast that included Michelle
Williams, Seth Rogan and Sarah
Silverman, this movie could have
been a classic but unfortunately,
turned out to be just another flick
with a pretty girl who sits around
and sighs too much.
The plot centres on married
woman Margot (Michelle Williams)
who falls in love with Daniel (Luke
Kirby), local artist/rickshaw puller
– yes, you read correctly— who
coincidently lives just across the
street from her and her husband
Lou (Seth Rogan).
Rogan and Kirby deliver
outstanding performances as the
two men in Margot’s life. Rogan
draws the biggest sympathy
card from the audience here as
the cuckolded lover, yet Kirby’s
character is so likeable and
seductive that it’s impossible not to
root for him as well.
The weak link of the movie was
the main character herself, Margot.
Michelle Williams is normally
absolutely adorable but in this
film there was so little character
development that it was impossible
to empathise with Margot’s ‘plight’.
She’s pretty, she’s sad and she loves
a long, dramatic pause. Is she
strange? Well yes, just enough for
this quirky indie flick. But perhaps
too strange for the
average moviegoer.
rob north
*****
Olivia Gao
*****
Issue 06
REVIEWS
film
Ted
Seth McFarlane
classic countdown
House Party Favourites
JEEVAN HARIHARAN is taking control of the house party playlist
for the good of the party.
Friend, this is no time for James Blake. Step away from the iPod.
People want to dance and sing, they want to make some moves, and
your trendy post-electronic silliness is not going to get us there. No,
I’m not putting on Skrillex either. It’s 2am and the cops have already
come once. It’s time for the big guns:
5
Señorita – justin timberlake
A bit of JT and Pharrell call-and-response to
start with to get this party moving methinks,
appeasing the ‘guys’ and ‘ladies’ alike. Bam!
And the floor is filled. Just don’t listen too closely when
people try to sing the high bits. Now we’re talking. Who knows,
for the next four tracks they may even forget that their chinos
aren’t correctly rolled anymore.
4
3
Promiscuous – Nelly Furtado feat.
Timbaland What’s that, they loved that call-
and-response? Yeah they did! Let’s do it again,
but crank up the sex factor. It’s business time.
A fairly licentious, sweaty, and heteronormative kind of
business, but business nonetheless. Sexy business.
Ted is a fairly generic tale of choosing between a lover and a friend.
Granted, the friend in question is a stuffed bear with a penchant for pot
and swearing but even with these quirks, this film is still a dime a dozen.
The film marks a turning point for Family Guy creator Seth
McFarlane. McFarlane not only voices the titular character, but also makes
his feature-length directorial debut. Despite this apparent change, strong
traces of his previous work are evident in the film’s smutty (albeit often
enjoyable) humour.
At times, however, in-jokes can provide more confusion than laughs.
A lack of knowledge of the 1980 film version of Flash Gordon proves
detrimental. Allusions to the movie are scattered throughout and a bizarre
appearance by its star, Sam J. Jones, adds to an apparently ‘hilarious’ motif
that may be more baffling than entertaining for those not in the loop.
Regardless of such flaws, the film does have its moments. The
animation of the titular bear is impressively seamless, and Mark
Wahlberg and Mila Kunis display an obvious rapport. At its best, the
film is engaging, even genuinely shocking. A brilliant cameo by Norah
Jones of ‘Don’t Know Why’ fame completely subverts her softly-spoken
public persona with uproarious (if slightly unnerving) results.
Although predictable and far from perfect, Ted is probably best
described as ‘bearable’.
john rowley
*****
Roses - Outkast
It may be the forgotten cousin of ‘Hey Ya’, but
at the end of the day there’s something about
the piano intro to ‘Roses’ that makes you feel,
like, totes cultured. The real genius of Andre 3000 and
Big Boi though is their ability to keep it classy throughout the song,
dropping the word ‘bitch’ on a whopping 34 occasions.
2
Ride Wit Me – Nelly
Gen Y is probably the first in history to equate
the ‘good ol’ days’ not with racism, but rather a
carefree time when Premier Carr-dizzle passed
a law requiring parents to purchase So Fresh Spring
2001 for their children. BULL’s pick of this lime green pile
of awesome goes to this Nelly classic, because “Heeeeey, must
be the money!”
1
Ignition (Remix) – R Kelly
Chris Rock once said we loved Michael Jackson
so much “we let the first kid slide.” Such logic
seems to apply equally to this bad boy, where
traditional moral judgments about sexual assault of a
minor fall victim to our need to “gimme dat toot toot” or “gi’ya that
beep beep.” As an added bonus, hipper kids will probably mistake
the original for Jinja Safari’s recent sitar-infused Like a Version,
ensuring that the phrase “freak somebody!” continues to remain
relevant to minority groups as well. Fun for the whole family.
41
42
bull usuonline.com
caught on campus
Stalls galore.
Re-O Day sun and smiles.
Break it down.
Re-O Day 2012 01 AUGUST
R
e-O Day exploded into a colourful scene of clubs
and societies, international food, music, fun
and activities. There was even a mechanical bull
onsite to test our leg strength but even the most avid
horse riders and rodeo goers found it tough to hold on.
Congrats to Eleanor Gordon-Smith and Mark Agbuya
for best times!
Astha fulfills her presidential duties.
caught
on campus
Images taken by jeremy yao
We like history. Join us.
Battle time!
Opah! If only we had plates to smash.
Derby dreams.
Pull up a cue.
And my heart will go on, and on...
Babes, I'm gonna drop you!
Issue 06
club hub
club
hub
HEALTH & FITNESS
Why not work off that lunchtime
meatbox (we’ve all been there, just
admit it) and get active with some
clubs and societies that are sure to
whip you into shape in no time?
HALS
Photo by: Edmond Ong
Just For Kicks
Katie Davern is suffering from Olympics withdrawal.
O
ne of the newest clubs to hit the ground
running, KICKS is a hub for students with an
interest in sports and sports journalism. It aims
to cater for all sporting enthusiasts on campus with a
wide array of social events and an upcoming KICKS
Magazine which promises extensive monthly coverage
of the latest news, reports and reviews of exciting
sporting events happening both on and off campus.
Brimming with a wide array of engaging content, the
magazine will provide an outlet for the appreciation
of sports by raising awareness of and promoting an
interest in our very own university athletes. With a keen
eye for diversity, it will explore the multifaceted nature
of sport through its cultural, historical, political and
scientific dimensions.
KICKS began, as most Lansdowne ventures
do, with a heated discussion over beers: one
conversation, two dreamers. It was a warm
morning in November when a Ukrainian and
an Italian man both walked into the bar, and
over a few Heinekens, the footy and all the
rowdy political talk in between, KICKS was
born. Or so the story goes.
Bernadette Anvia, a second-year
International and Global Studies student,
decided to join KICKS because she was very
intrigued by the concept. “Here was a club
creating a magazine that catered to all facets
of the sporting world, and not just the mere
rules of the game or finite technicalities. As a
Government student, I think it’s awesome that
we have a magazine that is willing to explore
the deeper, more significant meanings of sport
to national culture and identity.”
KICKS caters for a thriving university
sports culture of fans, aspiring journalists and
athletes alike. Having just hosted an exciting
on-campus mini-Olympics event, a little birdie
tells me that they have a lot up their sleeves for
this semester, including a not-to-be-missed
launch party, and sports trivia nights galore.
By hosting a variety of student writing
workshops, social nights and sporting events,
KICKS attempts to provide the synergy
between sporting interests and journalistic
pursuits. With its first issue set to hit shelves
soon, the club’s magazine aspires to become
an essential part of the campus experience
with thought-provoking pieces, interviews,
compelling statistics, humorous reflections
and more, all written by you and your
tutorial mates.
So, if you’re a budding writer, eighth-grade
shot put champion, Tuesday night sports trivia
whiz, just wanting to get involved in a unique
sporting experience, then give KICKS a go.
It might just give you the kick you need to
feel alive and kicking.
The Health and
Lifestyle Society is all
about promoting the
importance of leading
a healthy and happy
life. They hold regular
yoga and boxercise
classes in the Holme building as well as
providing nutritious feasts and organic
baking workshops which will give your
tastebuds a welcome respite from greasy
Manning fare.You can also check out
their blog healthandlifestylesoc.blogspot.
com, which showcases their focus on
maintaining a sound mind as well as
a sound body by practicing peace and
kindness through humanitarian projects.
SOULXPRESS
No, we haven’t
accidentally included
a forgotten ‘80s funk
band. Soulxpress
is the University of
Sydney’s hip hop
society which can be
seen breakdancing in the International
Students’ Lounge every week. They
regularly hold dance classes with teachers
like the originally named Mark who
represented Australia at the Hip Hop
International Championship in 2010. This
year, the society is out to take over campus
with their events including Graffiti Day in
our very own Graffiti Tunnel and regular
jam sessions, so you better bust a move.
SUBW
The Sydney
Bushwalking Society
explores the craggy
crevices of this crazy
country. The club
focuses on canyoning
in the summer, cross
country skiing in winter and bushwalking
all year round. Typically spotted in the
Blue Mountains, they will occasionally
range farther afield and even go interstate.
Make sure you sign up to their mailing list
– they will teach you everything you need
to know about navigating and orienteering
as well as loads of other skills you probably
didn’t even know you could have.
43
big questions
big conversations
interfaith Week
3-7 sePteMber 2012
Monday
Festival launch
12-1pm, New Law Lounge
Panel discussion,
Q&A and free food
Publication launch
1-3pm, New Law Lounge
Come celebrate the launch of
our new Interfaith Publication
tuesday
Religion &
Politics Panel
1-2pm, New Law foyer
Lee rihannon, Marrion Maddox,
Yassir Morsi
Wednesday
Faith FaiR
11am-3pm, Law Lawns
free kosher BBQ, live music
& free fortune Telling
Women’s Panel
12-1pm, Isabel fidler, Manning House
eva Cox, rabbi Orna Triguboff, the
Venerable Yeshe Chodron
thursday
sexuality Panel
12-1pm, Isabel fidler, Manning House
Julie McCrossin, Afroz Ali,
Dr Boris Handle
aRts night: shoRt Film
Festival & PoetRy slam
5-8pm, Verge Gallery
featuring guest slammer, Miles Merrill
friday
chaRity PRoject
AIMe Centre, redfern
Issue 06
stop. puzzletime
45
stop.
puzzletime
WIN A ONE DAY TRIP TO JERVIS BAY FOR YOU AND A FRIEND!
Discover the Jewel of the South Coast, a
nationally protected marine and national park
boasting some of the whitest beaches in the world
and home to dolphin pods and colourful marine
life. Get picked up in Sydney city and escape
to see the picturesque and stunning locations
defining Jervis Bay. There’s so much to do!
WIN!
Highlights:
• Mt. Bulli Lookout – View the eye-catching
Wollongong coastline and its renowned beaches.
• Jervis Bay Marine Park – Jump on a 2 hour
cruise to relax and appreciate a truly stunning
environment as well as walking on some of
the world's whitest sand! Get close to the local
bottlenose dolphins that call this paradise home.
Rating:
2
2
9
6 7 8 4
8
1 5
4
1
1 9
7
9 8 2 3
1
4
2
3
9
T
G
S
wheel words
7
NSW Permit Number LTPM/12/00625
B
Fill the grid so that every
column, every row and
every 3x3 box contains the
digits 1 to 9.
sudoku
• Kangaroo Valley - See a variety of native wildlife
such as kangaroos, wallabies and exotic birdlife.
• Fitzroy Falls - Experience the thrill and spectacular
scenery of the 80m plunging waterfall and
Moreton National Park.
For more information go to www.colourfultrips.com
For your chance to win Colourful Trips’ Jervis
Bay Escape, email usubullmag@gmail.com with
your name and details by 18 September 2012.
The winner will be announced by email.
Good luck!
H
R
I
T
E
Create as many words of 4 letters or more using the given
letters once only but always including the middle letter. Do
not use proper names or plurals. See if you can find the
9-letter word using up all letters.
12 Good 17 Very Good
21+ Excellent
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
46
bull usuonline.com
the bull pen
the higgs bison
the bull Pen
U
Fail
It’s week four
and GABI KELLAND
still hasn’t told
her folks yet.
NSW Permit Number LTPM/12/00625
niversity, wonderful as it is, has its downsides - 8am
starts, group projects, obscurely mustachioed tutors,
and the Carslaw Building in general. However, as bad
as these are, they pale in comparison to the horror that
is failing a subject. If you haven’t done it, let this be a
warning to you. If you haven’t but are actively planning on doing
so, then you’re probably a stupidhead. For my fellow members of
the crappest club on campus, the following is really just me talking
about my own problems, but if you can glean any kind of comfort
from reading about my failure, you’re already doing better than
I am. Here goes:
The lead up
You’ll work
harder for the finals.
You totally will.
Probably.
Oh, you didn’t?
Yeah, me neither.
You’re half-way through semester,
and you’ve been working really hard.
No, really, you have been – all that time
you spend talking with your friends over
chips at Manning where at least 45 per
cent of the conversation relates to how
screwed you are for your midsem – that
totally constitutes studying.You’re still
thinking about the subject, right? Not
to mention the countless minutes spent
glancing at your hastily scrawled notes
before mentally proclaiming that you’re
just not in the right mindset to study at
the moment – it all adds up, baby.
Chill them beans!
Well, actually, it might not add
up to enough. Particularly if you’re
doing Mathematical Modeling and not
Constructing the Fictive Self.
Hmmm. Whoopsies.
It’s cool though, you’ll work harder
for the finals.You totally will. Probably.
The weeks pass by
Oh, so you didn’t end up working
harder for your finals? Yeah, me neither.
The marks are in
... and you got 24. Sweet Jesus, a 24?
Did you go into the exam, vomit all
over the paper and then start flinging
bits of it at other students? That’s not a
fail, that’s a sign from some kind of deity
that you’re in the wrong degree. Or that
you should’ve gone to lectures at some
point. Either way, you’ve made your
bed and now you have to lie in it.
Telling the ‘rents
This part of the process requires more
planning, insight and strategy than the
rest combined. Of course, that wouldn’t
be the case if you’d actually studied,
where more planning, insight and
strategy would have meant you didn’t
need to do this. Anywho, as with all
things in life, you should wait until your
brother breaks his leg before you tell
your parents. More specifically,
wait until after your parents have
spent twelve hours at the hospital
waiting for him to finally come out of
surgery. After such a long wait (because
of some guy with the aortic aneurism
in front of him), they’ll be so mentally
drained and focused on your brother’s
medical condition that you can slip
in the fact that you ballsed up your
transcript without causing so much as
a raised eyebrow. Well played, kid.
Well played.
If you don’t have a brother that
plays rugby...well, you’re on your own.
That diagram of the Higgs Bison
won’t help you now.
COMING SOON
facebook.com/VergeFestival
twitter.com/VergeFestival
Students get the Herald for less
Fri Jan 20 10:10
WHY THIS MAN
SPENT $17,000
ON A NEW NOSE
LITTLE
MASTER’S
MISERY
GOOD WEEKEND
OVERSEAS
INVASION
When children’s
shows become
naughty
Wednesday January 4, 2012
NEWS, PAGE 7
FIRST PUBLISHED 1831 NO. 54,375 $2.50 (inc GST)
January 14-15, 2012
MEET THE
$10b HEIRESS
First published 1831 No. 54,366 $1.50 (inc GST)
PAUL McGEOUGH
Gillard Wickets tumble as Test cricket hits fast-forward button
rebukes
Hawke
on unions
$10 gift card
e
you subscrib
Jessica Wright
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
THE Prime Minister has dismissed a call by the Labor elder
Bob Hawke to slash the power of
unions within the ALP.
Julia Gillard defended the factional and union influences that
were responsible for the destruction of Kevin Rudd’s leadership in 2010.
Mr Hawke, a former prime
minister and boss of the ACTU,
said in an interview with the
Fairfax publication The Australian Financial Review that while
his ‘‘first love’’ was the trade union movement, its influence over
the Labor Party had grown to
‘‘suffocating’’ proportions.
r details
See page 2 fo
‘Our great trade
union movement is
important to
Australian society
and to representing
the needs of working
people.’ Julia Gillard
But yesterday Ms Gillard said
the unions were the champions
of ‘‘working Australians’’.
‘‘I believe our great trade union movement is important to
Australian society and to representing the needs of working
people,’’ she said.
‘‘It was the trade union movement, shoulder to shoulder with
the Labor Party, that fought back
and got rid of Work Choices.’’
Responding to Mr Hawke’s advice to the ALP to recognise the
perceived negative association
with the unions, Ms Gillard said
the matter had been adequately
addressed at the party’s national
conference last month.
She tried to soften the public
rebuke to Mr Hawke, once the
nation’s most popular leader,
saying he was an important part
of the ALP’s history.
‘‘Bob Hawke is of course a living legend,’’ she said. ‘‘Bob is
right to say that the Labor Party
needs to keep modernising.’’
His criticism of undue union
influence within the ALP mirrored the view of another former
prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who
savaged the power of the unions
There’s action aplenty as
the five-day game takes
its lead from Twenty20,
writes Malcolm Knox.
and factions in a speech to the
national conference.
Mr Rudd said the party had
failed to take any significant
steps to rein in the power of factions and union bosses.
‘‘While some claim we have
moved forward on party reform,
the truth is we have barely
moved at all,’’ Mr Rudd said.
‘‘The stark alternative remains: either more power to the
factional powerbrokers or more
power to the 35,000 members of
the Australian Labor Party.’’
An internal review by the former premiers Steve Bracks and
Bob Carr and Senator John Faulkner recommended a guaranteed say for unions and Labor
supporters in party preselections and aired dire warnings
that the party faced a membership crisis.
Senator Faulkner has repeatedly warned that the ALP
risks a wipeout of its membership – as ‘‘a small party getting
smaller, [and] an old party getting older’’.
Ms Gillard welcomed the
review but resisted the suggestion that the unions be given a
say in policy and parliamentary
decisions.
‘‘As Labor leader I will insist on
the right to freely choose the
executive of the federal parliamentary Labor Party,’’ she said at
the time of the review’s release. ‘‘I
have chosen my team of ministers and parliamentary secretaries and I will continue to do so.’’
Mr Hawke also addressed the
leadership question that continues to dog Ms Gillard, saying he
believed she was the best person
for the job.
‘‘I don’t think they should
change leaders,’’ he said. ‘‘There
has been a lot of criticism of
Julia, but you have got to give her
credit for a lot of achievements
and tenacity.
‘‘She has shown a lot of courage and determination, particularly on the carbon tax and the
mining tax. When those things
are bedded down they may even
become positives.’’
Ms Gillard has refused to address questions about the leadership this year, telling reporters
on New Year’s Day to ‘‘check the
transcripts’’ of last year for her
answer.
It is more than 20 years since
Mr Hawke was prime minister of
Australia but the ‘‘Silver Bodgie’’
has enjoyed a resurgence in the
media, most recently in a renewed spat with the former
prime minister Paul Keating.
The pair showed the passing
of time had done nothing to ease
the rancour in their relationship
with Mr Keating this week blaming Mr Hawke for the wage
explosions of the 1970s.
Mr Keating said that Mr
Hawke, as the ACTU national
secretary, had ‘‘nearly destroyed
the economy twice’’. The spat
coincides with the release by the
National Archives of the 1982
and 1983 cabinet documents.
AS IF obligated to compete with the
evening’s entertainment, 22 Test cricketers of Australia and India romped
through three bright and breezy sessions. The batsmen clubbed the ball to
all corners when they weren’t losing
their wickets. The bowlers served up
bouncers, wides, late outswingers and
unplayable in-duckers, with the occasional nagging length ball for variety.
Fieldsmen fell asleep if the ball hadn’t
come to them in an over.
What is this new thing, and how can
it be stretched to five days? Perhaps
each team needs three innings in a
Test. Perhaps there is no problem. Test
matches have a natural duration of 31⁄2
days, and we should celebrate the
plebeian uprising of the bowler.
While M.S. Dhoni and R. Ashwin
were together, putting on 54 in 81 balls
for India’s seventh wicket, an anxious
Australian voice in the Churchill Stand
muttered, ‘‘They’re digging in now –
we need a wicket, Hilfy!’’
Resurgent Punter
holds key to series
If the opening day was all
about Sachin Tendulkar, the
central character leading
into today is Ricky Ponting.
Summer – Page 26
How good is James Pattinson? ... Australia’s hottest new quickie celebrates the wicket of Virender Sehwag. Photo: Steve Christo
Bowler Ben Hilfenhaus did his bit,
and concerns about a partnership
lasting more than an hour were
allayed. Mexican waves couldn’t even
make a full circuit as a wicket fell first.
When security guards seized beach
balls, they weren’t booed, because
something had happened on the field
to distract the crowd’s attention. Bill
Lawry surely couldn’t cry ‘‘It’s all happening!’’ for fear of understatement.
When Dhoni won the toss, the
crowd cheered – they were going to see
Sachin Tendulkar. Of course, they never considered the Indian top three
might bat all day, and they were right,
though it did look, for a moment after
tea, as though they might be back in
for their second innings.
Tendulkar did not make his 100th
international century. Two constants of
his career – that he scores runs in
Sydney and that his teammates let him
down – collided, resulting in his dismissal for 41. He came to the crease at
2-30 when not one ball had been hit
convincingly in front of the wicket.
From there it was a contest of his cover
drive versus Australia. The bowlers fed
the shot. He laced drive after drive
between point and mid-off, then dragged one onto his stumps. As wickets go,
it was a cheap buy.
In general the bowlers didn’t have to
strike any bargains. Hilfenhaus rediscovered his fast bouncer to remove
Ashwin. Then, like a child who remembers last year’s Christmas present was
even better than this year’s, Hilfy used
Continued Page 2
Economic woes hit US defence ambitions
Daniel Flitton
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
AUSTRALIA is about to confront
the biting reality of US military
decline as its cash-strapped ally
moves to abandon the longstanding doctrine of being ready
to fight two wars simultaneously
on opposite sides of the globe.
The New York Times reported
yesterday on cuts expected to be
announced this week by the Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, to
slash hundreds of billions of dollars in defence spending across
ground forces, navy, air force
and the nuclear arsenal.
Coming after earlier reduc-
tions, the US’s formal strategy to
fight two large adversaries at
once – as it did during World War
II against Nazi Germany in
Europe and Japan in the Pacific –
will also be surrendered.
For 60 years the Defence chiefs
in Canberra have had the luxury
to assume Washington will be
free to come to Australia’s aid, no
matter what the US entanglements outside the region.
But those days are gone as a
teetering economy forces deep
cuts to the US defence budget –
at the same time as many are
concerned about China’s growing military ambitions.
Buzzcut
Pentagon prepares to
slash spending.
World – Page 8
The troubled F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter, of which Labor has committed to buy between 14 and 100,
is also reported to be targeted.
Despite the cuts, the US would
remain the pre-eminent military
power with the ability to fight
and win one major conflict and
‘‘spoil’’ a second adversary’s
ambitions in another part of the
world. But The New York Times
reported that the cuts inevitably
posed questions such as whether a reduced aircraft carrier fleet
could counter an increasingly
bold China or whether a smaller
army could fight a long ground
war in Asia.
Australia has already made
plain its hope to see a greater US
engagement in the ‘‘Asian century’’ as the Obama administration withdraws from Iraq and
Afghanistan.
The agreement to train up to
2500 US Marines near Darwin,
announced during Barack Obama’s visit to Australia in November, was widely interpreted as
insurance against China’s rise.
The US has also made clear a
desire to shift the focus to Asia
and Mr Obama used his speech
to federal Parliament to pledge
the US was ‘‘here to stay’’.
The shift from fighting two
simultaneous wars against
major forces recognises the significant changes to warfare during recent decades, with insurgent conflicts the norm and
the growing use of drones and
other high technology.
The Defence Minister, Stephen
Smith, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd, would
not comment on the change.
Killer given
passport,
licence and
freedom
SILENCE LIKE A
CANCER
GROWS
NEWS REVIEW
Year of job Who’s for a dip? But there is a dark side
pain to hit
banks, shops
Saffron Howden
and Alicia Wood
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
TRENT JENNINGS packed his
passport, driver’s licence and,
unsupervised, took off in a
stolen car from a prison psychiatric hospital.
As authorities scrambled yesterday to shift the blame for the
bungle that allowed the killer to
walk free on Friday and outsmart
police hours later, the nationwide hunt for him continued.
Jennings, 26, stabbed a man to
death eight years ago during a
casual sexual encounter.
He was granted day leave
rights from Morisset Hospital,
near Newcastle, only a month
before he absconded from custody and allegedly arranged over
the internet to meet a man, 50, at
his home in Sydney’s Zetland.
Last Thursday, Jennings,
pictured, tied
the man up
with his consent then stole
some of his
belongings, including
his
black Mercedes four-wheeldrive, police say.
That night he returned to hospital after curfew, having contacted staff to tell them his train
was running late.
Satisfied with this explanation, hospital staff allowed him
out unsupervised at 2pm the
next day, the eighth anniversary
of the night he stabbed Giuseppe
Vitale, 32, in the neck after binding him at the hands and feet in a
park at Narwee.
Jennings did not return on Friday evening and, four hours
later, he was pulled over by
police in the stolen car south of
Coffs Harbour. His licence and
vehicle registration were checked, he was issued with some
fines, and allowed to drive off.
Last night, police across Australia were searching for the former Sydney waiter, who in 2005
was found not guilty of Mr
Vitale’s murder because a court
concluded he was in a druginduced psychosis at the time.
Yesterday the Premier, Barry
O’Farrell, ordered a report from
all relevant departments into the
circumstances surrounding the
getaway and the delay in notifying the public.
‘‘I share some of the concerns
about the lack of information
about his release or his escape,’’
he said.
This week the NSW chief psychiatrist, John Allan, will review
Jennings’ case and patient leave
procedures at Morisset Hospital.
The local health district
Continued Page 2
ANNE SUMMERS
BOMB BLAST THAT
ROCKED
THE WORLD
NEWS REVIEW
NEWS, PAGE 6
FREEwhen
2012 FACES
TO WATCH
SPECTRUM
WEEKEND
2011 a year in weather
summer
F
Foreign-made
car
ttops sales NEWS, PAGE 3
WEEKEND SPORT
Gareth Hutchens
Tertiary advisory days: your five-page guide to starting universityAUSTRALIA
STARTS PAGE 12
is on the cusp of a
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
summer
FESTIVAL OF THE COUCH
200
The son
also rises
The world of the box-set addict
SPORTSDAY
Monday January 2, 2012
Call to cut
city speed
limits to
40km/h
Anna Patty
STATE POLITICS
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
TRAFFIC across the city would
be slowed to 40km/h as part of
City of Sydney plans.
Terry Lee-Williams, a transport strategy manager at the City
of Sydney, told the NSW Parliament’s joint standing committee
on road safety that the council
would like a “blanket” 40km/h
speed limit across the city
in “predominantly residential
areas”. He said 20 per cent of the
existing city speed zones were
40km/h.
‘‘Once we do the CBD, that
would take it up to about 35 per
cent and we would progressively
like to roll that through. I say
progressively because it is a cost
issue,’’ Mr Lee-Williams told the
committee late last year.
The costs include hundreds of
thousands of dollars in studies
‘‘and hoops we must jump
through for the RMS [Roads and
Maritime Services]’’.
The NSW Labor MP Walt
Secord, who is a Staysafe committee member, said he disagreed with the council plan to
introduce the 40km/h speed
zone across the city, saying it
would further congest traffic.
‘‘Recently at a Staysafe parliamentary hearing, the staff from
Sydney City Council were advocating changing the entire city to
40 kilometres,’’ he said. ‘‘While I
understand they have safety
concerns, I fear that it could slow
city traffic to a snail’s pace.
‘‘This would make journeys
across Sydney even longer in
duration and slower, especially
at night.’’
A spokeswoman for the City of
Sydney said it was the responsibility of NSW Roads and Maritime Services to approve any
changes to the speed limit.
“The RMS is responsible for
signposting and speed limits
throughout NSW,” she said.
“The City of Sydney supports
improving road safety and minimising the risk of injury and
death in pedestrian areas
Howard honoured, for Queen and country
ROAD RULES
Pedestrians in the city
centre: 600,000
Vehicles in city centre:
85,000
International safety speed:
30km/h
City of Sydney safety
speed: 40km/h
through the reduction of speed
limits, as is international best
practice. On any given working
day, there are 600,000 pedestrians in the city centre and 85,000
vehicles. The slower the vehicle,
the less risk of severe trauma to
the pedestrian.’’
A spokeswoman for Roads and
Maritime Services said it had
“received a copy of the concept
proposal for a speed zone reduction from the City of Sydney on
Christmas Eve and is reviewing it
early this year”.
The former Labor premier
Kristina Keneally and the City of
Sydney lord mayor, Clover
Moore, agreed to a plan to slow
traffic within the city centre to
40km/h by early 2011 in a
memorandum of understanding
dated September 13, 2010, when
Mr Secord worked as chief-ofstaff for Ms Keneally.
A spokesman for the NSW
Roads Minister, Duncan Gay,
said the minister had not yet
seen the City of Sydney proposal.
Mr Lee-Williams told the Staysafe committee in late November that someone hit by a car at
40km/h was far less likely to die
than if they were hit at 60km/h.
‘‘Internationally it is 30km/h,
but because it has taken about
12 years to get the RTA down to
40km/h, we did not want to push
the envelope to 30km/h,’’ he
said. ‘‘Traffic also flows better in
crowded areas at a slower speed
because . . . you do not get compression between intersections:
the vehicles are moving easily;
they do not have to accelerate,
decelerate, accelerate, decelerate.”
700
2100
white collar recession with insiders warning that thousands of
ANZ jobs to go this year
jobs are at risk in the finance sector, after it emerged yesterday
that ANZ planned to cut 700 jobs.
But the Herald has established
the job cuts will total as many as
Australian jobs cut by ANZ
1000 by the end of this year,
in past two years
which will be more than the
bank shed at the height of the
global financial crisis.
They come a day after the Royal Bank of Scotland announced
Local
jobs lost in Bank of
plans to close its investment
Scotland closure
banking business, leading to the
loss of more than 200 jobs in
Australia.
First published 1831 No. 54,364 $1.50 (inc GST) you count all those jobs since
Economists have warned Aus- October, along with what will be
tralia is vulnerable to a recession announced in the next week . . .
this year with a INSIDE
wholesale fund- we will lose more staff than we
ing squeeze inBowser
Europe blues
raising did as a result of the GFC.’’
NSW drivers
more
The national secretary of the
debt costs for banks
suchcould
asface
ANZ.
petrol price rises when the
Finance Services Union, Leon
Experts havegovernment
warned
bansthousregular
unleaded
fuel,from
pushingthe
up
Carter, criticised the bank for
ands of jobs willdemand
be lost
for ethanol-blended and
industry this premium
year unleaded,
as banks
the industry shedding jobs when it had
has warned.
Fromera
July, petrol
scramble to adjust
to an
of record profitability. ‘‘Yet again
stations will no longer be allowed
low credit growth
andunleaded
higher
to sell regular
in a bid the first time anything gets
promote renewable biofuels.
tough in finance the only trick in
funding costs. toNews
— Page 3
This comes on top of cuts of their locker is to put jobs on the
2150 jobs between March 2009 line,’’ he said.
Weather,
not
and last September
in or
ANZ’s
‘‘It continues to be a highly
The most miserable summer in
Australian division.
‘‘We
have
Sydney in 50
years. The
coldest profitable organisation that is
nationally in more
than making multibillion-dollar prorun a policy ofautumn
shedding
jobs
50 years. Record flooding in
Victoria.
A Christmas
Day in
fits. They have an obligation to
through attrition
since
October
Melbourne with hailstones the
last year,’’ an executive
said.floods and keep everybody employed.’’
size of eggs. Massive
cyclonebeen
Yasi in rehired
The Financial Services Minis‘‘Temps have not
Queensland.
ter, Bill Shorten, said: ‘‘We
once their contract
What’s ithas
all expired.
mean? been stophaven’t been briefed specifically
Secondments have
Paul
ped. We have outsourced
two on any decisions of the ANZ in
Sheehan,
Opinion —
whole floors of operations
staff term of jobs.We regard any job
Page 11
from a [Melbourne] office to losses as unfortunate.’’
Experts say banks will be forManila [in the Philippines]. If
DY
YNASTY
THE TENDULKAR DYNASTY
Road toll falls
ced to cut staff numbers for the
next few years to protect profit
margins. The high levels of consumption and lending they enjoyed in recent years will not
continue.
At the start of 2007 Australia’s
banks, excluding ANZ Asia, employed 155,000. Four years later
that figure had grown to 178,000
people, an increase of 23,000.
In ANZ alone, the number of
employees in the group’s global
operations increased by 12,000
since September 2008, from
36,900 to 48,900.
But ANZ’s Australian division
has shed more than 2100 jobs in
the past two years – from 19,922
to 17,768 – as it sends more jobs
to offshore.
The job losses could exacerbate
conditions in Australia – already
vulnerable to recession. The chief
economist at JP Morgan, Stephen
Walters, said: Australia has not
undergone adjustments observed
elsewhere ... it remains vulnerable to shocks.
Economists also say we might
expect a further shake-out in the
retail industry, which employs
1.2 million people, following the
jobs losses last year.
The Grattan Institute’s Saul
Eslake said: ‘‘I wouldn’t be at all
surprised if 2012 was a year in
which some of the almostinevitable consequences for employment in retailing of the
deterioration in retail trading
conditions over the next couple
of years came to a head.’’
ANZ staff wait for axe to fall —
Weekend Business
Sun, sand and fun ... Tabitha Palmer, 6, centre, plays with Liv Knight, 7, and Harry Hamilford, 5, at North Bondi. The girls are in the under-7 nippers. Photo: Dallas Kilponen
Economic conditions are preventing children
learning to swim, writes Nick Ralston.
LIFESAVERS have a simple
explanation for the spate of near
drownings and a record number
of rescues in recent weeks.
‘‘There was pretty poor weather leading into Christmas and I
think that everyone was frothing
at the bit to get out to the beach,’’
said Dean Storey, the lifesaving
manager of Surf Life Saving NSW.
‘‘Then the sun came out. At
the same time we had the big
swell . . . and it all came together
to create a couple of weeks of
entry to existing pools, which is a
barrier to some socio-economic
groups, and the increasing cost
of bus transport.
‘‘The Department of Education tries to minimise the cost
but there are some limitations
on that. It’s just a sign of our economic times at the moment.
People are being pinched a bit.’’
On the plus side, Surf Life Saving is enjoying a boom in the
number of young people becoming involved in the volunteer rescue organisation.
This year it has 30,000 nippers
on its books and the number has
been rising annually for the past
four years.
The 2011 road toll was the second
lowest since 1944, according to
provisional figures from the NSW
Centre for Road Safety. Last
year, 376 people were killed on
NSW roads, down from 405 the
previous year. The toll has
dropped from 524 over the past
10 years.
Dylan Welch
SUVA, FIJI
News — Page 5
First Tuesday
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
IN GOOD COMPANY
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Mitt Romney and Ron Paul
THE Fijian regime
ofbe running
Voreqe
appeared to
neck and
as may have rendered exceptionneck in Iowa before tomorrow’s
‘‘Frank’’ Bainimarama
has really meritorious services in Our
first vote on the candidates
Crown Services
or towards
the of Washington’s
vying for the Republican
Party’s
cruited
one
most
advancement of the Arts, Learnpresidential nomination, with
notorious
firmsmounting
– that
ing, Literature,
and Science orlobbyist
Rick Santorum
a late
such other exceptional
service
as
charge.
Contenders
been
has been
raided
by the
FBIhave
and
We are fit to recognise’’.
blitzing shopping malls, public
regimes
in
Althoughrepresents
writers and artistsrepressive
meetings and
local media.
have traditionally
dominated East World
Page 8
the Middle
and— Africa
– to
the field, politicians appointed
manage
its reputation and
to the orderhelp
have included
Sir
Winston Churchill, Clement
lobby foreign journalists.
Attlee and Baroness Thatcher.
Mr Howard becomes
ninth
And the
diplomatic
sources be- lations, only to enshrine them in
Australian appointed, following
lieve
firm, Qorvis Commu- a permanent law.
in the footsteps
of thethe
philosopher Samuel Alexander,
the intel-may be behind the
nications,
The company is represented
lectual Gilbert Murray, scientists
decision
by Commodore Baini- in Suva by a fresh-faced former
Sir Frank Macfarlane
Burnet,
Howard Florey
and Robert to lift the widely conmarama
business journalist, Seth ThomMcCredie May, former chief
demned
public
emergency regu- as Pietras, who has been in the
justice of Australia
Sir Owen
Dixon, artist Sir Sidney Nolan and
Chloe Hosking won a thrilling
soprano Dame Joan Sutherland.
first race of the Bay Classic and
Mr Howard is expected to
promptly called Union Cycliste
receive his Order of Merit – an
Internationale boss Pat McQuaid
eight-pointed cross bearing the
‘‘a dick’’ for failing to implement
imperial crown to be worn
a minimum wage for women.
around the neck – at a ceremony
Third placed Rochelle Gilmore
later this year.
also called for change.
Frank Bainimarama ... advice.
On merit ... clockwise,
from top left:
Baroness Thatcher,
Prince Charles, Sir
Tom Stoppard, David
Hockney and Sir
David Attenborough.
who was also appointed to the
order yesterday, will join
luminaries including the former
British prime minister Baroness
Margaret Thatcher, the playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, the
naturalist Sir David Attenborough and Prince Charles.
The Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, said she warmly congratulated Mr Howard on
receiving such a distinguished
award. ‘‘This is a rare and singular honour for his service to Australia,’’ she said.
The Order, founded by King
Edward VII in 1902, carries no
title but is considered an
extremely high mark of honour
and a personal gift from the
Queen.
According to the Royal Family’s
website, it is to be given ‘‘to such
persons, subjects of Our Crown,
Classic stoush
country on and off since October. A contract published by the
US Justice Department under
the Foreign Agents Registration
Act reveals that in October the
Fijian Attorney-General, Aiyaz
Sayed-Khaiyum, signed a deed
with Qorvis worth $US40,000 a
month for a year. In return,
Qorvis has agreed to provide
‘‘public relations services relating to business and investment
to the government of Fiji’’.
But it appears to the Herald,
which spent the week in Suva
being lobbied by Mr Pietras, that
his ambit is far greater than spin.
It is likely Mr Pietras, described
as Qorvis’s chief speechwriter,
helped draft Commodore Bainimarama’s recent speeches, including his New Year’s Day address announcing the lifting of
emergency regulations.
Several countries with an interest in Fiji expressed a belief to
the Herald that, given the timing,
Qorvis might have played a role
in Commodore Bainimarama’s
decision to lift the emergency
regulations.
A diplomatic source also expressed concern that the kind of
role played by such lobbyists in
the Middle East and Africa was
being imported to the Pacific.
SportsDay — Page 32
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Dirty business
... litter lines
the foreshore
at Iron Cove.
Photo: Jon Reid
programs like this not continue
in some form. It would certainly
be very detrimental. We have
millions of people living in that
catchment.’’
Research indicated it was
likely that since the end of the
drought more rain has meant
more litter washed into waterways, he said.
Most of the man-made refuse
consists of food and drink packaging dropped on streets and
swept into the harbour through
stormwater drains, a NSW Maritime spokeswoman said.
While the fall was partly
caused by Maritime’s environmental service losing its flagship
vessel for more than six months
as a replacement was built, it
also followed a decision in
December 2010 to stop using
detainees provided by the
Department of Corrective Ser-
vices for the foreshore clean-up,
she said.
Minimal risk detainees began
working with government waterways cleaners 17 years ago and
the program has contributed
between 12 and 28 per cent of
the volume of waste collected
every year up to 2008-09, official
figures show.
However, the program was
suspended when the Department of Corrective Services
began to phase out its periodic
detention program last October,
according to NSW Maritime.
The Herald understands that
staff were unwilling to work with
higher-risk detainees receiving
intensive correction orders,
which have replaced periodic
detention.
The detainees’ assistance was
hailed as a success in previous
years, as NSW Maritime crews
worked to remove boating hazards and rubbish from Sydney
Harbour and the navigable
waters of the Parramatta and
Lane Cove rivers over a combined foreshore length of 270
kilometres.
Four minimal risk detainees
worked three times a week with
government staff to clear debris
in areas inaccessible to boats,
News Review
Fiji’s future of
uncertainty
Mr Pietras, an executive vicepresident of Qorvis’s geopolitical
solutions section, is at least the
second Qorvis employee to travel
to Fiji, after Tina Jeon, an Olympic archer and Qorvis spinner.
In early November Ms Jeon
posted on Twitter a photo of herself and Commodore Bainimarama aboard a boat in Fiji
with the caption: ‘‘No better
place to write a press release’’.
Last year, during the Arab
Spring, Mr Pietras was Qorvis’s
spokesman when its role in defending Middle East regimes was
the subject of debate.
‘‘Our clients are facing some
challenges now,’’ Mr Pietras told
The New York Times. ‘‘But our
long-term goals to bridge the differences between our clients and
the United States haven’t
changed. We stand by them.’’
In 2004 when Qorvis was
raided by the FBI as part of an
investigation into whether an
advertising campaign it helped
run broke federal law by not disclosing Saudi funding.
At the time, Qorvis was the
beneficiary of a six-month contract with the Saudis worth almost
$US15 million to help improve its
reputation after the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001.
Last year an Egyptian steel
tycoon with ties to the Mubarak
regime retained Qorvis to manage
his public relations during a trial
regarding claims of widespread
corruption. He was eventually
sentenced to 10 years in jail.
The company has also represented the man widely known as
‘‘Africa’s worst dictator’’, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang
Nguema Mbasogo.
‘‘We have kids who are doing
nipper training, who are rescuing kids their age on days
when the surf is a bit tricky,’’ said
the nipper manager at North
Bondi Surf Life Saving,
Jim Walker.
North Bondi has 1400 children
doing nipper training, up from
850 a few years ago.
A Bondi resident, Julia Palmer,
was raised in England and
wanted her daughter, Tabitha, to
gain a better understanding than
she had of safety at the beach.
‘‘We offered for her to do it and
she loves it. She’s much more
confident now in the surf than
she was,’’ Ms Palmer said.
WOLLONGONG showers clearing 18°-21°
GOSFORD few showers 17°-23°
NEWCASTLE few showers 20°-23°
ARMIDALE showers, storms 12°-22°
DUBBO shower or two 15°-31°
COFFS HARBOUR storms 19°-26°
DETAILS PAGE 19
ISSN 0312-6315
9 770312 631063
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Harbour rubbish pile on the rise after prison drain gangs get the brush-off
before, NSW Maritime’s latest
annual report reveals.
‘‘One can draw the conclusion
that there would be more litter in
the harbour,’’ said Peter McLean,
the NSW chief executive of Keep
Australia Beautiful. ‘‘I hate to see
through an Education Department, two-week intensive program in schools for students in
years two to six.
The program – the most
affordable in the state – is offered
to 100,000 students but is not
compulsory.
The peak industry body AUSTSWIM said in recent years issues
of cost had made some parents
reluctant to send their children
for lessons.
The chief executive, Gordon
Mallett, said: ‘‘If there is no local
pool, despite any efforts the
Department of Education may
make, it starts to get more difficult. Then you’ve got the cost of
Come in spinner: Fiji pays Washington lobbyists for image makeover
Exceptionally meritorious services ... Mr Howard at home in Wollstonecraft yesterday. ‘‘It’s a compliment to Australia,’’ he said of his award. Photo: Quentin Jones
Kelly Burke
NOT since Sir Robert Menzies
has the monarchy bestowed
such approbation on an Australian politician.
John Howard’s decade-long
prime ministership and his dogged adherence to a constitutional monarchy have earned him
admission to an exclusive club
with a capped membership of
just 24 after Buckingham Palace
announced yesterday he had
been appointed a member of the
Order of Merit.
Only Menzies’ Knight of the
Order of the Thistle, to which the
Liberal Party founder was invested in 1963, carries more kudos.
‘‘I’m very honoured,’’ Mr
Howard told the Herald from his
home in Wollstonecraft. ‘‘It’s a
compliment to Australia and a
recognition, among other
things, of the respect the Queen
has for this country. I’m very
grateful for it.’’
Mr Howard, along with the
British artist David Hockney,
Debra Jopson
THE amount of litter and waste
Sydney Harbour garbage collectors pick up each year has plummeted to the lowest level in more
than a decade after NSW Maritime suspended a long-running
clean-up program that used
prisoners on periodic detention.
The environmental services
team, which clears debris ranging from plastic drink bottles to
fallen trees from more than 5000
hectares of waterways, collected
just 2284 cubic metres of waste
last financial year, almost 500
cubic metres less than the year
carnage.’’ The solution to the
problem is not as simple. Water
safety groups are concerned that
pool closures and entry costs are
denying young children the
chance to learn to swim.
While an estimated 1.2 million children have private lessons, experts conservatively predict that each year at least 50,000
children nationwide graduate
from high school without being
able to swim 50 metres.
In NSW classes are offered
SYDNEY CITY sunny 18°-26°
LIVERPOOL sunny 15°-31°
PENRITH sunny 16°-33°
such as mangrove swamps, the
WOLLONGONG sunny 18°-26°
NSW Maritime spokeswoman
GOSFORD sunny 15°-28°
said.
NEWCASTLE sunny 18°-26°
The agency expects to restart
CANBERRA partly cloudy 15°-35°
the program using volunteers
ARMIDALE mostly sunny 10°-27°
provided by a non-government
DUBBO sunny 17°-35°
organisation in the first quarter
COFFS HARBOUR partly cloudy 16°-26°
of next year, another spokesDETAILS PAGE 18
man said.
p.a.
Mr McLean said volunteers
were difficult to attract. He
ISSN 0312-6315
warned that the loss of extra
Variable and comparison rate
assistance with garbage collection coincides with the NSW
government setting a target in its
new state plan of achieving the
lowest litter count per capita in
9 770312 631018
Australia by 2016.
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WOLLONGONG storms, showers 20°-32°
GOSFORD shower or two 16°-34°
NEWCASTLE shower or two 20°-31°
ARMIDALE shower or two 12°-29°
DUBBO partly cloudy 19°-37°
COFFS HARBOUR mostly sunny 18°-29°
DETAILS PAGE 16
ISSN 0312-6315
9 770312 631032
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