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© Monash Student Association (Clayton) Incorporated (MSA). Lot’s Wife is published on behalf of MSA. All enquiries about the
reproduction and communication of material from Lot’s Wife should be directed to MSA.
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olcAmM
I v e v i e w i n g term two, major
events include the Ethiopian
Relief Appeal, f^^ulti-Cultural
Week, OSCAFF Awareness Week,
Vegetarian Awareness Week and
of course the Bong-a-thon.
Lot's Wife reviewed these
events, as well as covering issues
such as Apartheid, Evolution and
Creation, Student Fees and the
Tax Summit.
Student response to Lot's Wife
this term has been overwhelming,
the paper was lifted to a record
number of fifty two pages per edition in order to cater for the enormous number of contributions.
Darren OIny's article on Evolution and Creation stimulated many
different views and we apologise
for not being able to include all
submissions on this issue, as
there were enough articles with
which to publish a book!
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
Ethiopian Relief Appeal Week
stimulated debate over how the
issue could be most justly and
effectively presented. Students
responding to the feature in Lot's
Wife praised the detail and precision with which Lalitha, one of the
E.R.A. organisers presented it.
Multicultural Week replaced the
traditional celebration of Farm
Week. Events during this week
included a bicycle race, which
unfortunately was sabotaged by a
part of the course being laden with
tacks causing one hundred dollars damage to two of the entrants
bicycles. Nevertheless, Wholefoods
boosted spirits, by alternating
daily different cultural cuisines.
Although this was the first year
without Farm Week, the splat-
Qto-^^Jli
tered eggs and the "hard to get"
competition, illegal practices still
prevailed, with the ever popular
Bong-a-thon.
OSCAFF Awareness Week
(Overseas Students Against Fees),
was not as successful as if should
have been. According to organizers, many students are still
unaware of the ramifications of
escalating fees for overseas students, and that they need as much
support as possible in lobbying
the Australian Government.
Vegetarian Awareness Week
consisted of different cuisines
and stimulated discussion about
the morality of vegetable preferences. Once again Wholefoods
hosted a Vegetarian banquet and
distributed free vegetarian recipes.
^^onMo/n^
Down in M.A.S (Monash Association Of Students) area a letter campaign attempted to bombard
ministers and politicans with student letters opposing the introduction of tertiary fees. An
enormous amount of work went
into this but its success is difficult
to measure. Some politicans have
indicated that these letters have
been effective and are nothing
more than naive, while others suggest that they are doing all within
their power to protect student
interests as indicated by these
letters.
In the meantime Steven $13,000 wage Hurd, our beloved
Administrative Executive Chairperson has been busy seeing his
solicitor over taking legal action
against Lot's Wife for exposing his
doing nothing significant this
term. Perhaps he's got something
really big planned for term three.
Until next term..
Debbie and Carmella
page
3
A RESPONSE
TO RACISM
by Anton Hermann
I spoke recently with a Malaysian student who is heavily involved with the campaign against
overseas student fees. Hopefully
his first-hand information will
increase understanding on the
part of the Australian students. He
would prefer to remain anonymoua
One of the major causes of oncampus racial intolerance is the
communication gap between Australian and overseas students.
The communication breakdown
is complex. Both catergories of
students have failed to adequately question or explain the
circumstances faced by overseas
students. Governments have also
failed to communicate their policy
objectives with students.
Many opinions on the question
of overseas students are based on
little or no evidence. They also fail
to take account of important background considerations. Regardless of the reasons for this, the
result is the same: intolerance and
prejudice. On a University campus, of all places, evidence, reason and understanding must
prevail.
Malaysia is the greatest single
source (around 57%) of overseas
students for Australian Universities. Hopefully, be examining the
plight of Malaysian students,
some opinions will be changed
and others will be strengthened.
Malaysia's culture is worlds apart
from ours. It is a multi-racial society, made up of three main groups:
Malays (55%), Indians (10%), and
Chinese (35%). The Malays (mainly from Indonesia and Java), were
the first to settle. In later years, the
British imperialists brought with
them Chinese and Indian workers
to exploit in the developing Malaysian economy. Before long, the
i i ' e n s e l y determined and highly
niotivated Chinese and Indians
w j r e in control of the economy.
The Malays were left way behind.
The
Chinese
virtually
monopolised the business sector and
the Indians took control of the productive rubber plantations.
This historical background accounts for the New Economic
Policy (NEP), which was first
implemented in the early 1960's.
NEP is an "affirmative action"
policy, designed to increase the
page
4
standard of living for the "uncompetive" Malay population. The
special rights bestowed upon the
Malay population are placed beyond public comment by the Sedition Act. Under the Act, not even
parliamentarians are permitted to
question or criticise the NEP.
The greatest impact of NEP on
Chinese and Indian Malaysian
students is the education quota
system. Although all three major
racial groups are entitled to contest the extremely limited number
of domestic tertiary education
places, NEP gives the Malay's an
e n o r m o u s head-start.
Many
Chinese and Indian students are
beaten for places by Malay's who
score lower grades at school! In
Australia, we take our merit-based
education system for granted.
Chinese and Malaysians are forced to perform at superhuman
levels to qualify tor tertiary education places at home.
If their families are rich enough,
the unlucky students can then
apply for Australian tertiary placea
Once again, NEP poses huge problems. Malays can often qualify
for Government scholarships to
attend Australian Universities,
whereas Chinese and Indians are
forced to pay out of their own
pockets.
Around 62% of Malaysian students are from families which earn
less than $15,000 per annum
(Australian equivalent). In 1984,
overseas students were being
charged $2,150 to spend a year in
Australia. This year it is $2,500
and Senator Ryan (Education
Minister), has announced that the
fee will increase by $1,000 every
year, up until 1988. Thus by 1988,
overseas students will be paying
$A5,500 p.a. for visa fees alone.
Add this union fees, rent, food and
all the other basic costs of living
plus the effect of the dramatic
devaluation of the $A, plus the
extra fees charged for the Medicine, Science and Dentistry
faculties....the mind boggles.
Back in Malaysia, the families of
these students are mortgaging
houses and making other enormous sacrifices to secure their
children an education. Education
is the key to a better lifestyle in
Australia and Malaysia, but es-
pecially Malaysia. The rapidly
developing economy offers rich
rewards for the tertiary educated.
The extent to which Malaysian
families are going to secure this
privilige for family members, is difficult to comprehend.
Bearing the above in mind, why
are overseas students generally
unmotivated to campaign against
fees? Active overseas students
are horrified by the apathy amongst their ranks. Once again, we
have to go back to Malaysia for the
answer. Malaysians are not encouraged to question authority.
Teachers and politicans have the
first and final word. The role of the
citizen is to learn what is taught
and do what is told. Coming from
such a disciplined culture, overseas students find it difficult to
adjust to the comparitively liberal
Australian cultural climate. They
just don't feel comfortable signing
petitions, taking part in rallies and
criticising uncaring Governments
and b i g o t t e d s t u d e n t s and
academics.
In any case, many just don't
have the time. Unlike Australian
students, overseas students simply cannot afford another year's
visa charges, if they were to fail.
Also, once again, they are brought
up to work hard and strive for perfection. In particular, Chinese and
Indian Malaysians who overcome
the huge barriers to reach Australian Universities, have to be
Spartans to do so. Once they're
here, dilligence is second nature.
Although Malaysia is a democ-,
racy, it operates quite differently
from Australia. The Government
lives in fear of the "Communist
Threat" and is also highly sensitive about its racial policies. Under
the Internal Security Act, citizens
can be put to death for threatening "national security." To determine whether any overseas
students are "threatening national security" the Malaysian Government has allegedly posted spies
in Australia to keep an eye on
campus activity.
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
Despite all this, more overseas
students must join the campaign
against fees to increase the
movement's momentum. An alternative to overt and active involvement is casual discussion with
Australian students on a personto-person level to heighten awareness. Australian students must
tal<e some responsibility for the
dramatic fees increase — after all,
it is our Government which is pricing overseas students out of the
tertiary education market.
The Malaysian Government has
only complained to the Australian
Government about the effect our
new policies will have on sponsored (mainly Malay) students.
Chinese and Indian Malaysians
have been left in the cold by their
own Government and they have
no recourse to the ballot box in
Australia.
Before complaining of the effect
that overseas students are having
on places for Australians, people
must consider the Catch 22 situation currently being faced by
Chinese and Indian Malaysian
students — no-one wants to know
them; in Malaysia the NEP places
them at a huge disadvantage and
in Australia the costs are becoming unaffordable.
Even if they do manage to win a
place here, overseas students
have to face the daunting prospect of racial hatred on campus:
not only from low-lifes such as
"Nation Action," but also "average" students who have confused (either unknowingly or
maliciously), the difference between the level of overseas student intake and the composition
of quota. Questioning the overall
level of intake is perfectly valid —
Australia does have discretion to
set a limit, on overseas student
intake. However, to discriminate
against legitimately-enrolled overseas students on the basis of their
racial nationality, is a disgrace to
the students who do so. The good
will which is meant to result from
the overseas students programme, breaks down completely.
For the record overseas students make up only 3.7% (approx)
of Australian tertiary enrolements.
Compared with 7 . 1 % for U.K. and
13% for France, Australia's contribution to overseas students is
Monash Co-Op
Bookshop
less than satisfactory — especially considering ourgeographical
location as a member of the Asia/
Pacific region.
Some overseas student leaders
concede that a major cause of
racial intolerence has been the
failure of the Education Department to spread overseas students
uniformly across campuses. Despite the low total number of overseas students, they comprise
around 13% of the Monash engineering student are from overseas. In my opinion, overseas
students should not be apologists
where their campus faculty numbers are out of proportion to their
total numbers. It is up to Australian
students to come to terms with our
Asian neighbours — not visa versa. On campus racism isnotjustifiable under any circumstances.
The myth that high levels of overseas students on a particular campus is a "reason" for racial intolerance must be eradicated. If
Universities fail to be places of
tolerance, understanding and
compassion, then our society is
headed for darker days.
The
overseas
students
pro-
gramme is a Foreign Aid initiative
being provided as a service inThe overseas students programme is a Foreign Aid initiative
being provided as a service instead of a cash payment. Instead
of winding down this programme
by increasing visa fees, the
Federal Labor Government should
be bringing in more overseas
students at an affordable cost (or
no cost at all) to the consumer The
Government must also come to
terms with racially biased education systems abraod, by admitting
students on merit, rather than on
the unworthy racial criteria laid
down by countries such as
Malaysia.
At Monash on July 19fh, Don
Chipp suggested that 8% of the
Foreign Aid budget should be
transferred to the Education Department for the overseas student
programme. This level of funding
would pave the way for an increasingly
multicultural
Australian tertiary education system.
Such a system can and should
be a system of mutual benefit for
Australians and our Asian neighbours.
Safe driving through education vwth
Jim Murcott's
Advanced Driving Centre
Errata: Notice of Annual General Meeting
Prior notices showed the date of the A.G.M. as being Wednesday
August 8 t h , 1 9 8 5 . This should have read as being Thursday August
8th, 1985. We apologise for any inconveniences caused.
Elspoth Daragaville
IVI.C.B.L.
Secretary
• LEARNER DRIVING LESSONS (ALL SUBURBS)
• DEFENSIVE DRIVING t SKID CONTROL COURSES
• FOUR WHEEL DRIVE COURSES
• HIGH PERFORMANCE a MOTOR RACING PROGRAMS
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Applications for scholarships, which are
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LOT'S WIFE
* 11
Shell Australia
page
5
ZIONISM....
An Obsession
If one moves vnithin the political
circles of Monash, it is not hard to
find someone with whom to discuss the issues of the Middle East.
And this should hardly come as a
surprise because it is, after all, a
very topical and newsz/orthy area
of the world. What comes as a little
more of a surprise is the way it has
both subtly and unsubtly played a
part in both the election of editors
for and the p o s i t i o n of "Lot's
Wife." This is seen in a clearer light
when we note which particular
political grouping has tried (and to
no small extent succeded) in nnaking the Middle East (or therin) an
issue of inordinate importance on
this campus. It was the extreme or
loopy' left that labelled last years
'Cure' ticket 'Zionists' and thus not
worthy of a vote. It was the
extreme left who did their utmost
in 1983 to try to push through a
pro-PLO (and anti-Israeli) policy
for M.A.S. And this year, it was the
loopies who ran two candidates
for P.A.C. under a 'Palestinian
Human Rights' ticket Yes, the
Middle East has pretty much
dominated this University's politics over the last ten years. No
other overseas political situation
has been accorded so much political importance; after all no one (to
my knowledge), has ever run for
P.A.C. on a anti-apartheid ticket, or
a pro-Afghanistan ticket let alone
pro-Sandinista ticket The far left
have been remarkably successful
in constantly ramming Israels
faults down our throats which
makes me wonder if there is some
good reason why Zionism is such
an important issue to these political hacks. It is the intention of this
article to put forth some explanations for its existence.
But even given these truths one
can still find it hard to understand
any political grouping being absolutely obsessed with Israel's
behaviour. Obsessed to the point
that they both see it as an important issue on campus and to the
point that they support organizations and countries that wish to
see the states annihilation. On a
comparitive scale of human rights
in the Middle East, Israel can hold
its head high. After all Syria, Iran,
Saudi Arabia, and co. are hardly
renowned for their religious tolerance and some of Monash's
more well known Feminists would
no doubtfind the 'equal opportunity' situation in each of these countries a little hard to swallow. Israeli
governments have hardly exhibited perfectly altruistic foreign
policies in the past — but then
neither have Australia, the U.S.,
Soviet Union or England yet no
one the left questions these
state's right to exist. Equally, the
Australian state was formed on an
illegitimate basis (the dead bodies
of thousands upon thousands of
Aboriginies), yet one seldom hears
anyone claim that the whole of
Australia should be given back to
the Aboriginies.
The result of the far left's 'Zionist
obsession' has been that they
have distracted attention from or
neglected problems on Australia's
own doorstep. The actions of
Israel vis a vis the Palestinians
have tended to monopolize 'left'
time at the expense of more relevant issues, such as the treatment
of the East Timorese at the hands
of the Indonesians. Indonesia's
1975 invasion of East Timor has
resulted in the loss of an estimated 150,000 Timorese lives in
the last ten years. And all this in a
country that is only 385 MILES off
the coast of Australia. Whilst many
on the left (and even some
Democrats!!!) have worked hard to
raise conciousness on this issue,
others have gone on practising
their 'Zionist obsession' at its
expense. If the left wants to see
expansionism they can look at
Indonesia, if they want to see the
nuclear age in action they can
look at French testing in the
Pacific — indeed there are a
plethora of injustices taking place
in our immediate region. The Australian Government can play an
active role in rectifying these
injustices — it is doubtful whether
Australia will ever be able to
influence events in the Middle
East.
All this then leaves us asking
why the extreme left is obsessed
with the Middle East. Dare I suggest that anti-sem iitism may be an
underlying reason? I do dare. Take
for example the use of the word
'Zionist' by the loopies. It is always
and exclusively applied to Jews
who run for political office at Monash (as with Debbie and Camiella).
Indeed In its usage, 'Zionist' has
become a substitute for the very
word 'Jew' hence one is described
on a racial basis (rather than a
political one). No other group of
people on campus are labelled
solely on the basis of one issue (ie.
non-Jew right wingers are conservatives or fascists but rarely
Zionists). But all this is not to say
that all members or even any
members of the ultra left are consciously anti-semetic but that subtle prejudices may make the issue
(and obsession) of Israel more
attractive. On both ends of the
political spectrum in Australia one
finds anti-sem iitism (eg. the
League of Rights) obsession with
Israel (rather than Jews per se)
seems to be the way it manfests
itself on the left.
But one cannot give undue
emphasis to anti-semJ^tism without simplifying the whole phenonmena. American support for Israel
explains some of the lefts antagonism (perhaps understandably). Given that Israel is the key
to American policy in the Middle
East and has exhibited some tendencies one might normally ass o c i a t e w i t h t h e U.S. (ie.
expansionism, funding of right
wing regimes), it can be considered open to left vengence. But
the Middle East is also a trendy
issue. Arab scarves look cool and
its quite radical to support the
PLO thus on a very superficial
level the issue is attractive.
The plight of the Palestinians
and the role of Israel as a nationstate are in the end important
issues. They are issues that need
to be debated and discussed.
Many on the left have been able to
do this convincingly and rationally. But the problems lie in putting
the issue in perspective because
it is after all ONE issue. If there is
any real sin that the extreme left
has committed it has been to
worry too much about the Middle
East at the expense of other
issues. And to leave themselves
open to being labelled anti-semiHic.
Mathew Gibney
Many on the left would claim the
following: that Israel is expansionist imperialist racist, conservative and a illegitimate state that
has no right to exist Indeed, that
its very existence first displaced
and now deprives the Palestinian
people of a homeland. Now the
loopies are not entirely wrong in
some of these descriptions of
Israel. The formation of Israel did
deny the Palestinians of their
rightful homeland. Now they are a
people without a state and consequently Palestinina human rights
are a legitimate concern for any
k;ft group. In addition to this, it
would not be too extreme to describe the actions of Israeli governments over the past two
decades as expansionist. The
invasion of Lebanon is a case in
point Even if there were legitimate security reasons for invading the South, why did they have to
invade Beiruit? Obviously, sympathisers of the Likud party would
have a 'good' (albeit flimsy) explanation.
page
6
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
PENTRIDGE
PUDDINGS —
GALLAGHER'S
JUST DESERTS
by Anthony Negline
Since N.L Gallagher became
General Secretary of the Builders
Laborers' Federation, the BLF has
become synonymous with violence and intimidation, not only
against employers, but against
workers as well.
The jailing of Gallagher for corruptly receiving bribes from employers is the inevitable outcome
of the union's reign of terror in the
building industry.
While a few people like Carmella B e n - S i m o n and Tony
Rodbard-Bean would have us all
wearing black armbands in memory of the political passing of
Gallagher, it is the BLF's forgotten
victims who really deserve our
sympathy.
These are not multi-nationals or
rapacious developers, but other
unions, workers and small businesses. Consider a few examples.
* Prominent members of the
BLF in NSW including Communist
Jack Mundey, of green bans'
fame, were illegally expelled from
the BLF for 10 years by Gallagher,
and thus denied employment in
their trade for a full decade.
* Last year one of the expelled
members, Joe Pringle, had his
face smashed and broken beer
glass wielded by a BLF member
he says he recognises.
* A few months later, in February this year, officials of the
Plumbers' Union were attacked
and beaten by a mob of BLF
thugs.
* In A p r i l l 984, members of the
Federated Ironworkers' Association working at aluminium factories had their cars vandalised
when a BLF goon squad invaded
the factories, throwing paint and
breaking windows.
* In the same month four
policemen were beaten up by 100
brave BLF members in a violent
demonstration in the state Liberal
Party's offices.
* When members of the Australian Workers' Union were erecting the light towers at the MCG in
June last year they were harrassed, abused and photographed by BLF standover men who
threatened that they would be
blackbanned from other building
sites.
* The contractor. Mays Transport, which delivered the light
towers to the MCG under police
escort, was subsequently blackbanned by the BLF and has been
forced out of business. At the time
of delivery of the towers, cars,
trucks and cranes belonging to
the firm were vandalised and its
employees were threatened with
assault.
These and dozens of similar
incidents are part of what BenSimon and Rodbard-Bean euphemistically describe as "the
BLF's no nonsense approach of
playing the game without rules."
Apparently this is justified on
the grounds that under Gallagher's leadership "members of the
BLF work in safe conditions and
can claim superior employment
packages to most other unions."
This rationalisation of BLF
thuggery is by no means novel.
Generations of dictators including Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin
have been idolised in theirtimetor
similar reasons — they eliminated
unemployment, restored national
pride, built good roads, got the
trains running on time, etc., etc.
But they were still dictators who
trampled on the rights of others,
and so is Gallagher.
However the end may be in sight
for Gallagher's Reich.
If the BLF is deregistered as a
union and expelled from the
ACTU other building unions will
quickly take over the BLF's industrial coverage and enrol its
members.
In these circumstances, not
even Gallagher and his "astute
underlings" will be able to save
their little empire.
1
Uhat to do about uour super?
(WITHOUT COSTING YOU A CENT)
In changing your superannuation there are
many alternatives open to you. The right decision
may be a simple one but the ramifications for the
future can be very costly if your decision is the
wrong one.
Now's the time to stop and think, to carefully
weigh up the choices. Should you pay off the
mortgage? How much, if any, should you transfer
to another super fund? Where will you find the
highest returns? What about Approved Deposit
Funds (A.D.F.s)? Have your needs changed since
your fund was first established?
These are some of the important questions
you must asl( yourself.
We can offer you a completely unbiased
approach to asking the right questions and help
you make the right decisions. A friendly
discussion will not cost you a cent—our advice
is absolutely free and without obligation. We're
conveniently located near Monash, in the Mt
Waverley Village Shopping Centre off
Stephenson's Road (we're right outside the Mt
Waverley railway station). Mail this ad now, or
phone, for an appointment at a time to suit you.
Mail to: FREEPOST 14, Peter R Walsh & Associates, PO Box 444, Mt Waverley 3149 (no stamp required).
Yes, I would like to discuss my superannuation plans at no cost or obligation. Please phone me for an
appointment.
Name
•
Telephone.
LOT'S WIFE
.between the hours of_
11
Peter R Walsh & Associates
2-4 Hamilton Place, Mt Waverley
(right outside the Mt Waverley railway station in
the Mt Waverley Village Shopping Centre).
Telephone 277 2777.
page
7
"NICARAGUA"
From Monash Latin American
Society
In the last edition of Lot's Wife, you printed an article against
Nicaragua with the vicious title; "Nicaragua, a true story." Although people who are reasonable well informed about Latin America laughed so
aloud reading that article — the lies are so evident, the "logic" so absurd,
the conclusion so utterly pro-Reagan — we nevertheless fear that people with little or no knowledge of Central American history may be misled
by it and so decieved by U.S. propaganda. For the benefit of those
readers the Monash Latin American Society has decided to send you
an article.
The first thing we should point
out is that the entire article — two
generous pages of "Lot's Wife"
plus a delicious Invitation to a free
hamburger at Big f^ac's place for
'riends of "Lot's Wife" — is based
on the testimony of two people:
tvlr. M. Bolanos and Mr. R. Leiken.
The latter apparently wrote his
article after a trip to Nicaragua. No
further details about Mr. Leiken,
his knowledge of Central American history or his publications
are given.
More interesting is the description of Mr. Bolanos as "one of the
Sandinista revolutionaries that
overthrew the Somoza regime."
Forthose familiar with the modern
history of Nicaragua this description is grossly incomplete. In the
final stages of the Insurrection
against the dictatorship almost
everyone participate. This included businessmen, peasants, landowners, workers, wage earners,
students, housewives and intellectuals. Everyone who had tired
of Somoza's economic and political methods climbed onto the
bandwagon.
The political direction of the
antl-Somoza movement had been
developed over nearly 20 years of
political work by the FSLN. (Sandinista Front). After the victory
over Somoza, there was a settling
down period during which two tendencies emerged. Businessmen,
landowners, bankers and in general, the middle class wanted
nothing further to change. They
proposed what was then called "a
Somozism without
Somoza."
Peasants, workers students and
intellectuals wanted radical economic and political changes to
favour the poor, who make up the
overwhelming majority of the
Nicaraguan population.
page
8
Does this shock Mr. Bank's, the
author of your article? If he reads
up on the history of Latin America,
(ref. 1 will be a good beginning) he
will find a constant repetition of
the same social problem: an unstable equilibrium in society which
is nearly always broken in favour
of the rich and usually with the
help of the U.S. government. Thus
governments have changed —
often just changes of military juntas — without any significant
reaction from the U.S. government. The CIA has never dreamt of
organizing a destabilization program or an economic blockade
against Pinochet in Chile or his
fellow dictators in Guatemala,
Haiti and Paragway. The difference in the Nicaragua of the
early 80's is that this equilibrium
that they should take part in the
building of a new Nicaragua and
that to do so they had to educate
themselves,
The whole effect was dismissed
by the U.S. government as "Marxist indoctrination." The second
step in the Sandinista program
called for a program of agrarian
reform. This program was announced on the second anniversary of
the victory. July 19th 1981. It
reflected the Sandinistas' political
committment to building a new
country based on "the logic of the
majority." Prior to this Nicaragua
had been governed according to
the "logic of the wealthy minority."
By the time of the insurrection
60% of rural people were landless
peasants deprived of the land
they needed to feed themselves.
Just 1 % of landowners — who
compromise a mere 1,600 out of 3
million people — owned half the
arable land. As a consequence the
majority of Nicaraguan's had
found themselves among the
poorest people in Latin America.
The incidence of malnutrition in
Nicaragua had doubled in the ten
years before 1975, crippling the
lives of almost 60% of children
under four years of age. Is this
usual in Central America? Not at
all. A month ago we of Monash L.A.
Society presented a film on the
situation of peasants in neighbouring Honduras — the most
faithful U.S. ally in the region. From
it we learned that agriculture
employs 60% of the Honduran
population at an average wage of
U.S. $639 per year! In countries
which import nearly everything
and produce a very few export
crops, which are constantly "depressed" on the International markets, a wage like this is nowhere
near enough to live on. And we
refer to those lucky enough to get
a job! In El Salvador, another U.S.
ally in the region, the unemployment rate is 40% of those of working age. The average calorie
intake of the poorest 50% of
Nicaraguan's before the revolution was 1767 calories per day,
well under the minimum of 2600
per day recommended by the U.N.
as the standard requirement for
an average person. Does anybody
think this situation can go on for
ever? The misery of the majority of
people in Central America is not
an invention of Cuba or the Soviet
Union, it's the result of an unjust
economic order.
was broken in favour of the poor!
The first step taken by the
Nicaraguan revolutionary goverment was a massive literacy campaign. Thousands of young
Nicaraguan secondary and university students interrupted their
own studies for almost a year to go
out into country areas and teach
One of the participants in the
the rural population to read and
First Australian Work Brigade tc
write. In the cities volunteer
Nicaragua in January this year
workers and labourers worked in
stated in a Public Meeting after
this campaign after normal workher return that the worst aspect of
ing hours. When the campaign finthe Brigade was having to share
nished at the end of 1980 the
the diet of Nicaraguan peasants
percentage of Illiteracy in Nicwhich consisted of rice and beans
aragua had gone down from 52%
three times a day. She had been
to 12%. Apart from fulfilling the
shocked to hear the reply on askduty of any government to eduing a rural worker what positive
cate its people, this campaign also
changes the revolution had braimed to put young people in
ought to his life. He replied: 'Well,
touch with the poor peasants, tc
before we ate rice and beans only
let them see how the poorest
once a day," chicken and beef you
group in society lived and to form
say Mr. Banks, in the diet of the
in them the decision to fight for a
poor of Central America? You
just society. The peasants learned
must be joking!
from this campaign that the
The Sandinista Agrarian Reform
revolution was working for them,_ . Program alienated landowners,_
export company owners, bankers
and important sectors of middle
class. Many of them accused the
Sandinistas of "betraying the
revolution" and "installing a Marxist Leninist dictatorship." Many
fled the country and began to
overthrow the new government.
The next point in the Sandinista
program Infuriated Washington.
They decided to apply for membership of the non-aligned group
of nations and to establish diplomatic and trade relations with all
the countries of the world, seeking
trade advantages tor Nicaragua.
Among the countries with whom
they established relations are
Australia, Finaland, and Austria.
Apparently the U.S. did not oppose this move but when the list
included Cuba, the Soviet Union,
China, Iran and Libya, Washington
got angry. Why? In 1946, all the
countries of Latin America, following ULSL orders, severed relat i o n s w i t h Cuba. Thus t h e
establishment of links with Cuba
was a direct challenge to the U.S.
This type of independent gesture
infuriates the U.S. Can a poor,
small, Latin American country
hope to be independent of the
U.S.? This is a long term aspiration
of the progressive forces in most
of Latin America, but in no country
is it so strong as in Nicaragua
which has been the victim of countless invasions.
In the latest edition of "Report
on the Americas," (2) one of the
best English language publications on Latin American politics,
we read that the first U.S. invasion
of Nicaragua was a private venture by a man called Walker. He
funded a mercenary army that
occupied N icaragua and then proclaimed himself President of that
country in July 1856. He reestablished slavery and set out to
conquer the rest of Central America. The second intervention
occurred in 1909 when U.S.
troops backed a coup against a
progressive President J.S. Zelaya
who was arranging with the British
to build another canal, a few years
after the inauguration of the U.S./
Panama Canal. In 1912, the
marines were back to crush an
insurrection against a government "friendly to the U.S." The
insurrection led by a lawyer and
judge, Mr. Zeldon, was crushed
and Zeledon executed. However
what was probably the most
important U.S. intervention occurred in 1927, when an industrial
worker, formerly exiled in Mexico,
the famous Augusto C. Sandino,
led a peasant uprising against
another U.S. puppet government.
On this occassion. It was harder
for U.S. marines to defeat Sandino, who was a real military
genius. After six years of military
operations the U.S. troops were
withdrawn, not before they had set
up the Nicaraguan National Guard
with a leader called Somoza, carefully chosen by the ULS army.
The first ever aerial bombardment
of a city occurred in Nicaragua on
June 1 9, 1927. U.S. planes bombed the small town of Ocotal, a
stronghold of Sandino's insurrec-
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
tion. 300 peasants were l<illed that
day. Somoza 1 and later his sons
ruled Nicaragua for 43 years
establishing a dictatorship which
became notorious for its brutality
and corruption. There was no hint
of a protest from the U.S. government, no economic blockade, no
'contra' army fighting the dictatorship, and no destabilization
program launched by the U.S. Has
Mr. Banks ever written an article
denouncing the killing of University students in Somoza's heyday?
Nicaraguans laughed when they
heard about the sudden conversion of Reagan and his supporters
to a belief in democracy and
human rights in Nicaragua.
The third point in the Sandinista
program was the final blow to the
unstable alliance of opposing
interests that existed during the
first few years of the Sandinista
revolution. After the successful
completion of the literacy campaign, the Sandinista's set out to
intergrate the mass of peasants
and workers into the country's
political life. This intergration is a
condition for the development of a
revolution in Latin America, and
for its survival. In early 1 9 8 1 , the
Sandinistas produced a reform of
the Councils of State which is the
legislative branch of the Reconstruction Government. They intended to increase the number of
seats from 33 to 5 4 to give representation to all those mass
organizations that had been born
during the insurrection and represented the majority of Nicaragua's population. The businessmen,
only partners of the Sandinistas in
the Council of State the political
balance had swung in favour of
the popular sectors. The businessmens' representative in the
Reconstruction Government, Ivlr.
Robelo, resigned their position
and flew to Ivliami where U.S.
officials welcomed him as a
genuine political refugee fleeing
from the persecution of a "brutal,
communist tyranny." Another such
"refugee" was Mr. Enrique Bolanos, leader of COSEP (Supreme
Council of Private Enterprise), the
businessmens' organization.
After long meetings with the
State Department in Washington,
these men organized what the
media calls the "opposition" to the
Sandinistas. The real oppostition
in Nicaragua is made up of three
conservative parties which won 1 /
3 of the votes in the last elections.
Reagan never mentions them
because they are independent of
the U.S. strategy on Nicaragua.
(ref. 3). The fact that Bolano's and
Lieken's stories and indeed all the
anti-Sandinista stories are similar
is not surprising. They were all
cooked in the same pot. Some
months after the Washington
launching of the Nicaraguan "opposition" the CIA launched its
famous "secret war" in which
some 10,000 ex-National Guardsmen are attacking Nicargua from
bases in Honduras. For IVIr. Banks
to state that the "contras" are not
made up of Somoza's ex-National
Guardsmen, or that they are not
dedicated to terror and political
murder in Nicaragua's countryside is like saying there are no
kangaroos in Australia. However
to cover those points would make
this article far too lengthy. The
fvlonash Latin American Society
prefers to invite Mr. Banks to a
public discussion on those and
other problems of Central America. Mr. Banks, please leave me
a note at the Union Desk and we
will arrange a public meeting with
you and your friends.
tand that a political tendancy is
the expression of the specific
interests of a sector of the community. The aim of a political party
is to gain control of the state in
order to satisfy those interests.
Nicaraguan workers and peasants
know that the "contras" and
Reagan's "opposition forces" do
not represent their interests which
are land reform, particioation in
government, education, health
care for their children, technical
aid to improve their crops and
easy bank loans. All these latter
items are precisely what the new
government is trying to implement
in spite of all the pressure of
Reagan's "secret war," his economic blockade and the hostility
of the U.S. allies in the region:
Honduras, El Salvador and Costa
Rica. Without U.S. support (currently estimated at U.S. $5 million
a month mostly from private sources), the "contras" would last not
more than a couple of weeks.
What the "contras" offer the
Nicaraguan people is the same
stuff that is found in Mr. Bank's
article: lies, anti-communist rhetoric and total ignorance of the
complex economic and political
problems of third world societies.
A public discussion of the situation in Latin America would be
very positive for those interested
in that part of the world. We invite
Mr. Banks to name the time and
the place, preferably not at lunch
time since it may be painful for
those students forced to live on
TEAS to hear Mr. Banks give
details of the fabulous diet of the
poor of Latin America based on
those staples: chicken and beef!
1. 'The Politics of Intervention — The U.S. in Central America." Roger
Burbach and Patricia Flynn, ed. Monthly Review Press. New York,
1984.
2. "Report on the Americas" NACLA. Vol. XIX No. 3, May/June
1985.
3. "Latin American Perspectives." Vol. 12, No. 2, 1985.
Fernando Cortizo
IMonash Latin American Society
L.A. Sanabria Secretary
1985
The interesting question about
the "contras" is "Can they win the
war against the Sandinistas? The
answer is "No." The "contras"
have made the same mistake as
Mr. Banks. They do not unders-
STOP PRESS!
Election Freedom at Stake
ELECTION
SUGGESTIONS
Dear Lot's,
With election fever in the air
again, it is worth noting s o m e
changes that might be implemented before the campaigns
begin.
The two major concerns are:
1. The elimination of slogans, forcing all groups to use their own, or
their club's name. Such a move
should only be seen as regressive.
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
While it no doubt would give an
advantage to existing clubs, in the
long run it will lead to a preponderance of clubs, solely used for
electional purposes who do nothing on campus.
A name is very important for
election campaigns (as "The
Cure" showed last year). It strikes
me as grossly unfair that a group
which call themselves "Open
Door" one year, should, for personal advantage, prevent others
from using similar titles, the
following year.
2. More importantly, there is the
problem of the Returning Officer.
The rumours are that the electoral
regulations are to be changed,
enabling the Returning Officer to
use his/her discretion concerning
the confiscation of the paper.
What no one wishes to see again
in a repeat of the "Great Confiscation Fiasco" of last edition.
Every year the editors denigrate
their opponents, and every year
the opponents claim they have
been treated unfairly. Not until
this year, however, has any group
had the audacity to censor the
press. If the electoral regulations
are changed, and a repeat performance of this years confiscation
results, the A.E. should stand condemned for putting short term self
interest above the freedom of the
press.
Peter Nugent
page
9
ABORTION
- DRAWING
THE LINE
The issue of abortion has two
faces which unfortunately people
tend to merge into one. The first
t.ace, which I do not intend to canvass, is one of private morality,
t lat is; should a woman, when
I -.ced with an unwanted preg1 lancy, seek an abortion? The
!:-econd face is, whether society,
ihrough legislation or other means,
should dictate to women that they
have no right to abortion. The two
questions are quite distinct. The
distinction between public and
private morality is one which is
generally accepted in our society.
For instance, a majority of people
probably do not openiy condone
adultery, however there are very
few, in Western society, who
believe it should be illegal. There
are a wide range of issues such as
these which are not tackled by the
legal system, but are left for decision to the discretion of the individual, and rightly so. Abortion is
and should remain, a matter of
private morality!
How then, do we distinguish, between 'moral' rights which the law
protects and issues which are
matters of individual discretion? It
is obviously ridiculous to say that
the law tries to protect people
from anything that will 'hurt' them;
the spouses of adulterers are hurt
all the time! Society generally protects members of that society in
situations where self-protection is
impossible, undesirable or inadequate. No-one is obliged to marry
a potential thief or murderer.
Being a member of society is also
a necessary pre-requisite for legal
protection. Australia will not pass
a law to protect Siberion's from
Siberian thieves. It is generally
accepted, that to be entitled to the
protection of society, one must be
a member of that society. Any
other position would lead to social
parasitism.
How then does all this relate to
abortion? It is absurd to speak of
foetuses as having 'rights,' since
rights' are things conferred by
Judy Strosberg
society on the individual. A foetus
is neither a member of society and
therefore a legitimate candidate
for protection, until the point of
viability, or an 'individual.' The foetus is totally dependent on its
mother and incapable of independent, let alone 'individual' existence. Up until viability, the foetus
is better described as a part of the
woman's body, than as a separate entity.
There are those who argue, that
the foetus has rights, not as a
human being, but as a potential
human being. This argument too,
when taken to its logical conclusion, leads to absurdity. Sperm,
too, are potential human beings.
In order to protect the rights of
sperm, it would be necessary, not
only to ban contraception, but to
make masturbation illegal (since
these are all sperm which are prevented from being fertilised and
then developing human beings).
The only reasonable line to
draw, at which we should protect
human life, is viability, that is, the
point in a pregnancy, where the
baby, if taken out of the womb,
would have the apparatus to survive on its own in the long run. This
point is the lowest common
denominator, where a baby can be
regarded as an independent being, or an individual capable of
having rights. The obligation of
society, is to protect present
individuals, women, from attempts
to remove from the, the control of
their own bodies.
SPEAKING RIGHTS
FOR
ANTI-ABORTIONISTS
Peter Taft
P.A.C. Member
(Australian Democrats)
Dear Lot's,
At this point in time there
appears to be some controversy
over the Public Affairs Committee's decision to fund an antiabortion speaker. This letter is
intended to explain my actions in
supporting this decision.
The orginal motion was put in
such a way as to suggest that the
speaker would be at Monash during Women's Week to be held
early in third term. I moved an
amendment to this, seeking that
the reference to Women's Week
be deleted. I did this in order to
change the level of debate from
whether the anti-abortion should
speak DURING WOI^EN'S WEEK,
to whether the anti-abortionist
should speak AT ALL. Unforpage 10
tunately, this seemed to create
expressed by the speaker, we are
more contusion, the result being
not prepared to censor people
that a number of people voted • whose opinions differ from ours.
against the amendment because
To us, it is a case of "freedom of
they felt that supporting the
speech" (shades of f^uldoon?).
amendment was showing support
Hence, I consider it a travesty of
for the motion itself. This was not
truth to condemn us for "enforcthe case, and I can but apologize
ing" our view on an issue specififor not expressing myself more
cally related to women, because
clearly at the time.
"freedom of speech" does not
specifically relate to women.
I have been asked whether I
The am endment was narrowly
approved, from whence I resolved support funding a Nazi/National
Action speaker. It is up to each
to support the motion.
P.A.C. member to draw their own
Why did I and other pro-choice
line as to what constitutes an 'unP.A.C. members support bringing
desirable' or 'lunatic' viewpoint
out an anti-abortion speaker? We
that need not be presented to
feel that it is an issue which would
students. Whilst I cannot share
be of interest to many people on
the sentiments of anti-abortioncampus. Although we may disists, I do not class them as 'lunatic'
agree (and in my case, strongly
Obviously, some P.A.C. members
disagree), with the ideas to be
and others do, and that is their prerogative. But let us draw our own
lines.
Finally, I reject the notion that as
a "male" (I'm sorry I was born with
this defect, but I had no say in the
matter), I should take no stand on
abortion. Should I hold no opinion
on land rights because I am
neither Aboriginal nor a miner?
Am I not allowed to support overseas students because I am not
one? In order to avoid this "head in
the sand" attitude, it is important
for individuals to reach a decision
based on some understanding of
the issue and
the feelings of
people directly affected. That is
how I came to take a pro-choice
view. Is this judgement less valid
than that of women (there are
some), who are anti-abortion?
LOT'S WIFE
11
Iyr<rt!>
At this present time, many of
tvlelbourne's Hospitals would
quite happily deliver a baby in one
ward, while in a nearby ward, the
future of an unborn is taken away
before reaching such a stage of
birth. It Is estimated that in 1984,
80,000 such 'operations' occurred in Australia. This is about seven
a day in each major hospital.
When does human life begin?
18 days: The beating heart already pumps blood through its
own bloodstream.
6 weeks: The nervous system
begins to function. Beginnings of
the skeleton.
7 weeks: The unborn has its own
detectable brain-waves (brain
waves are among the legal criteria
that determine whether a person
is alive or not). It has a face and
eyes.
12 weeks: The unborn basically
has everything found in newborns.
It is 3 inches long and all that
remains is growth.
The First International Conference on Abortion held in Washington D.C. in October 1967,
brought together authorities on
abortion from around the world in
the fields of medicine, law, ethics
and the social sciences. It was
represented proportionally as to
academic discipline, race and
religion (e.g. 20% were Catholic).
Their almost unanimous conclusions (19 to 1), were as
follows:
The majority of the group could
find no point in time between the
union of sperm and egg, or at least
the blastocyst stage, and the birth
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
of the infant at which point we
could say this is not a human life
(the blastocyst stage is shortly
after fertilization and would account for twinning). They continued "the changes occuring
between implantation, a six-week
old embryo, a six-month old
foetus, a one-week old child, or a
mature adult are merely stages of
usrif^
representing.
Those who considerthe Bible as
the basis for their faith need to be
aware that it presents a high respect for life, even among the
unborn. Psalm 139 says: 'You
created my inmost being you knit
me together in my mother's
womb....your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your
book before one of them came to
be.'
The abortion question is not a
new one. In Roman times, medical
knowledge was quite advanced.
Julius Caeser was born by
Caesarian section. Many surgeons could perform abortions —
although not as hygenically as
today, and many herbal and drug
(abortifacient), remedies existed
(some more useful than others).
Yet the Christians from a Jewish
tradition sought to discourage
these practices.
There are many thousands of
women who have been exploited
when they have an abortion,
because they were not fully
informed as the reality of the life of
the unborn, nor the deep and long
lasting psychological scarring and
the many and varied physical side
effects which follow abortions' is
the experience of women
W.EB.A (Women Exploited
by Abortion) is a caring and
accepting women's group based
in Melbourne, who say'we understand, because we've been there.'
Dr. Bernard Nathanson once
operated probably the largest
abortion clinic in the world, and
was one of the most militant supporters of abortion. He has recently produced an ultra-sound film,
'The Silent Scream.' It clearly
demonstrates the response to an
abortion tool of the unborn, who
love to live.
Brian Giesner
development and maturation."
(Handbook on Abortion, by Dr. and
Mrs. J.C. Wilke).
The situation here follows that
of the U nited States. The journal of
the California State Medical Association (Sept. 1970), states: "it is
a scientific fact, which everyone
really knows, that human life
begins at conception, and is continuous, whether inside or outside
the uterus, until death." However,
within three years the U.S. Supreme Court decided unborn persons were not legal 'persons'
according to the U.S. Constitution.
Since that, the abortion rate has
increased to over 1.5 million there,
an overwhelming 97% of whom
are purely for convenience. The
statistics here would surely be
similar, as the Menhennit ruling is
quite liberally interpreted.
There are some, comparitively
few, more complex cases, where
the person involved should quickly contact experienced advisors,
such as the Action Pregnancy Problem Centre, in East Melbourne.
C.R.A.C. has produced a leaflet
in 1981, 'Abortion, Fibs and Facts,'
one wonders which they are
page 11
INVITRO
FERTILIZATION
I v i t r o fertilization is a technique in which doctors collect eggs
from a woman's uterus and fertilise them with male sperm in a
glass dish. The resulting embryo
can then be implanted in the
uterus. So far more than 100 so
called 'test tube babies' have
been born to previously infertile
mothers. While IVF is obviously a
fantastic scientific achievement it
raises a multitude of social, legal
and ethical questions with which
society must come to terms.
One obvious consideration is
the financial aspect of the invitro
fertilization program. Can the
community justify the expenditure
of large amounts of money in this
area of medicine perhaps at the
expense of more vital and life saving therapies, eg. dialysis machines or cancer research?
Furthermore couldn't infertile
couples simply adopt starving
Third World orphans: On the other
hand can the joy and thrill experienced by a previously barren
mother who has just given birth to
her own child be evaluated in
monetary terms?
The whole issue of IVF becomes
even more complicated when it is
realised that:
a) Donor sperm is used to the
fertilise the ova when the husband's specimen is not satisfactory.
b) Pregnancies can, and have,
been achieved in one woman
using an egg from another
woman.
c) Embryos can be frozen at an
early stage in their development
and kept 'alive' for many years.
It can be seen that combining (a)
and (b), a woman pregnantas a
result of the union in a test tube of
sperm from a donor and ova from
another woman, like her husband
has no genetic relationship to the
fetus developing inside her. A
number of questions arise: Is the
child legitamate? Whose child is it
- is the mother-child bond rooted
in pregnancy sufficient to establish parenthood? But if so why
aren't surrogate mothers considered to have the same legal
rights.
Returning to the initial stages of
the invitro procedure it needs to
be pointed out that often more
eggs are fertilized than are implanted. This leaves a surplus of
eggs that must either be discarded or frozen. It is considered by
some that discarding a fertilized
egg is tantamount to murder. But
can 16 or 32 cell zygota be considered as important as a fully
developed human being? Then
again if it isn't considered to have
the same rights as a human being
(and hence may be discarded), at
what stage in its development
does it achieve this status?
Let us now assume that the surplus embryos are not discarded
but are instead frozen - what
then? They can, of course, be
implanted at a later date but this in
THE MORAL
ISSUES
itself poses further ethical questions. Who should be impregnated
with these frozen embryos — only
those responsible for their fertilization or should they be made
available to any infertile woman. If
this frozen material is not used for
the purpose of reproduction
should it be given over to the
scientists for use in medical
research. Obviously this in the
eyes of one who credits the
embryo with full human status is
synonymous with condoning humanvivisection.
I hardly need to say, in conclusion, that the social, legal and ethical problems associated with
invitro fertilization are vast and at
times appear mind boggling. I
have not presented answers for
there are no hard and fast or easy
answers, instead I urge the interested reader to delve deeper
into the question — read, explore,
learn and form your own opinion.
Adrian Feigin
EUTHANASIA
Euthanasia actually is defined
as an easy or painless death. It is
also defined as mercy killing; the
deliberate ending of life of a person suffering from an incurable
and painful disease. The means to
either end may be active or
passive. Many of us consider that
there is an important moral difference between the active and
passive euthanasia. One reason
being that we think killing someone is morally worse than letting
someone die. But the bare difference between killing and letting die does not, in itself, make
the moral difference. If a doctor
lets a patient die, for humane
reasons, he is in the same moral
position as if he had given the
patient a lethal injection for
humane reasons.
An important issue here is also
the attitude of the treating doctorIn a recent article, the Archbishop
of York, the most Reverand J.S.
Habgood, notes that the acceptance of death is not necessarily a
sign of medical failure. Indeed he
also notes that many hospitals
may be so organised as to deny
the reality of dying. On the other
hand, the management of death in
a hospital prepares the patient
and his family for the fateful time.
Lastly, it seems that the best
interests of individual patients
should be overridden for the good
of society in all those cases in
which a patient would be better
served by having his or her life terminated swiftly and painlessly.
That is, there are social reasons
for preferring passive euthanasia
to active euthanasia.
At present active euthanasia is
clearly illegal though the situation
surrounding passive euthanasia
is more ambiguous. It is not surprising then that although in-
dividual doctors may engage in
letting their patients die, none will
engage in actively terminating the
life of a suffering, terminally ill person who has requested an end to
the pain. Hefa Kuhse in a recent
issue of Bivethics News (July
1985), observes that this compliance with existing laws is understandable. What is difficult for
her to understand, though, is that
the medical fraternity give tacit
support to these laws and to a
situation which is often not in their
patient's best interests.
Obviously, there is no easy solution. However, if we talked about
this issue amongst ourselves
more openly then we can move
towards rational answers to many
dilemmas that confront us. As a
start, how do you wish to die?
RELIGION
AND
MEDICAL
ETHICS
SEMINAR
Tuesday, August 6th
R5 1pm
IVF and Religion:
any problems?
Speaker: Professor Short R.S.
Reply: Rabbi Katz
Narthex 2.15-3pm
Workshop on Abortion
Ml. Adier
&
Father Foote
Wednesday, 7th August
R3 1pm
Mercy Killing:
murder or thearpy?
Speaker: Professor Singer
Reply: Rabbi Gutnik
Presented by MonJSS and
Newman Society.
page 12
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
A.L.P. Club Quiz Night
Rort!
Informed sources from the left
on campus, have leaked it to the
Toecutter's that the A.L.P. Club
are contemplating a number of
moves designed to eradicate
opposition in the third term student elections. These include
attempting to install the Returning
Officer as editor of Lot's Wife, and
allowing only registered Clubs to
run in the elections. It seems the
only thing stopping these moves,
is the A.L.P. Club's concern of an
electoral backlash. Dare we say
these moves rival Robert Mugabe's
committment to pluralism.
The A.L.P. Club in an attempt to raise money for their forthcoming election campaign are bringing out Pete Steedman the ex-Federal member
for Deakin, to compere a quiz night.
The Toecutter's looking back over our files, discovered that Comrade
Steedman, was the editor of Lot's Wife, way back In 1966. We reproduce
below, a page from one of Pete'sisetter editions.
Mirror,mirror,on the wall...
CO
CD
CO
CO
We Couldn't Have Said It
Better Ourselves
The Toecutter's in researching
this weeks column happen to
come across A.E member MaryAnne Toy's election speech from
last year's election edition of
Lot's Wife.
We reproduce for our readers
enjoyment some of her more
memorable points.
"I'm pretty disgusted the way student politics have degenerated.
It's b e c o m e t h e a r e n a f o r
trendies...."
"Their (the politicos), zeal is reserved for the latest gossip about
who's sleeping with whom."
"I refuse to allow trendies to play
their wanky little games in this
position."
"I won't put the Small Caf before
my responsibilities."
The Toecutter's will leave it to
our readers to decide whether
Mary-Anne has fulfilled her political promises.
Joke of the Week
What kind of wrist watch does
Mickey Mouse wear?
A Jeff Kennett one!
«*«> RcrawMa soOKS
OUrHEUS
IS
iMONASHANNytL
j
S«U
TICKETS S 7 , M DOUStE
Readers will not only note the Miss Monash Contest, but also the
advertisement to the left, which calls on students to work for a government body which manufactures rifles, guided missiles and ammunition,
and conducts research into lasers.The Toecutter's speculate whether, 1 .
Pete will be quized on Monash's policy on Sexism and Militarism and 2.
Whether this year's A.L.P. team for Lot's Wife, will follow Pete's line on
these issues.
B
ASIO
Very Interesting iiiiiiiiiti
STATE BANK
The End of an Era
3455-3663
23tll July
!i_ii
Slate Bank of Victoria
ASH
UNIVERSITV
BRANCH
-
24S
ttwMnoi one hundred d o l l a r s only
i-UklJOB ""Baj"'!
.^1
Pre-selection News!
The A.L.P. Club was torn apart
last week in a fierce battle over
their pre-selection for a candidate
for A.E. Chairperson. Steve Wettenhall, defeated Adrian Rollins,
by a mere handful of votes. In
other results, the Club selected
Marianna Serghi, Nicky O'Connor and John Howe to represent
the Club in the Lot's Wife rats
race.
Marianna, has previously graced the pages of Lot's with her
defence of the K.G.B. sponsored
World Festival ofYouth, at present
under way in Moscow. This contribution to Lot's measures the
total extent of the A.L.P.'s team
experience in running a student
newspaper.
It would also seem, that the
A.L.P. Club still hasn't realised that
students in the last two elections
have shown little preference for
political dogmatists as Lot's Wife
editors.Will the A.L.P. Club for the
fourth time in a row, miss out in its
quest to control the media on
campus?
31.55"3E63«'
The Toecutter's reproduce the following cheque which fell off the back
of the truck and landed inside the Toecutter's letterbox. We invite
readers to question why the Monash Association of Students is paying
$100.00 to ASIO. Could it be, that a certain member of the A.E. was seen
lunching in the Small Caf, with a Yankee imperialist and is about to be
excluded from the University?
The Toecutter's will award a copy of David Coombe's latest book, to the
answer we consider to be the most intriguing.
The up and coming M.A.S. elections mark the end of an era down
at the M.A.S. Activities Office.
From the team that brought you
endless Union Nights, Lunchtime
Concerts, Orientation Balls, and
Farm Week, comes
nothing!
Why?
Apparently, the family tree
which dates back to Henry the VIII,
has reached its final member The
job of Activities Chairperson
which has become a hand-medown to generations of Activites,
will not be contested this year by
the Activities Mafia.
This is a chance for up and coming Harry M. Miller's at Monash, to
learn the skills of his trade.
Returning Officer
At the time of going to press,
Sean Purcell, was the only candidate for the position of Returning Officer in the next round of
elections. The result of such a
selection would be mind boggling
to say the least. Sean's notorious
intolerance of differing political
views, and support for fanatics like
Colonel Gaddaffi, and Joseph
Stalin would make previous election stunts like the confiscation of
Lot's Wife seem like child's play
in comparison.
A Feminist Lot's?
Rumour has it, that upwards of
twenty women from C.R.AC, and
other assorted women's groups
will be running on a Women's
Collective ticket for Lot's Wife.
The Toecutter's can think of no
better way to get thousands of
Engineers out of the Margraves,
and over to vote in the Union for
anyone who stands against this
team.
The Administrative Executive at work?
LOT'S WIFE
11
page 13
N
T
R
Strve Kearfiey
J^ill Gladwin
to*'
"Hi Rusden! Don't give up and
don't eat the chips in the Caf; they
give you pimples." These words of
advice for drama students at our
neighbouring institution come
form none other than Steve Kearney and Neill Gladwin — Los
Trios Ringbarkus.
Steve and Neill actually met as
students at Rusden seven years
ago. That they became and remained Los Trios Ringbarkus was
somewhat of an accident. Neill
relates the tale rather simply. "We
wanted to be actors and were
doing Los Trios because no one
would give us an acting job.
Everything else Just fell away and
Los Trios became bigger and
bigger. So we just had to get
managers and accountants and
lawyers and record companies!"
Record companies? You heard
correctly! Los Trios have recently
released their second single
"Mirror, Mirror" on the White
label and this will be followed
shortly by a mini-album, "Sorry
'bout the Record-Record. The
record contains three songs,
poems by Neill, some studio
material and an ad-lib live recording made in Hobart.
Neill explained Los Trios attitude to recording, "we're actually
rather naive about records. Its
basically an adjunct to our live
theatre show." Whilst the album
and particularly Mirror, Mirror are
really very funny there is nothing
like Los Trios Ringbarkus live. This
was made obvious at their recent
farewell show in Melbourne where
Los Trios shared the stage with
Richard Stubbs and Wendy Harmer. This was an extraordinary
night combining rampant spontenaity and perfectly rehearsed timing.
Steve and Neill are about to
embarl< on a European tour
which will include the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, gathering
of comedians where Los Trios
took off the Perrier Award for
Best Comedy Show in 1983.
Evidently overseas audiences
don't have any trouble adapting to
their off beat style of humour.
Steve explained, "We found the
last time we took a show over, we
only had to change a few Australian words. After all theres nothing noticably 'Australian' about
our act; maybe there's a little bit of
Aussie battler and a few rough
page 14
W
V
\(^\0S R'^^gtqr^^
Andrew Watt
edges you won't find in English
comedy."
Looseness and a seeming lack
of control are at the heart of the
Los Trios style. When in character
Steve and Neill inhabit another
world; a world warped and confused which serves to emphasis
the clumbsiness and naivety of
the characters. Life in such a
world becomes simply too much
to cope with and the only possible
repsonse (other than to sink) is to
blunder onwards with an almost
manic aggression and helpless
honesty.
Sounds familiar? It should. Los
Trios try to be a personification of
the less sophisticated characteristics and moments of ineptitude in all of us. "I'd like to think
that people see their own frailties,
insecurities and shortcomings in
the characters" said Neill.
Steve Kearney agrees that the
energy and action of a Los Trios
show could lead it to be described
as aggressive. "We do have a certain edge to that is manic. It's like a
case of see them now before
they explode."
Neill and Steve regard live comedy as a highly immediate form of
communication. The audience
react spontaneously or not at all. A
show is a success when people
come out for a nights entertainment and they go away thinking
they've met a couple of really
strange people."
So is there a method to this
madness or is the viewer simply
supposed to go home baffled,
' -•- iscii, and befuouled? Steve
^9
hopes there is, "it's good for some
people to go away having seen
two guys on stage who aren't
macho and stereotyped. Maybe
they'll go away with a different
attitude to ihemselves or other
people that aren't stereotyped."
In person, Los Trios Ringbarkus
are quick witted and yes "wild and
wacky." But they're also capable
of seriously discussing comedy as
an art form. Like all comedians
Steve and Neill can't be expected
to be funny all the time and are
very dependent on the audience
to provide the spark to set off their
particularly weird brand of humour. "Most people think we're
really boring and won't invite us to
their parties" said Steve. "It's hard
to do a show and then go to a party
and be wacky."
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
l^^MM««MMMIIMW*iMlMNM*«M«MMMM[^^
E - A • T
T • H
|||[|j^[]WI>lil)l|>y^l<li(<ilill>i*i»i
"TOO
YOUNG
FOR
GHOSTS"
i mi
11 > ifi|»^i»»i>i»>wwM*«>iw>w»iwi>*ww'«*^^
Melbourne Theatre
Company
Studio — Victorian Arts
Centre
July 4th — August 10,
1985
Centred round seven Latvian immigrants sent to Northern
Queensland in 1 9 4 8 , "Too Young for Ghosts" is a topical play
covering such issues as the hardships new migrants encounter,
war, the explotation of w o m e n , and the strain of personal
relationships come under when people faced with frightening, and
unfamliar situations.
The audldences is presented with a series of scenes which shows
the lives of these seven Latvians during the end of the war in
Stuttgant (in the these scenes, we are also presented with characters reflecting on their lives before the war), and their life in Australia. Of the seven, (four men and three women) we have a contrast
of personalities; the quick-witted, black-marketer who, the most
intelligent of all, is looking for a quick dollar and a good time but
stands by his friends with a fierce loyalty; the husband of one of the
women, who, thought dead, returns from the war maimed; the
slightly disillusioned man who sees good in all, happy to see his
two friends; a newcomer, young man with strong views whose only
conection to the group is his love for the war veteran's wife; the
strongest of women, level-headed yet fiercely passionate; the
dainty city-girl, who cannot take rough envioronments; and the
woman who thinking she was widowed, fell in love with someone
else, only to find herself with a strong, handsome lover and a
maimed (rather than dead) husband.
Former relationships are reaffirmed, and within those new
aspects to them are created as is mixed bunch try to make a new
life in hot, unforgiving, at times intolerable, Queensland cane
country after leaving a war-torn, yet the milder climates of Europe.
Given backbreaking work, suffering discrimination, and trying to
overcome language problems, the audience has many issues that
are poignant today reaffirmed in this historical look a t t h e arrival of
our first major influx of immgrants.
Interspread amongst the scenes relating to the immigrants
are scenes which reflect Ludwig Leichardt's 1 8 4 5 expedition from
Brisbane bound for Port Essington. The German doctors companions were, John Gilbert, a British archeologist who had growing doubts about Leichardt's leadership, William Phillips, a conviet
from harden released into Leighhardt's care, and John Murphy, a
Welsh youth befriended by Leicharelt. The group are seen to be
lost, short of food, and low in morale, and are attacked by
Aboriginies, probably as a result of molestation of some of their
women. Like the Latvian immigrants, they neither understand nor
care for this country but recognise that they may be able to carve
out their own piece of recognition. The interesting comparison was
that not only was this expedition terminated by the harshness of
"CYRANO DE
BERGERAC"
Melbourne Theatre Company,
Playhouse,
Victorian Arts Centre,
June 20 — August 3, 1985.
Witty, amusing, and extravagant; "Cyrano de Bergerac" presents its audience with three and
a half hours of 'Pan ache.'
The cast list of this show is
almost as long as the time it runs.
However it is, I believe, three and a
half hours well spent.
The story centres around a real
life character named Cyrano de
Bergerac who was born in Paris in
1619.
Recognised and held in
awe, as an excellent scholar, a
man of great wit, an unsurpassable swordsman, and a man who
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
• R •
spoke his mind at all times, de
Bergerac was either loved or despised by the rest ot the gentry.
Added to this he wasrenownedfor
having a rather large and protruding growth upon his face (namely
— dare I mention it — his nose),
and anyone who spoke of it would
immediately be challenged to a
duel. It is because of this deformity, that Cyrano believes he can
never gain the love of his beautiful
cousin Roxanne. Thus he puts his
words of love into letters for the
young officer Cadet who also
loves Roxanne, but finds it difficult
to put into words.
The sets are excellent, and wellmanoeuvred
by the technical
crew, and the lighting excellently
captures the atmosphere of each
scene. Costuming is also an
essential part of this presentation,
the land, but they were trying to exploit it, as had the Lativian
immigrants later been exploited by those who had learnt to t a m e
it.
The script was well-written and enveloped alot of pathos,
however the organisations of the scenes, (particularly in the early
part of the performance) almost caused the plays downfall. Before
the characters, and the relationships between them, had been well
established, the scenes jumped from being set in North Queensland 1 9 4 8 , to North Queensland 1 9 4 5 , to Stuttgart 1 9 4 7 . As the
performance was in the studio, there was the lack of constructed
scenery, and immediate development if change of scene was not
strong enough. For the audience to make sense of the action it was
necessary for them to follow the "Places and Times" handout you
receive at the door. This I found to be somewhat distracting, and at
first a little confusing.
Of the actors, the stronger performances of Pamela Robe, playing Use the strong-minded peasant woman, strangestof the three,
and Brandon Burke, playing Karl the bootlegger, in many ways carried the show. Granted, they may have the strongest characters to
play, but their performances were outstanding. Denis Morre is also
to be congratulated for his dual performances were outstanding.
Denis Moore is also to be congratulated for his transition from one
character to the next was excellent. Robynne Bourne was more
convincing in her cameo role of an Australian woman at the end,
than she was in her major role of Lydia, the city-dwelling Latvian. I
feel she could have made a little more of the character of Lydia. Bill
Fox is colloquially amusing in his portrayal of Bourke, the owner of
the canefields.
"Too Young for Ghosts" will run at the Studio in the Victorian Arts
Centre, until August 10th. It is certainly worth a look at, although
not what I would consider to be the success of the M.T.C. season.
Nevertheless, the night I attended the performance, the players
performed to a full house.
Roz Gaffney
" a n ^ h ^ w a r d r o H ^ e p a n r n e n t is to
be congratulated.
I ne cast is very strong, witn tne
inimitable Bruce Myles portraying
Cyrano de Bergerac. The flexibility
this role requires of an actor is
very demanding, covering such
emotions as sincere romanticism
through to ridiculous tomfoolery.
Bruce Myles not only meets this
challenge, but conquers it with the
same "panache" that Cyrano de
Bergerac himself was famous for.
However I found the portrayal of
Roxanne by Barbara Jane Cole,
somewhat grating at the start of
the play. The performance she
created began somewhat artificially,
and the sincerity that I felt the
character was supposed to have
was lacking. However as the show
developed, thus did the character
of Roxanne and some of the artifi-
Cyrano de Bergerac is worth a
sitting for all theatre-goers. The
author of the play, Edmond Rostand, was obviously a master of
the pen and a quick wit himself. I
wonder if he would've been a
match for the real Cyrano. If the
character he created was an
example of Rostand's wit, I would
say he would've been. All told, it
wasathoroughlyenjoyable performance, and I recommend it
highly.
_ci^[_ "^ttgeiT-WasJost.
page 15
^^vKC^f^
^Mwa^Jot "^(T^mS^
The main event of this year's
Melbourne Film Festival was
undoubtedly Eric Rohmer's "Full
Moon in Paris," the delightful
fourth chapter in his series of
"Comedies and Proverbs."
"A man with two women loses his
soul,
A man with two homes loses
his mind"
This is the proverb around which
the comedy unfolds. It orginates in
the Champagne Country and
attributes to the film its overall
tone and mood, establishing from
the very beginning a "formula"
dominating a life full of miscalculations and falsegeometry.
In this comedy of three acts,
about life and love, set over a
definite period of time and where
all the conditions are known and
established, it will merely take a
decision or an a t t i t u d e to disrupt
the routined continuity of everyday life. Rohmer presents three
different sets of characters operating in successively different
stages of the story.
In the initial stage are Louise
and Remi. Louise (Pascale Ogier),
a trainee in a designing firm, lives
with Remi (Tcheky Karyo), a
dedicated "sportif." For her, life
begins in Paris, whereas he, a
planner of new towns, finds it better to live in a bleak new suburban
estate. She loves going out to dance, he finds disco dancing detrimental to his tennis. "Bien
entendu," they love each other.
Realising that "the one experience I've missed is solitude,"
Louise decides to renovate and
use her Paris apartment as a
"pied-^-terre" not to entertain
men, but where she can sleep
from time to time and be alone
with herself. After a stormy quarrel
with Remi, he agrees half-heartedly with her proposal.
In act II, the "suspicion stage,"
enterOctave(Fabnice Luchini in a
delightfully natu al portrayal of
pretentious parisianism)
and
Gamille (Virinie Thevenet), both
friends of Louise who accelerates,
in the young women's mind, a
series of doubts and suspicions
eventually forcing her to question
her values and herself.
Octave who is in love with
Louise suggests to her that she is
deluding herself. We, of course,
knew all along — Rohmer's character always seem to adopt a
behaviour composed of patterns,
enabling defections from the
norm, making them inevitably fall
into their own trap. Even though
we do not doubt Louise's need for
page 16
solitude, the suddenness and
spontEneity of her decision make it
appear somewhat whimsical and
arbitary. Like Marion in "Pauline at
the Beach" declaring that she
wants to 'burn with love,' it will take
a whim, an aribtary decision to
rock the fragile boat of life.
Thewhim lies at the very heart of
the Rohmerian plot, it determines
the direction of the story and gives
to the whole language of the film,
its ultimate power.
Capricious and self-centred,
Louise never, for all that, loses the
audience's sympathy and understanding (maybe because we all
recognise in her a little of ourselves), her self deceiving idealism and vulnerability naturally
captured Pascale Ogier who won
the Best Actress Award at the
Venice Film Festival 1984. Half
the fun of "Full Moon in Paris" and
indeed many of Rohmer's films is
to watch his characters wriggle
and flounder in their"marecagebf
justifications and self beneficial
philosophies of life.
Louise, believing that she has a
physical nature herself, does not
desire Octave, "when people love
me too much, I love them less,"
and when CamiHIe questions
Remi's faithfulness, who replies
without qualms, "if he stops loving
me, I'll stop loving him." Facile
philosophy and uncomplicated
attitude that will be sourly marked
by an ironical trait stressed in the
final act of the film with the
introduction of Bastien (Christian
Vadim), and Marianne (Anne-Serverine Liotard). Louise is ready to
play the game of love is someone
else is doing the suffering but
when she takes the risk formulated at the beginning, she will
have to suffer the consequences.
Life is then reduced to mere
calculations where one must have
the right formula and follow the
appropriate rule of conduct. The
geometrical and common place
tact of experience of life (the
maxim of the film), will prove more
powerful than Louise's computations of love.
Witty, intelligent and deliciously
moralistic, "Full Moon in Paris" is
also a film of verbs, conjugated in
the present tense or the "passe
compose" while being perpetually
imbued withan omnipresent feeling of the (human) conditional —
("what if Louise takes the risk"),
before leaving the place to the
'passe simple' (past historic) with
'Louise took the risk.'
But the conjugation that allows
for the sudden past tenses of the
story also reinforces the notion of
continuity established by the
episodic nature of the film. The
first and last camera movements
of "Full Moon in Paris" (the opening pan from the station to the
house and at the end of the film,
the inverse movement from the
house to the station) achieve a
sense of unity and establish the
notion of a cycle (also present in
the "Full Moon" of the title).
Moreover, the absence of the
words "The End" in the closing
titles of the film makes Octave's
phone call similar to the one at the
beginning, thus strengthing the
cyclical notion.
At the beginning of the film
Louise is inside the house, and at
the end, the camera follows her
while she is leaving: there is a
beginning but not really an ending. The story continues, there will
be other relationships, other deceptions maybe
The idea of the proverb and the
opening pans also pre-supposes
that everything (the story, the plot)
is set out from the beginning. With
a meticulous precision, Rohmer
seems merely to place his characters in the middle of the preexisting plot, letting only their
passion and feelings guide their
instinct Sprinkled with clues and
indications (for instance, the one
way signs at the opening and final
scenes of the film), "Full Moon in
Paris" also reminds us of the dectective film gave (suspicions and
shadowing are common in the
'comedies and proverbs' — in "Full
Moon in Paris," Louise suspects
Cam iHe but pays not attention to
Marianne sleeping on the backseat of the car) — a film where
Rohmer, sometimes with a flair
worthy of Hitchcock, composes an
intrigue where the rules are themselves bristling with traps.
It is however unfortunate that
the translated title of the film (a
literal translation is "The Nights of
the Full Moon"), somehow confines Rohmer's story to a particular location (as something that
could only happen in a Parisian
milieu) whereas the universality of
its subject cannot be denied. After
all, who hasn't known one of those
nights of the full moon when
nobody sleeps? Definately one of
the very best films of the year!
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
^C\i^Ktli\A
; THE. FINAL SOLUTION PART %
Many film theorists have maintained that cinema, especially
commercial cinema, is very much
a product of its time; that is, certain genres of film appearand disappear according to the prevailing
socio-economic climate.
Occasionally a film Is produced
which does more than merely
satisfy a public appetite, but
politically harangues. Of course
these films are released through
the Hollywood system, and therefore must reinforce the status quo.
"Rambo, First Blood, Part Two," is
potentially the most dangerous
film I have ever seen. Where "The
Temple of Doom" wandered into
imperialistic and racist territory,
"Rambo," or specifically Sylvester
Stallone-for it was he who wrote
the screenplay, bludgeons and
slashes not only into pro-Reagan
pro-war rhetoric, but demands a
second attempt at history.
Stallone makes no pretence
about attempting to protray
Rambo as a "believable" character, for this is no ordinary "action"
movie. Stallone uses the medium
of cinema on a far more insidious
though blatantly obvious level, to
make a number of extreme almost
reactionary statements: in essence then, he proposes the Vietnam War be restarted as both the
Viet Cong and the Russians — all
wearing immacualately pressed
uniforms — are still holding American POW's captive. This of
course is a major diversionary
platform of Reaganpolitik; in a
sense cleansing the guilt of
American defeat (but not initial
involvement) whilst carefully holding the reminder that not only is
someone else in the past to blame
butalso retribution isforthcoming.
Statistics released not only prove
there are no POW's, and any sort
of logic informs there could be no
plausible reasons for prison camps
to be maintained.
Rambo is taken from prison to
Vietnam where he is instructed by
an officious suit-and-tle CIA man
that he is to take photos of a long
disused POW camp to prove to
Congress there are no POW's left.
His plan backfires when, you
guessed it, Stallone finds some
whithered POW's, and is then
abandoned to the evil Russians.
The scenes in which Rambo is tortured by the strangely Aryanlooking Russian leader and his
huge ugly accomplice, are mere
exercises of camera worshipping
of Stallones sweaty glinting muscles. Inevitably, he escapes and
the Commies get their just deserts
(witness Stallone outrunning a
napalm bomb), and he makes his
way back to base with POW's in
tow.
The final scenes are the climax
in more than one sense. There is a
sub-theme throughout the film of
hand-to-hand combat
being
somehow more honest than the
myriad of electronic and computerised gadgets Rambo is offered and refuses at the start of
the mission. The camera constantly has sex with Stallones body,
needless to say he is half naked
for virtually all of the film, and this
reaches its climax when Stallone
returns to base, an enormous gun
firmly in his hands, shoots all of the
computer equipment which was
perpetuating the lie to Congress
and the American people, and sexual tension is finally released as
he points the gun,still firing, into
the air and loudly moans and
shouts.
Having threatened the CIA man
into submission, the film closes as
Stallone walks back into the
jungle, armed only with a knife,
shirt long discarded, headband firmly in place,muttering "I'm going
back to get the rest." The proposition being not only should "we go
in this time" but that all statistical
evidence must be discarded as it
is all a well-versed lie by people
who wear shirts and ties.
As it stands, "Rambo" has been
one of the biggest box office hits
in history and from all accounts is
doing similarly here. Sylvester
Stallone has made over fifteen
million dollars from "Rambo" and
it has been soundly recommended by President Reagan. The
choice is yours.
James Hewison
* Robert Altman ("Streamers," "Mash") is midway through adapting
Sam Shepard's "Fool for Love" with Shepard and fellow Paris, Texan
Harry Dean Stanton. In October, Altman is scheduled to direct Hemmingway's "Across the river and into the trees" with Roy Scheider and
Julie Christie.
* More big names and pop stars for Fred Schepisl's "Plenty." Meryl
Streep, John Gielgud, Sam Niell and popsters Tracy Ullman and Sting.
* Here'sabigcredibilitychallenge; Jean-Luc Goddard has signed up
with big time exploiters Golam Globus for over two million dollars, U.S.
First film is apparently "King Lear" starring none other than King Fatty,
Marlon Brando. Others hoped for the film are Woody Allen to play the jester and Norman Mailer to do the writing. Wow! Other grabs by Golam
Globus include Franco Zeffirelli to direct Placido Domingo in Verdi's
"Othello."
* Even more big names in Sidney Lumet's "Power" include Dashing
Dicky Gere, Julie Christie and Gene Hackman.
* In a remake of the French classic "Boudu S a u v / d e s Eaux" under
the direction of Paul Mazursky ("The Tempest") stars Nick Nolte,
Richard Dreyfuss and Bette Midler.
After "Purple Rain," purpleperson Prince, is the hero of a second film
"Prince of Darkness." I will leave a space for an exclamation of your
choice.
* Both Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda are to star in, yes,
"Easyrider 2."
* Another sequel already completed is "Jewel of the Nile." After
"Romancing the Stone," the action this time takes place in Morocco and
still stars Micheal Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
* Two more well known directors have joined the ever increasing
impressive list of European directors making television commercials are
Ettore Scola ("La Nuit de Varennes," "Le Bal"), and Andrei Kochalovsky
("Maria's Lovers").
* Film Australia has just announced plans for a film entitled a
"Decade of Women" which involves fifty of Australia's (well Sydney's)
most successful and celebrated women. Directed by Gillian Armstrong,
it is described as an "eccentric 60 second mini-drama" shot in the style
of a music clip, and features Renee Geyer, Sonia Hamphries, Noelene
Brown,TraceyHarvey("GilliesReport")andmany, manyothers, I t i s t o b e
presented as a community service announcement and tells the story of
women and their change through the years of the United Nation's International Decade for Women, 1976-85. Watch for it on both T.V. and in
the cinemas.
* On the local front, as part of Women 150 "New Moods" Arts Festival, there are to be ten days of women's films at the RMIT Glasshouse
from the 6th to the 13th of September. Works included by Akerman,
Gorris, Duras, Rainer and Campion. The overseas guests present will be
British theorist and filmmaker Laura Mulvey and Japanese video performance artist Lei Ujika. The programme should be available mid-August,
and for further enquiries contact: Jane Madsen, Phone: 347-8588
Kecommended Viewing
Vahalla:
Aug 8: Altman's "Come Back to the 5 and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy
Dean," and "Streamers."
Aug 13: De Sea's "Shoe Shine" and "Bicycle Thieves."
Aug 1 5: Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai"
Longford:
Aug 9: Late, Scorsese's "Raging Bull"
Aug 16: Late, Coppola's "Rumble Fish"
Nightly: Rohmer's "Full Moon in Paris"
RMIT Glasshouse:
Aug 7: "Germany in Autumn" (Fassbinder, Kluge, Reitz, Schlondorf
etc.)
In Brief
* Gerard Depardieu is to star in Bertrand Blier's next production
entitled "Rimmel." The two have worked together previously in "Prepare
Your Handkerchiefs," "Les Valseuses," and "Buffet Froid." Depardieu is
currently on the set of "A Woman or Two," with Sigourney Weaver.
* Francis Ford Coppola is to direct another film concerning the Prohibition Era. This time it concerns the turbulent life of Jack "Legs"
Diamond.
* That wonderful Penthouse person and well-known entrepreneur of
the arts. Bob Guccione is to produce Ken Russell's new film, an adaptation of the Defoe classice "Moll Flanders."
* Anotheradaptation is Colin Maclnnes"'Absolute Beginners," directed by Julian Temple and starring David Bowie and Sade. A big one tor
Top 40 fans.
LOT'S WIFE
11
The
Aug
Aug
Aug
Aug
Aug
Aug
Astor:
9: Bergman's "Persona" and "A Passion"
10: Bertolucci's "1 900"
14: Cocteau's "Blood of a Poet" and "Beauty and the Beast"
15: Polanski's "Knife in the Water" and "Fearless Vampire Killers"
18: Hitchcock's "Suspicion" and "Notorious"
2 1 : Truffant's "Soft Skin" and "Stolen Kisses"
Brighton Bay Twin:
Nightly: Gorris' "Broken Mirrors"
Nightly: "A Private Function"
Rivoli:
Nightly: "Dance with a Stranger" by Mike Newell
page 17
at'
the calm at the
heart of the
storm
,?»<»
14
f
Andrew Watt
Things are really moving fast for
Do Re M l . Their acclaimed debut
single, Man Overboard, has
become a major hit and already
the band has been burdened with
the weighty tag, "the next big
thing."
Such critical expectation has
been the downfall of many young
bands, but drummer Dorland
Bray, explained that the band
wasn't getting carried away with
its early success. "We really are
suprised with the response to the
single " he said, "it's not usual for
independent bands to get immediate airplay particularly on
A.M. stations. The "next Big Thing "
lag is given to anybody who
comes along thats a little bit different I never believe that sort of
thing."
Dorland pointed out that the
music Do Re Mi is playing now is
the same music they have been
playing for the last four years. It
hasn't been a case of magically
striking a winning formula. It's simply that the recognition took time
to occur.
Remarkable about their new
album Domestic Harmony is the
depth and power of the lyrics.
These are the work of both
Dorland and Do Re Mi's outstanding lead singer Deborah Conway. The powerful songs are a
perfect vehicle for Deborah's
challenging yet emotive voice.
"We find ourselves influenced by
the things we read in the paper
more than other music and other
bands. We haven't got a soapbox
to stand on or anything like that,
but certain things political in
nature do effect us more than
others" said Dorland.
It's a matter of some suprise to
Dorland that it looks like the band
wont need to compromise in
terms of theme and lyric content in
order to achieve commercial success! Domestic Harmony has
been hailed as an important Australian album, but the band
wouldn't like to see Australian
music become " g h e t t o i z e d . "
Nobody talks about Lloyd Cole
and the Commotions being an
important Scottish album. There's
something about that we'd like to
see broken down."
Do Re Mi have maintained an
unchanged line-up in their four
years of existence and they do
seem to operate as a unit. Dorland
always speaks in terms of "we"
rather than " I " and he mentions
that every member of the band is
involved in each aspect from
songwriting to the design of the
album covers. It would seem that
in this unity lies their strength.
The potential isforDo Re Mi to survive and evolve musically is
unlimited. It would be easy for a
band to become caught up in the
hype surrounding such a rapid
rise to prominence but it seems
that in the eye of the storm, the
band remains calm and assured.
This is reflected in their attitude
to the suggestion that a good way
to promote "Man Overboard"
would have been to have it
banned for its lyrical references to
"pubic hair" and "penis envy".
"It would've been silly to do
that," said Dorland, "because we
would have been known as the
band who had the dirty words in
songs, rather than as a band who
is trying to say something a little
bit different"
J^^.-. ->#
Domestic Harmony
is an e x t r a o r d i n a r y a l b u m . A vital
combination of inventive, exciting music and powerful lyrics, the
album represents a beacon for Australian music in 1 9 8 5 .
Do Re Mi's Dorland Bray, takes Lot's Wife on a track by track tour
of their new record.
The Theme from Jungle Jim
"Its loosely based, and I do say "loosely "' based on experiences we've had in Queensland. It
seems to be thefirstpart of Australia where some sort of facism is going to come into force at a
level where it will affect people's lives directly. Jungle Jim is a story, a work offiction,about a
girl who is living there, being expected to grow up in an oppressive atmosphere. I do a monologue at the end from a book by John Cocteau called " O p i u m " which w a s b a n n e d in
the 1950's."
After the Volcano
This one's a lyric of Deborah's basically revolving around the responsibility of the faceless
people who have the power to push the button. A fairly self explanatory anti-nuclear song."
Idiot Grin
•'This is an older song, but itfe the next single. It's based on women joining the army in times of
peace as a career move, but being expected to be equal to men, not only on a business level, but
also being able to go out and kill people as a way of making a living.*'
Cuttlefish Beach
"An ominous, song, its got a sense offinalityor forboding about it The lyrics came from a
tour of Perth when we visited the old gun embankments and convict centres at Fremande. Its a
work of fiction about transportation and what it must have meant to people at the time."
Warnings Moving Clockwise
"It's about Biblical prophecies coming true although none of us are religious by any stretch
of the imagination. Its a song about Armageddon, the war at the end of the world which Ronald
Reagan thinks is just around the comer but we don't believe him! It also relates to the differences between living in Australia and England. In London being politically active is a necessity
because the forces of oppression operating through the regime there. There's much more incentive to gel out and do something about it."
Man Overboard
"It comes from from conversations with three people I used to share a house with in
Melbourne, talking about the problems they were having in relationships at the time and what
was expected of them by their partners. It looks at the way communications can
breakdown."
Big Accident
"The "Big Accident" in mind was Harrisberg. The song is about making excuses for nuclear
accidents and being lied to by the people in authority about what has actually gone wrong.
We're all subjected to danger unknowingly."
Racing to Zero
This song is about not knowing where to go or what to do in the event of catastrophe. Again
it's ominous and brooding. We don't talk about influences much but Midni^t Oil do impress us
as a band that's stood their ground both musically and lyrically."
New Taboos
"We take a very hard line on heroin, it's killed a lot of people we know. Its a cross between
heroin addiction and voodoo. I was reading about Haiti at the time and their legend of spirits of
the dead, There's an equation between that and the ebbing forces of heroin, how draining it
1000 Mouths
"This ones about disillusionment with the Bob Hawke Government, how we had so many
high expectations of him when he came into power and how he's still selling uranium to
America and still supports the 'Star Wars' project. But the alternatives are so hideously
worse that something has to give somewhere along the line."
Burning the Blues
"This is just a combination of old blues songs, we wanted to write something like "Fever."
Deborah really likes Billy Holliday and is always walking around singing old Col Porter
tunes."
page 18
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
TWO
CAN PLAY
One of the more unusual concert tours taking place in Australia
this year will be the combined
Australian Crawl/Motels tour.
The concept of one of Australia's
most successful acts being supported by a well-respected American band represents quite a
complement to Australian music.
Crawl guitarist, Simon Binl<s
agreed with this. "It just shows the
respect Australia gets overseas
now that the Motels are quite
happy to support us on a tour here.
It couldn't have happened a few
years ago," he pointed out.
The tour came about when Australian Crawl heard through a
mutual friend, Russell Thomas,
that the Motels were keen to visit
Australia again. "It just seemed to
fall into place for everyone"
explained Simon.
Although Australian Crawl now
consists of only four permenant
members (Simon Sinks, James
Reyne, Brad Robinson and
John Watson), the band is likely
to have up to twelve people on
stage during the up coming tour.
Three backing vocalists, Robert
Price, Cheryl Freeman, {who
came to Australia with Little Shop
of Horrors), and Sherine from
Black Coffee, as well as a three
piece brass section will make up
numbers.
The live set will feature most of
the material from their latest
album. Between a Rock and a
Hard Place, as well as songs from
their first two albums, a total of 19
songs in all.
Its been a busy year for the
band, as well as setting up the tour
and recording the new album Australian Crawl has set up their own
record label, Freestyle Records.
The decision was both artistically
and economically motivated. "It
seemed ideal to have our own
company" explained Simon, "because with a Crawl record we
knew we could sell X number of
records — it wouldn't be a total
flop." Apart from the album and
single, Freestyle, has already
released material by Cats under
Pressure (David Reyne's combo),
brilliant Melbourne singer Lisa
Bade and the James Reyne/Lyn
Buckfield single R.O.C.K. Rock.
Simon finds the record company idea interesting but has
neither the inclination nor time to
become too involved in its mechanics. "It would be difficult for
four essentially artistic individuals
to get too concerned with the
business of the record company.
All our priorities have to depend
on the album and tour at the
moment."
Although the band is going to be
involved in touring for nearly three
months, Simon was able to report
that James Reyne was always
open to offers to pursue his acting
career. "I think he'd rather do
something more serious as a support actor rather than be a lead
again. I don't think he really wants
to do another Return to Eden
just yet."
MICHAEL EDGLEY INTERNATIONAL AND 9 2 ' 3 E C D N ' F M PRESENT
AOi'd^fi^:^
CRAWL
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
page 19
4rlH^> v\r^{€^
senate focCatc
99
— the liberation of "pop
"Scritti Politti" — the name is
Italian for "political writing"
and the band is so named
because of Its creator's amusement with the dignified meaning of the seemingly nonsense
phrase.
The creator I speak of Is
Green Gartside. Gartside is
twenty-nine years old, a Welsh exsquatter and a self-confessed
post-Marxist agnostic materialist
(whatever that means!).
Scritti Politti is made up of three
members; Green Gartside, drummer Fred Mayer, (a young veteran of Material and Lou Reed's
band) and keyboard player David
Gamson.
In Australia recently to promote
their latest album, Cupid and Psyche 8 5 , David Gamson took time
out to chat to Lot's Wife about the
record and politics of pop.
Scritti's music is complex and
yet sparse. It is Influenced most
noticably by soul, jazz, funk and
hip-hop (a derivitive of street
sound, rap and scratch music).
David Gamson explained that hiphop had a much more profound
effect on Green, than on either he
or Fred, both New York natives.
The songs are immediately catchy
but repeated listenings do provide
the listeners with little revelations
and intricacies. Perhaps the word
is subtle.
David suggested that the album
was a collection of influences and
its growth reflected the development of the bands working relationship. The record was recorded
in three sessions. The first at the
Power Station with producer Arif
Martin, produced three songs
including Wood Beez (I pray like
Aretha Franklin), which was a
successful single both here and
overseas.
David was happy to continue
the sessions without the assistance of a producer. "I prefer to
produce music myself because
the thing that interests me the
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most is fooling around with
sound."
Cupid and Psyche was "democratically recorded," with all three
members having creative input.
This was not always the case. "Our
working relationship was so undefined, I would come in as an
arranger to arrange Green's
songs. Eventually I started writing
songs with him. Before that I felt
that Scritti was his band and I was
just helping out. I think that's
changed now," said David.
Although Green's political and
social stance has been discussed
freely, his songs retain the character of "pop" and "love" songs.
David looks at it this way — "his
songs are not a political knee-jerk
response. He has a certain way of
looking at everything which obviously is going to cut and thrust
personal politics; love equilibrates with power. In an interview,
Green once said, "to me, pop and
the whole notion of pleasure, sex,
entertainment and leisure is
political....Until that's accepted
we've got a long way to go."
Scritti Politti's latest single,
which has reached the top five in
England, is called The Word Girl.
Like much of Scritti's material it is
sung in a disarming childlike
voice, well complemented by a
r
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CLAYTON
Phone: 544 0881
page 20
David considers that their songs
are open to new interpretations
and development and thus regards the bands forthcoming
foray into live performance as an
exciting if slightly frightening concept. The band has been essentially a creature of the recording
studios and so the live shows
should be revealing both for the
audience and the band. David
pointed out that "We don't have
any idea who buys Scritti records
and we've never played live, so we
don't know who the audience is."
Planning has not yet begun for
the next record, but David believes that it will involve more
accoustic instruments and less
electronics and "machinery." "I
think we're all sick of the gadgetry,
as exciting as it is, it can get to
you."
Scritti Politti are an interesting
and at times surprising band. It
wouldn't be difficult to label them
dismissively as lightweight pop,
but such a label would unnecessarily undervalue the subtle textures both of their music and
Green's lyrics. Scritti Politti exist
as testimonial to the belief that
"pop music" is a many faceted
.'Tiedium.
very sparse arrangement and
bouncy, almost playful instrumentation. The background to the
song is interesting. "We needed a
last song to fill up the record and I
guess because we weren't worrying about it too much it turned out
well. It was a comment on the rest
of the record. In terms of arrangment it was quite simple, the
whole approach was very different
to the rest of the album. Green was
going through his lyrics and he
was that the word "girl" had come
up so many times that he thought
he should probably comment
about that. So the song is about
the use of the word "girl" in pop
songs.
An example of Scritti's pop
philosophy? Probably — the essence of much experimental pop
is the ability to take something
recognisable, almost mundane
and twist it so that its seen in a different light or perspective. By
definition pop music provides
many such themes and characteristics. David Gamson agrees
that this approach is at the heart of
Scritti Politti. "I think that pop
inanities interest us all in terms of
arrangment and lyrics, those
things can be grabbed and used in
different ways. It can be really
interesting."
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LOT'S WIFE
* 11
Tal<e You Higher
Dynamic Hepnotics
(White)
The First Born is Dead
Nick Cave and the Bad
Seeds
(Mute)
Throughout his career, Nick
Cave has demanded and got the
attention of music critics and
underground fans. Beginning in
1976 as the Boys Next Door,
Cave's band metemorphisized
into The Birthday Party. In 1983,
Clinton Walker, wrote "The Birthday Party have wrought a change
in music which has extended far
beyond their own existence, and
is still yet to be properly assimilated."
It's 1985 now, and Nick Cave is
still producing music which defies
catergorization and mass accessibility. Lyrically Cave deals with
emotions of object frustration and
anguish and death is usually on
appropriate conclusion/escape/
reward.
Side one features pounding
primitive rhythms and Caves voice
is sufficiently menacing and
manic.
The highlight of the album is
Caves working of Dylan's Wanted
Man; an immensly powerful, almost agonizing version of the
song.
This Is stormy and appropriatley
threatening album, worthy of
attention if for no other reason
(and there are others), than its unique and disturbing orgins and
themes.
LOT'S WIFE
• 11
One of the more successful Australian bands on the singles charts
in the last year, has been the
Dynamic Hepnotics. After years of
paying their dues in the form of
gigging thier success is just
reward.
The years spent working live
have also made the Hepnotics
music the tightest R & B/soul
around. This album is loaded with
terrific tunes which are very very
easy to listen to.
This may be a compliment but it
also represents my major criticism. The album is not at all
challenging and could even be
described as predictable. Whether or not it gives the listener
enough to hold their interest over
repeated listenings is perhaps
doubtful.
Having said that I must admit
that the Dynamic Hepnotics are
masters of a style and its a very
accessible, commercial style at
that.
The record should and will do
very well on album charts and as
soulful party music.
Big Music
Machinations
(White)
This is the Machinations second
album following on from 1983's
Esteem. It's a record which sees
the band finally reach a point of
real maturity. Whilst maintaining
their "dance integrity" this album
shows that the Machinations are
capable of loosening up and
stretching out from what has been
essentially a tight singles format.
This variety is particularly noticable on Spark and the reggaetinged The Letter. Obvious
highlights are the already successful singles. No Say In It and
My Hearts on Fire.
The Machinations persist in a
basically electronic format but
leave enough scope for personality to be shown, giving them
a warmth lacking in most electro/
dance bands.
There are many more potential
singles on this album, notably
Jabber and Predator. Special
mention should be made of the
brilliant bass playing of Nick
Swann whose funky solid style
really is at the heart of Machinations sound.
A top Australian album.
tongue.
This is a record which proves
that Graham Parker is miles away
from being a spent force in the
rock and roll world.
SINGLES
Steady Nerves
Graham Parker and
Shot
(Liberation)
Small Brave Land
The Expression
(Mushroom)
The Expressions first single
With Closed Eyes, and accompanying hype was a perfect example of "too much too soon." This
single is very solid and whilst not
breaking any new ground, is an acceptable up-tempo release from a
good band.
the
By definition, Graham Parker is
never going to be as fresh,
passionate and incisive as he was
on his early work, Howlin' Wind,
Heat Treatment and Stick to Me.
On these records, Parker's aggression was at times breathtaking, his attack, irresistable.
With this background, it would
have been easy for Graham
Parker to have mellowed out and
sought refuge in the safe world of
the rock balladeer. Fortunately he
hasn't done this.
This record is sharp and biting
and Parker's vocals maintain the
characteristic sneer and snarl.
Over the year's his sound and production has become more polished but Parker has realized that
"polished" and "fierce" can and do
go well together.
Much of the material on this
album is up-tempo and really
rocks particularly my favorites
Black Linoln Continental and
The Weekend's too Short.
The topics covered by the songs
are varied and interesting. Television, snooker, record companies,
executions and an American fundamentalist organization operating in Venezuela all get a shot
from Parker's quick wit and biting
Day By Day
Doug and the Slugs
(Liberation)
I love it. This song is a straight
forward rocker and is very, very
catchy. Very simple and to be honest, I don't quite know why its so
good. Doug's got a great voice and
this Canadian band is bouncy and
tight. Dare I say it....slifhering
your way....
This Asphalt Eden
Steven Kilbey
(E.M.I.)
The first solo single from The
Church's Steven Kilbey is quite a
departure. Featuring a rather prominent brass section this song is
seductive and engaging, and
ultimately a triumph for Kilbey.
Song to the Siren
This Mortal Coil
(Virgin)
This tribute to American folk/
jazz legend Tim Buckley is suitably restrained and anthemic.
Marked by extraordinary vocals
this song could invent a new
catergory of music: "gipsy-opera!"
page 21
1985
YOUTH ART
PROJECT
The economic and military build
up to a nuclear war is something
essential to peace movements all
over the world. The psychological
build up, however, is something
harder to monitor This year's
Youth Art Exhibition, comprising
works from secondary school
students all over Victoria (and
some works from students in
Japan), has as the unifying theme
'Peace and International Co-operation.' The works themselves
can be seen as illustrative of
another generation's approach to
Idea of peace.
Although there is a good deal of
our traditional positive symbols of
peace — doves, united world,
unity with nature, etc. — there is
also an alarming number of works
with negative scenes of destruction and darkness. It is an indication of the way our notion of world
peace changes with each generation. That the change Is a negative
one in the minds of young people
Is proof the things are looking
grim.
The works are nonetheless
fresh and imaginative. Students
are being encouraged to think
about issues like peace and
nuclear war and are being encouraged to consider the value of
art in expressing ideas.
The exhibition will be held at the
Lower Melbourne Town Hall from
August 15th to the 31 St. It is open
from 10 am, to 5 pm everyday
except Sundays and school
groups are especially invited to
attend. The exhibition is organised by Campaign for InternatlonI
Co-operation and Disarmament
and is a 'Next Wave' Youth Arts
Festival event. For further information contact C.I.C.D. on 6633677.
Susie McLean
Project Co-ordinator
CLUBS & SOCIETIES
MULTICULTURAL
WEEK
Julyl5th-20th
Over the years, the degree of
social
interaction
and
multicultural awareness amongst students at Monash has diminished
page 22
to level too shocking to contemplate. In a campus comprising
over 13% overseas students and
rich in students of varied ethnic
and cultural backgrounds it is
indeed surprising that students
should have become so insular
and isolated within their own
communities.
It was as a means to redress this
situation that the idea of a Multicultural Week was conceived.
Together with M.A.S. Activities
and Student Theatre, a group of
clubs got together and co-ordinated a number of activities and
succeeded in making up an adequate though perhaps not spectacular programme for the week.
Unfortunately, our efforts were
not rewarded with the same degree of profile as "Farm Week" of
yesteryear but as a first attempt
the response was promising for
future years.
Hopefully the organisation of
Multicultural Week has or will
have some impact on the student
body as a whole. The opportunity
at Monash is great for the promotion of mutual understanding and
cultural exchange between students from so many nations. It will
truly be a pity if, after the many
years we spend here, we will leave
with nothing gained from our
exposure to so many different
ideals and backgrounds.
Perhaps with the efforts of Sue
Thomson and Allstair Waters and
the co-operation of even more
clubs, we may look towards an
even larger, more spectacular
Multicultural Week next year
Indran Navaratnam
President MUMSU
each year. If you are a postgrad
(and have paid a student services
charge), enrolled at an Australian
University you are automatically
represented by CAP.A. as all of
Australia's nineteen university
campuses are members through
their postgrad associations or
committees.
CAP.A. takes up national issues, or issues at a national level.
This year, C.A.P.A. has been working particularly hard on the issues
of tertiary fees and the adverse
effects a consumption tax will
have on already impoverished
postgraduates. Research is conducted Into these areas; reports,
submissions on
background
papers are prepared; executive
members then lobby the politicos
and bureaucrats in Canberra.
Each year C.A.P.A. takes the
postgrads' fight for more money
and better conditions to Canberra; sometimes with success,
sometimes without it. Whenever
you are fortunate enough to get
an increase in your scholarship,
dependant's allowance, incidentals orthosis allowance it is due to
1986 Fulbright Awards
for Study In the United
States of America
Twenty five awards for study in
the United States in the 1986-87
academic year are being offered
by the Australian-American Education Foundation.
The Fullbright awards are being
offered in three catergories —
senior, postdoctoral and postgraduate. All candidates for the
awards must be Australian citizens by birth or naturalisation and
must agree to return to Australia
after completion of the award. All
awards must commence between
July 1 1986 and June 3 0 1987.
Senior and postgraduate awards are travel grants only and
cover the costs of return travel
from Australia to the United
States, Postdoctoral fellowships
cover the same travel costs and
The Council of Australian
provide a maintainence allowance
Postgraduate Associations (CAP.A)
of $US 9.000 (about $A 13,245)
is the national representative
per annum.
body for postgraduates. The
Senior awards which are tenC.A.P.A. office is based in Melbourne although there are con- able for three to twelve months,
will be offered to people who hold
tacts In each state.
Constituent members pay an senior academic posts, are leadannual affiliation fee to C.A.P.A. ers in the Arts or are senior pracThis money is drawn from the tising members of their professions
general student services charge and who wish to study, lecture,
postgrads pay at the beginning of reaearcft or carry out advanced
Council of
Australian
Postgraduate
Association
C.A.P.A.'s Canberra exertions.
If you are a part of the huge
majority of postgrads receiving no
form of remuneration at all,
C.A.P.A. is also fighting for you. It
has been policy for some time now
that all full-time postgraduates
receive some form of financial
assistance. After all we are talking
about qualified people who make
an enormous contribution to the
intellectual life of their departments and universities as well as
the research output of this country. Unfortunately, the Department
of Education will not play ball on
this one but the fight goes on.
CAP.A. also tries to facilitate
contact between postgrads on different campuses through its regional stucture. It is a heavenly
feeling to find another postgrad
working in roughly the same area
as you are. If you want to become
involved in these activities get in
touch with your local postgraduate group.
CAP.A. also acts as a disseminator of information. Useful
Information like how to get the
most back on yourtax return, how
to draw up Supervision Guidelines, how to get access to all of
your department's facilities is
exchanged between campuses.
C.A.P.A. was established in
1978, and has been growing every
year since then. It carriesout a lot
of useful work for postgrads for a
moderate ($2.50 per head) affiliation fee. There are still many areas
which CAP.A. could take up to
improve the conditions of postgraduate work in Australia. To do
this, C.A.P.A. needs to consolidate
its good beginnings. Get involved.
Postgrads are better off with
C.A.P.A. than without it.
Catherine Cuthbert
p r o f e s s i o n a l t r a i n i n g in t h e
United States.
Postdoctoral fellowships, tenable f o r i 2 months, will be offered
to people who have recently com
plated or are about to complete a
Ph.D. and who plan to pursue
postdoctoral study in the United
States.
Postgraduate awards, tenable
for 12 months, will be offered t o
students wishing to:
* study for a higher degree in
America;
* undertake research in America which will earn credit
towards an Australian higher
degree or,
* wish to undertake advanced
professional training
Applications for the postdoctoral fellowships and the post
graduate avirards close on September
30, 1985, and on November 3 0
1985 for the senior awards.
Application forms and further
information are available from:
T h e Secretary
Commonwealth Department of
Education
(A.A.E.F. Awards)
P.O. Box 8 2 6
Woden, ACT, 2 6 0 6 .
Enquiries: Helen Dempster
(062)89-7137
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
a succession of conce ntration
staying in a violent marriage; getcamps and horrors and having witting out, which may involve the
nessed mass murders, portrayed
loss of children, possessions and
by Robyn Friend In a language
the family home.
that we can understand, although
Real help is not available, as Eva
such happenings are so foreign to
found out. The police continue to
our imagination.
label this huge problem "a domestic" and withdraw after being
Eva describes rape by conquers
called in for protection and help,
and the conquered of all naleaving a helpless woman, even
tionalities In her damnation of the
though she may be visibly hurt
male of the species, but describalready, to be assaulted again.
ing it as If a fact of life.
If Eva had been a child, not a
It Is surprising that she was not
grown woman, she would have
grossly disturbed by such exbeen entitled to the full protection
periences. Perhaps she was. She
of the law, with herhusband'sdepaccepted being thrown out of bed
ression and violent outbursts
at night after brutal sex, not an
being brought to the attention of
Isolated occurence. She hung on
the authorities.
to her beliefs despite everything,
hanging on and raising a family
Not once in the book did she
Book Review
whilst going through hell, as
consider herself capable of rethough confined to a prison, unamarriage. Her behaviour was subble to get through to the outside
servient. She had been carefully
world. This inability was comtrained to reject alternative beEva is not only the story of one
municated to the family doctor,
haviour. She loved and obeyed
woman. It is a social commentary
who contacted her husband when
him, believing totally in the sancon life in modern twentieth censhe requested help,' only to find
tity of the marriage. These were
tury Australia for one hidden secherself being assualted again for
her principles which had been
tion of our population; wives of
daring to get out.
enforced throughout a similar
violent husbands.
background of a violent home life
Eventually she did break out
Existing systems of law enforcewith her father and mother.
and left, only to be reclaimed by
ment help perpetuate this hidHer sexual encounters beQan
her owner and returned to her
eous situation by a refusal to act.
with a rape at age eleven in wardestiny.
Women are still at the mercy of
their men, with one alternative to
torn Europe after having survived
One whole year passed before
|iiniiiiiiiiiuiiiiinnimiiniuwiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiniiuiiiriuiiiiiuiiiiiiniiriiii»nmiriiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiimniiiiiiiriniiiiiriiiiiiiiijiiiiriiniiiiimiiiiniiNi»iiiiiiiuiiiiiiNiim
ROBYN FRIEND
EVA
JOURNAL WAY
TO INNER
PEACE
Sexual abuse, grieving, forgiveness and men's unexpressed sensitivity are topics to be discussed
by American psychologist Frances Heussenstamm (pictured), at
a workshop called the JOURNAL
PROCESS at Monash University
the weekend of August 17-18.
Participants will learn how to
solve personal problems through
journal-writing. Dr. Heussenstamm
studied journal-writing with Dr. Ira
Progoff but has added her own
beliefs in the link between alienation and creativity, creating a
technique that helps people solve
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
their personal and social problems while enlarging their spiritual awareness. "The Journal is a
self development tool that can be
used throughout life," she explains.
JOURNAL PROCESS techniques can be used in many ways.
For the student personal journal
entries can generate creative and
academic writings. In sections
such as the autobiographical
dimension, students record and
examine their own unique life histories by exploring memories and
experiences. Dialogues are created in which students can speak
with people, events, situations
issues, and goals important to
them.
Heuss:enstamm isaformer Professor of Education at Columbia
University, New York, the aufhorof
many articles on social issues and
human development and a family
and child therapist. Since 1982,
she has chaired a task force on
spiritualityand psychotherapy for
the Caliifornia Psychological Association. She is at present researching the relationship between
spiritual development and mental
health.
If you wish to attend this workshop details and registration
forms are available at the Union
Information Desk. For further
inquiries phone 754-6823 or 8773660.
Special
$40
student
concession:
this woman was released from jail
for the accidental killing of her
husband. She was sent there by a
system that disregarded a sick
man who had killed household
pets, assaulted his elderly mother
and used his wife as a kicking
board.
There are no prizes for woman
like Eva who devote themselves to
being a wonderful wife to a disturbed man. Half a lifetime of
accomodating such a man was too
heavy a price to pay.
Australian girls are warned not
to marry an Arabian prince forfear
of ending up in a desert harem.
But here, In our own suburbia, we
have hidden horrors behind the
facade of brick veneer, a smiling
husband and well dressed children.
Individual women do not have
the power to remedy this age-old
situation.
Eva's documented
tragedy
should alert governments that the
existing services do not provide
viable solutions. Their deafening
silence has been a carte blanche
to some men that the ir women —
their possessions — are fair
game.
ETHIOPIA,
Once You Were A Princess
The songs are sung,
guitars are quiet now,
keyboards are taken home,
stages all over the world
are blowing dust
_ „ ,, . „ „ , ; „ , „ „ , . ,
J^% ^' '"• <5"iet now,
l"?''' ^'^^^ f j e daring to come out.
There ai e tired voices
in Philadelphia, in all the states
around Australia, there's
• Wembley Stadium, to name just a few
of ail the places where they made music.
Long hours sustained the feeling;
'we are doing something.'
The voices that sang of love and
friendship are all quiet now, and
those who sang it differently:
'nothing is perfect In God's perfect
land, he only gave us the good things
so that we understand what it rneans
to be without.'
There will be cynics who say:
what good will it do to the starving,
just putrijcity for those, who took part,
But did you listen? At least some of the
time? Were you aware of this surge of
feeling from all those young men '
and women and also of those older ones
who sang and thought: if this is the way
to help alt those who haven't enough to eat,
let's give our time, our money,
let's show our love.
When was the last time
when so many countries of the world
were linked in harmony?
Let us in future hold on to those hands
that stretch in friendship
It was a feast for eyes and
and remain aware, we are allowed
for the heart, do you think
to live in this our 'lucky country.'
it is over or do you hear above
the wind a faint echo still;
we are the world,
•we are the children...
page 23
e/i^ss^s
Prospective
Students
The Careers and Appointments
Service offers services to prospective students including counselling and school visiting.
The Careers Counsellor/Prospective students is available by
appointment to speak to students
not only about coursesat Monash,
but about general issues such as
transition to tertiary study, costs
associated with tertiary study, careers, subject choices, and matters
which may be of concern to
students.
During 1984, contact was made
with almost 200 schools through
visits to the campus or^by counsellors travelling to the schools.
There were various forms of activity: Careers Supermarkets, Parents' Evenings, group visits by
representatives of tertiary institutions in country as well as city
l o c a t i o n s . O f t e n , g r o u p s of
schools co-operated in arranging
careers functions.
The Careers and Appointments
Service publication
"Careers
Weekly" is also of interest to
school students, there being over
100 schools' subscriptions.
The Counsellor has been invited
to speak to Careers Teachers
training sessions and from time to
time, material is distributed to
schools, to assist Careers Teachers in advising their students.
The Counsellor is also available
to students who may wish to discuss their individual problems of
career planning, and strategies.
Many mature age people hoping to return to study, or change
careers are among those who
consult the Counsellor. The options are varied and the method of
entryto University may be through
Adult H.S.C., Special Entry, or on
the basis of previously atta ined
qualifications.
The locations of services to prospective students in the Careers
and Appointment Service is unique to Monash. Prospective students have access to a wide range
of information, are made aware ot
the continuous process of career
planning, and Counsellors are
also aware of employers' attitudes
and needs and also the general
employment situation.
page 24
MOTOK
MATTggS
Beware of
the pitfalls
of
sale and
purchase of
private
vehicles
Each year thousands of vehicles are sold privately in Victoria
and in each deal there could be
pitfalls for both buyers and sellers,
according to the RACV.
The most common method of
private sale of vehicles is through
newpapers' classified advertising
columns.
The advertisement should be
drafted carefully, giving sufficient
information to entice genuine
inquiries and to avoid time wasting by casual shoppers.
You should stick to the facts and
not give glowing descriptions;
stating the make, model name and
year, the asking price, special
features and telephone number.
If the vehicle has had major
technical work you should say so;
but make sure that you have the
receipts to prove the point.
On the day your advertisement
appears you should be prepared
to man the telephone so that you
can give genuine enquirers detailed information about the vehicle. If a buyer cannot obtain
answers to questions considered
important, he may decide that he
is wasting his time. Likewise the
seller who cannot provide detailed information is not helping
the cause.
Most prospective car buyers are
impressed by tidiness or other
evidence that the vehicle has
been well looked after.
You should have the registration certificate, service books and
roadworthiness certificate, together with any repair invoices to
support claims of recent repairs
and maintainence.
Vehicles offered for private sale
may have a current roadworthiness certificate, which is valid for
30 days after it has been issued.
It is the responsibility of the vendor to obtain the certificate from
an approved inspection centre.
Ultimately, the certificate is forwarded by the purchaser together
with stamp duty and the transfer
fee to the Road Traffic Authority
for transfer of registration. The
transfer form must be completed
by both parties.
Stamp duty is calculated at the
rate of $8 for every $200, or part
thereof, of the purchase price.
The transfer fee is an additional
$15.
If the vehicle is sold without a
roadworty certificate a "blue sticker" is fixed to the vehicle by the
R.T.A. which suspends the registration. This means that the vehicle cannot be driven except for the
purpose of taking it for a roadworthy inspection or to have the
sticker officially removed.
Most prospective buyers will
want to take the vehicle for a test
drive before reaching a decision
on purchase.
In such cases the vendor should
never let the prospective buyer go
for a test drive alone. He, and the
car, could disapprear. You should
protect your property by also
going on the test drive.
You should also not let any person drive the vehicle until you
sight his current driver's licence.
As a general rule you should not
part with your vehicle if a personal
cheque is offered in payment. It is
preferable that you only accept a
bank cheque or cash if the car is to
be taken away, otherwise you
should retain possession of the
car until the personal cheque has
been cleared by your bank.
Purchasers should ensure that
the vehicle offered for sale has a
clear title. They should check with
Vehicle Securities Register, corner of Princes and Drummond
Streets, Carlton and obtain a certificate which will indicate a clear
title. This then provides indemnity.
Courtesy of the RACV
J>S(}/l.d
/ou leave home, you will probably
be caught by the police.
The police could bring you
before a Children's Court on what
is called a Protection Application.
The Children's Court will then
ask about your general circumstances and try and find out
why you left home.
What can the Children's Court
do?
This will depend on a number of
things. If you haven't made a habit
of leaving home, the Court may
allow you to go home provided you
and your parents agree.
You may be placed on a Supervision Order which means that the
Court would say where you were
to live e.g. at home or in a hostel
and that someone was to supervise your behaviour.
If you've made a habit of leaving
home, the Children's Court could
make you a 'Ward of the State'
which means that the Department
of Community Welfare Services
would say where you are to live
and what you are to do. This could
mean being sent to Turana or
Winlaton for a while.
Can a 16 year old leave home?
If you are 16 years of age and
leave home and are caught by the
police it is unlikely that you will be
taken before a Children's Court on
a Protection Application.
However you must show the
police that;
(a) You have somewhere decent
to live.
(b) You can manage financially.
(c) You are not involved in drugs,
prostitution or crime.
But is still possible for you to be
brought before Children's Court
on a Protection Application until
the age of 17 years.
Can a 17 year old leave home?
Yes. Once you are 17, you are
virtually able to live where you
wish.
Although you do not have the
full rights of an adult until you turn
18, (e.g. voting rights, drive a car,
etc.), the Children's Court has no
power to say where you are to live
once you turn 17 years of age.
Question:
Can I change my name?
Answer:
Question:
Should a 15 year old get advice
before leaving home?
Answer:
Yes.
What can happen if a 15 year
old does leave home?
If you are 15 years ot age and
Yes. You can change your name
at any time. This can be done in
two ways:—
1. Either by simply calling
yourself another name;
2. Officially, by having a document known as a deed poll prepared containing both your old
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
1) Monash-Oakleigh
Legal Service
6 0 Beddoe Ave.,
Clayton North, 3 1 6 8
Phone: 5 4 1 - 3 3 6 8
2) Springvale Legal Service
5 Osbourne Ave.,
Springvale, 3 1 7 1
Phone: 5 4 6 - 5 2 4 4
name and your new name and
lodging the deed poll at the Registrar General's Office in Melbourne, phone: 602-2200.
If you are going to change your
name you should remember
two things:—
While it is not against the law to
call yourself by a different name,
different to the one with which you
were born, it may be a crime if you
use another name to obtain money. For example, if you have a poor
credit rating underyour real name
and you apply for a loan under a
different name, without disclosing
your real name, you could be
charged with a crime called "theft
be deception."
Changing your name by deed
poll will not effect your birth certificate. Generally speaking the
name on a birth certificate can
only be changed if a court orders it
to be changed. Forthis reason any
person wishing to change their
name should do so be a deed poll
to prevent problems when they
are required to produce their birth
certificate. For example, to obtain
a passport or to get some jobs.
For further legal advice free of
charge contact:—
is'HA'ne'H
Victorian Tenancy Law is heavily orientated' towards the landlord's rights under a lease. You,
the tenant, have limited rights but
enjoy a multitude of duties and
obligations. Remember, in order
to know what your rights and how
to enforce them, the onus is with
you to get access to the law
(although your landlord or agent
should have supplied you with a
"statement of Rights and Duties"
just after you signed the dotted
line).
Don't make the huge mistake of
underestimating your financial
liabilities when you become a
tenant for the first time. Quite
apart from a rent payable in
advance and a security deposit
MULTICULTURAL
WEEK
1 5 t h - 2 0 t h July,
in review
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Our first official Student Cultural Week was staged recently
with the help of various cultural
clubs. An assortment of activities
and events were planned and,
although
some
were
unfortunately affected by the wet
weather, they nevertheless proved to be a success.
French patisseries sold like hotcakes on 'Bastille Day.' The spectacular balloon launching which
followed has already had replies
for the competition from as far
away as Korumburra and Morwell.
Another event held by the French
Club, Le Yellowglen Tour de
Monash, was the highlight of the
week. Unfortunately, the weather,
combined with a breakdown in negotiations with a bicycle-hire company, resulted in afield of only 16
THESIS TYPING
nOD^R.
Wheelers Hill
^
561 4746
SEVEN DAYS A WEEK
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
Fuel, SEC and all Telecom charges,
not to mention excess water rates.
However, in case your landlord
tries, tell him/her that property
rates and taxes have nothing to do
with you.
One important cost to remember involves repairs to your home
when you or your visitor, is responsible for the damage. Remember though, that you are not
responsible for repairs in relation
to 'fair wear and tear' eg. worn carpets, or flaky paint.
Bad news if you intend breaking
the lease before the time's up.
Technically a landlord can charge
you for:
- Advertising costs, re-advertising the property for rent.
- A relating fee and
- Rent, until new tenants are
found.
Moving into a flat or a house for
the first time is bound to cost you
more than you expected. Just
check that you know what you're
really up for financially, and whether or not you're up to it before
you commit yourself. If you do
decide to sign that dotted line, it's
not up to you to pay any legal
costs.
(usually the equivalent of one
month's rent) there are a number
of legal charges (money) you are
responsible for.
Firstly, the Application Deposit
(S.80 RTA). It is quite legal for a
landlord or agent to charge such a
deposit to you and several others,
whilst deciding which of you
would make the nicest tenant. If
you're an unsuccessful applicant,
you (should) get your money back
within a fortnight, but if you're the
lucky applicant, very often the
deposit you paid will not be
returned, but rather put towards
the bond or first month's rent.
Secondly, your bond (security
deposit), and advance rent will be
demanded. Remember that where
the rent is not more than $100.00
per week, there are restrictions on
the amount of bond money and
rent in advance which the landlord
can charge. Bond money cannot
be more than ONE MONTHS
RENT (S. 70), and is any more is
demanded for two weeks in
advance (S. 58). A breach of any of
these requirements will cost your
landlord — $500.00.
Besides these lease related
charges, you're liable for Gas and
entrants. However, they didn't
seem to mind, as it turned out that
everyone was then able to share
in the vast quantities of Yellowglen Methode Champenoise and
other great prizes which were
given away. Congratualtions must
go to Brendan Boyle who was first
across the line. Thanks also to
those who volunteered to man
(woman) checkpoints and to
Yellowglen Vineyards for sponsoring the event.
On Friday, the Food Festival,
an array of international cuisine
was so popular it quickly ran out of
supplies. The Indian Association's
Cultural Night in the Alexander
Theatre was another highlight of
the week which was very entertaining.
In all, due to the perseverance of
people from MUMSU, Indian
Association, SAM, French Club et
Al the week broke the ice for
bigger and better things to take
place next year.
rwpiNG"'
I
i
QUICK, ACCURATE, EfFICIENT
Theses, Assignments - no job too
big or too small. Pay now or later
i
S5.00 per hour. PHONE 547 2134
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. =
page 25
I ••• ^•••O
BOKG!!
Leslee Minclai
One of the highlights of the
recently held Multicultural Week
(July 15th to July 19th), was the
staging of the infamous Monash
Iron Bong Competition. The initial
heats of the competition were
held on Monday and Tuesday, the
semi-final occuring on Wednesday, with the Grand Final held at
the Union night on Friday.
To qualify into the semi-final,
competitors first had to smoke 'A
gram of the 'finest Buddah,' the
first and second persons to complete their grass gaining entry into
the semi-final. Approximately
seven heats were held over the
two days with male competitors
dominating and only two females
competing (one of who made the
semi-finals after a mind-blowing
effort).
Wednesday saw successful semifinalists stumbling out of the Banquet Room, after forcing 'A gram of
'Buddah' through their lungs —
only to be faced with the prospect
of, on Friday night, completing one
full gram in the fastest possible
time, and survive!
At 10.30 pm on Friday the four
competitors — Peter X (favourite),
John, The Chinese Gambler; and
Graeme — took their seats, bong
in one hand and mull bowl in the
other, ready to contest the long
awaited challenge. Down went the
count 3....2....1 and the competitors began furiously 'packing.'
The fierce struggle that ensued
resulted in such comments as "I
can't speak," "God, I'm stoned"
and following a brilliant win by
Peter X in approximately two
minutes (last years record being 2
minutes and 54 seconds). The
classic "I can't stand, not now
anyway!"
The competitors, after finishing.
their 'mull' delivered a short
speech each, the general content
comprising acknowledgement and
gratitude of the sponsors, thank
you's to various friends, attempts
to descrbe their present condition
and a lot of laughing.
I managed to speak with each
Grand Finalist and ask a tew questions, these interviews and answers now follow.
fif.lfifjf3fif,3fjfif.}fif.ififi^ifif^ififif^ififif^ififif^>f^>f^fjf>f^if^ifif^if3fifif^
Peter X
How often do you smoke?
Four to five times a week.
What is your favorite type of
'grass?'
I don't know — I really don't know a
lot about it — 'Sinsemella' maybe.
I'm not into growing or stuff like
that.
What is your favorite method
of smol(ing?
Bongs.
How iong have you been smol<ing and at what age did you
begin?
One and a half years. My first
smoke was at thirteen, but then a
break until I began smoking
solidly at 18 years of age.
What is your occupation?
I'm at Monash University presently doing a Science degree, but
hoping to transfer to an Arts
degree.
Do you think that marijuana
should be legalized?
I don't know. I think it'd be too
easily available, but it'd be good if
it was decriminalized.
Do you normally smoke gram
lots each sitting?
No way. At the third bong I thought
I wouldn't have much more, but I
got my second wind.
How are you feeling now?
Pretty ripped really ripped.
What did you thinl( of the
competition?
Good, although I thought it was a
pity it wasn't backed up more.
What are you going to purchase
with the winning voucher?
I don't know. I really don't know. I'd
like to buy one of those 'gatling'
cones, I think.
Where is your favorite place to
smoke?
The Small Oaf. and Cairns.
Any message to Lot's Wife
readers?
I finally got into Lot's Wife!
Advice to everyone: "If you can't
remember, it musta been good!"
The Chinese Gambler
How often do you smoke?
It varies, some weeks I'll smoke for
a few days, then I could have one
or two weeks off.
What is your favourite type of
grass?
Black Afghani Sinsemilla.
What is your favorite method
of smoking?
A good bong — one that holds lots
of water (for a cool smoke) and a
page 26
large mouthpiece and bowl.
What is your occupation?
I'm at Monash University (course
unspecified) and a 'Chinese
Gambler.'
How are you feeling?
Just fine.
What did you think of the
competition?
Very enjoyable! It was highly competitive, lotsa fun, and full of good
spirit — the competitors and
organizers displaying
better
sportsmanship than that on television.
Any message to Lot's Wife
readers?
(a) Please support the....um....necessary reforms of the ridiculous
marijuana legislation to allow the
less harmful drug of the young the
same latitude as alcohol, the drug
of the older generation.
(b) Take that punt!
Purple Head.
What is your favorite method
of smoking?
Bongs, definitely bongs.
How long have you been smoking and at what age did you
begin?
One and a half years. 17 years
old.
What is your occupation?
I'm at Monash Unversityu doing
an Arts degree.
Do you think that marijuana
should be legalized?
Of course, at least decriminalized.
Do you normally smoke gram
lots at each sitting?
No.
How are you feeling now?
Really stoned, spinning out.
What did you think of the
competition?
I thought it was really good except
more people should have entered it.
Any message to Lot's Wife
readers?
Support the Small Caf!
The competition was sponsored by the "Feelgoodes Bong Shoppe."
They supplied the bongs and pipes for the heats and semi-finals;
donated to the four grandf inalists the bong that they used and donated a
$20 voucher from the 'Shoppe.' The 'Shoppe' is located at:
71 Swan Street,
Richmond
(Phone: 428-5397)
Graeme
How often do you smoke?
Regularly.
What Is your favourite type of
grass?
No favorite type. I prefer to mix
very good types.
What is your favorite method
of smoking?
Definitely a bong man, a good
bong anytime.
How long have you been smoking and at what age did you
begin?
Two years. 19 years old.
What is your occupation?
A bong shop attendant.
Do you think that marijuana
should be legalised?
Definitely.
How are you feeling at the
moment?
Pretty bent.
What did you think of the
competition?
It was great. It's a pity it wasn't a little bit more organized, but it was
great.
Any message to Lot's Wife
readers?
10% discount at the shop. Come
down and see me at the market.
I'm a reasonable man, come down
and talk to me about the prices.
John
How often do you smoke?
Three to five times a week. I
dunno.
What is your favorite type of
grass?
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
'Worst Lecture
Theatre Award'
Dear Lot's,
I have been at Monash for 3V2
years, and in that time I have the
good fortune to have slept in most
of Monash's lecture theatres.
So I feel I have the necessary
experience in naming Monash's
worst lecture theatre E5.
Why E5?
1. There is usually only one
door to walk in late through.
2. It's too intimate to get a nice
peaceful snooze in.
3. The seats are too low, so you
can't lean back properly.
4. The seats are too flexible, so
you can't put your foot up without
buckling the chair in front.
5. The seats use swivel writing
tops, so you can't rest your head
on them without collapsing. (This
is the worst problem).
As a result of these qualities, E5
wins the Monash 1985 "worst lecture theatre award."
Yours in drowsiness,
A. C r o w
E n g . Ill
W o m e n Concerned
A b o u t Rape
Dear Kaye Osborn and other concerned women,
I am pleased to see that women
on campus are concerned with
the potential problem of Sexual
Har assment. I have been investigating the alleged rapes which
you mentioned in your letter{Lot's
Wife 22/7/85). Kathleen O'Sullivan, Secretary of the Administrative Executive of M.A.S., has
initiated meetings with other
women's groups on campus, in
conjunction with Politics Oppress
Women (P.O.W.) These meetings
were designed to look into the
establishment of a Sexual Harassment Grievance Procedures
Board at Monash University —
Monash being one of the few campuses of its size not to already
have one. If any women are concerned about this issue (as they
should be), and wish to become
involved in the forthcoming campaign that M.A.S. and the A.L.P.
Club Women's Caucus is currently
working on, I suggest that they
contact me through the A.L.P.
Club letterbox (behind the Union
Desk), or at the M.A.S. offices, or
Kathleen at M.A.S. The campaign
is due to begin in Third Term, so I
hope women will become involved
in order to ensure the success of
the campaign.
M a r i a n n a Serghi
W o m e n ' s Officer
A.L.P. Club
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
STUDENT LOANS
Dear Student,
I guess a continuing barrage on
the letters pages In Lot's of claim
and counter claim is one way to
get a story to the students. Which
was the reason I wrote my article
on Student Loans and the new
interest charges in the first place.
Dr. Hutson (Lot's Wife #10),
verified for us, many silent facts:
1 . A new loan fund was set up
because of extra funds given by
the Government.
2. Government insistence on
maintenance of its real value
meant interest charges — interest, whatever the calculated rate,
is still interest.
3. The Council approved the
charge on 1 7/6/85.
BUT — the legislation was not
brought in until the July meeting
and thus was not promulgated
until a week later.
BUT — despite whether the
interest was able to be charged on
the existing loans without promulgation. Interest was charged on
the existing loans applied for by
students and passed by the Committee before Council met on 17/
6/85.
My argument is this:
1 . students applied for loans
prior to 17/6/85 without the
knowledge that interest was to be
charged, ie they were not informed that interest rates were
being considered. While 4.4% may
not be initially high, compounded
over a degree course, it adds up.
2. what other criteria were discussed to distinguish between the
new loan, which Government
indicated must have interest, and
the existing loans which have
been in existence for some time
without interest charges?
My whole intention behind the
page I negotiated with the editors,
was to inform students of the
interest rate now being applied to
all loans.
Unfortunately, only a small segment of what I had intended found
its way to the paper and when I
complained to the editor (C. BenSimon), I was told she knew nothing about the original intention
and I could well be lying.
But I guess I know about the
interest being applied, the Committee now know I object, given
the reply by the Chair of the Committee, and I should let the matter
rest there. What possible concern
could it be to me that other
students were unaware of this
charge? How "naughty" of me to
step on the toes of the Loans
Committee and Hal Skinner (Fin-
ancial Advisor). I might add that I
did step on toes, as the letter from
a Council Committee Chair indicates and also Hal's antagonism
which resulted in his hanging the
phone up on me, and his disinclination to enter into any discussion with me.
But I make no apology for this.
What I am sorry for is that the
student representative on this
Committee, ie. Hugh Cameron,
Liberal, did not get the flack I
intended he get, for NOT informing students of the intention of the
Committee and seeking their
reaction and suggestions before
the Committee and Council
decision.
Where are you Hugh? I'm told
you are still around the hallowed
Halls somewhere!!
Informing students of pending
and past decisions of Committees
is the function of a student
representative.
One I am attempting to fulfil.
Sue Thomson
NOTE FROM
BOB
Dear Monash Association of
Students,
Thank you for your short note. I
was quite pleased to hear from
you — everyone here in my office
haven't been themselves lately I
really can't figure out why!
I was thinking of a compromise
— I'll give your campus more
money plus increas the T.E.A.S.
allowance if you agree to pay for
your education fees. You see, I'm
really broke too. (But please don't
tell the others!)
I'm sorry that this is such a short
note but I have to go now the boys
are at it again, "sigh!"
Love from,
Bob.
P.S. Couldn't your sister enrol for
one of those whatchamightcallit
"TAPE" colleges? They seem like
nice places.
Dig It Man
Dear Lot's,
Like, I can dig where this OIny
fella's coming from. Read the
Biblical rune, clear the gloom, let's
make room for Creation Science.
Prehistoric Mills and Boon, the
Scriptures'got it all, you loon. Like,
if I'm wrong. I'm a monkey's uncle
(and I probably am).
Like, Darwin, maaaan! Keep
your banana drama to yourself,
you anti-karma farmer. Like, how
can any self-respecting "Get it on,
smoke a bong" small caf sitar (sic)
groove to that action? It'd make
me vomit (sick). Like, where's the
poetry? Rymthm and rhyme. Lemon and lime, symbolism dripping
from line to line. Leave the
science to the leafy defiance
appliance. It's what's in there; the
dope, you dope, I hope, that
counts; that mounts and mounts,
discounts your hairy ancestors,
baaaaaby!
C'mon, get out of your tree,
climb out of your evolutionary pit,
you carcinogenic cro-magnons,
you nefarious Neanderthals. Let
the smoke flow through your dead
head, Fred. Mmmmmm Sink deep;
sleep, weep, keep flowing back
through time, and you're there, in
the beggining, and God's laying
back, creating the j o i n t "After six
days solid creating, I want something more than a fucking Snickers.
Like, let there be drugs!"
That's where it's a t you boring,
ignoring, deplorable morons. Like,
OIny baby, what is your creamy,
creamy, oh so dreamy substance?
Huh?Whaddayacallit?
Religion? Paaa! Like, NO WAY,
MUTHA!
J o h n Stitch
Alfie Noakes
CAF TALK
Dear and Revered Ed's,
Thank you for Caf Talk. It is
about time that someone got
around to providing an insight into
the closest this University will ever
get to 'think-tank.' Whilst I don't
think that most Small Caf patrons
needed a Cooks Tour of the what's
and how's of bongs, I am sure it
was a worthwhile article. Those
who don't frequent the heart and
brain of Monash needed to be
shown the light Ergo my heart felt
thanks. I trust that under your
enlightened editorship we will see
Caf Talk become a regular and
looked for feature of Lot's Wife.
Yours,
Vitch
"Get my rocks off'
Dear Lot's,
Recent events, coupled with
some of the contents of your last
edition, has given me the desire to
"get my rocks off about a few
things.
I have had the pleasure of
attending a number of very interesting talks given by some very
knowledegable speakers about
some very important issues. In
recent weeks these include lectures about human rights and the
page 27
political situations in South Africa
and Central America. If seems that
few of these talks attract more
than a handful of people, a situation one might put down to student apathy. Why then, couldn't I
get a seat when I attended the
films on creationism screened by
Students for Christ? Why did I see
so many people who I'd never
seen at current affairs/political
talks?
Whilst Students for Christ have
a right to show these films, it is
beyond me why normally apathetic students would attend. Perhaps one of these people could
write to Lot's Wife and explain why
the creationism/evolution debate
is more important to them than
human rights and other current
political issues.
Whilst on the subject, I thought
the films were propagandist garbage. One film concluded with a
statement to the effect that we are
all going to die when fire (ie.,
nuclear warheads) destroys the
earth, so we'd better believe in
God and creationism if we want to
get to heaven. This is an insult to
all those who are, in whatever way,
striving for a more just and peaceful world.
We evolutionists also deny
being agents of Satan. If you don't
believe in a God, it can be very difficult to believe in its antithesis.
Turning to my friends in the
Moderate Students Alliance, congratulations to Peter Phillips for
having his letter printed twice. I'd
like to know how he came to the
conclusion that America has no
plans for a first strike when the
Americans themselves say they
do. Prominent Americans, such as
James Schlesinger, have said so.
The fact remains that our bases
here contribute to that capability.
Anthony Negline's rampant sexism comes to the fore when he
refers to "the necessity for
mothers to be in the workforce."
This is an insult to all of us who are
considering house-husbandry as
a serious career option.
I wish to point out that the
T.U.G.E.R.S. who wrote in last edition, in no way represent any
Engineering students apart from
themselves (a few Electrlcals),
and their policies hence do not
reflect those of Engineering
students.
See you next term,
Peter Taft
Chem. Eng. Ill
page 28
Somethings
Fishy!
Dear Lot's Wife,
Where can we begin
my
friends and I were sitting near the
pond (the one near Student
Records and the Main Library),
watching the goldfish; and we
could not help but be disgusted by
the polluted and horrible state of
their 'home.' There was mosscovered bread pieces, dry leaves,
twigs and branches, Twisties
bags, lolly wrappers, cigarette
stubs, some pages of newspaper,
orange peel, women's underwear in the pond.
Furthermore, the water seemed
stagnant it is a wonder the
goldfish were still there.
Surely, there must be somebody
who could help!!!!!
From,
The Goldfish Concern
Suicide
Dear Editors,
Anyone who believes that this
world got here by chance, would
have to be committing intellectual suicide.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Boutros
IMPORTANT:
This could prevent a life
Dear Mrs. Lot's,
It's good to see an article relating to the ins and outs of contraception. However, I think your
article was dangerously incomplete. I discovered this the hard
way, just three days before your
last edition was released. Your
article did not specify the most
important part of condom application. That is, ensuring that
the "reservoir tip" (or teat as I
know it), must be squeezed while
rolling the condom onto the fully
erect penis. If this is not done the
chances of the broken propolatic
may become a reality. It's secret is
to ensure that all of the air is
removed from the teat so that the
pressure does not tear it, with continuous thrusting.
As a consequence of the broken
propalatic we searched through
the Monash Diary for the Family
Planning Clinics telephone number (thank God for that) and the
next day, my girlfriend was supplied with the "Morning After Pill,"
here your article seems inadequate again, as it says nothing of
the probably sickness and bleeding which left my girlfriend ill for a
day or so.
Finally, there are many brands
of condoms on the market. The
ones I usually use are "Simple but
Safi-DUREX," however, because
of the risk of pregnancy I changed
to "Shaped Extra Safe DUREX
with spermacidal lubricant" —
safe ha — perhaps in a future edition of Lot's, you could give a table
comparing all types of condoms —
especially shaped v's plain v's
teats v's ripped.
Thanks,
First Year Arts
Frustrated Undergraduate
The excessive whinging and
pseudo-academia of such mature
age students is useful for little but
laughing at lecturer's jests and
occupying the front seats of lecture theatres before any other
students.
I demand those mature age
students who claim their university position is utilized for selfimprovement and mental stimulation
to provide further justification in
denying 7000 HSC students of
tertiary education.
Craig Dowling
Collective Knockers
We are members of the Frustrated Undergraduate Collective Knockers and we hate:
- Kathleen O'Sullivan and
Steve Hurd
- The Toecutters and all student politicans
- David Wishart who kids himself at lecturing Company Law
- The blue shirt army in the
main library
- Lot's Wife
- You!
We want to Itnow:
- What's in the women's room?
- What does C.R.A.C. do?
- What happens at lesbian and
gay collective meetings?
- Why there is no bar on
campus?
- What happened to Farm
Week?
We want:
- A McDonalds on campus
- Free grog vouchers valid at
the Nott to be printed in Lot's
Wife
- All funny, weird, spiky and
coloured hairstyles to be banned
on campus
- A research foundation set up
to help find a cure for George "The
Animal" Steele
- Robert "Piggy" Muldoon to
lecture at Monash
Signed,
F.U.C.K.
Age of Maturity
Dear Lot's Wife,
It is indeed a fallacy of composition to assume all mature age
students seek little but self-improvement and mental stimulation. However, it is these particular
mature age students which can be
considered a nuisance to us all
and a waste of tax-payers' money.
In denying secondary students of
the opportunity for further education theirfervent but futile accomplishments succeed in little but
annoying those of us who truly
wish to obtain employment and
not fulfillment.
SEXISIVI
Dear Editors,
Louise Taunt's article on sexism
published in the previous Lot's
Wife manages to combine the
obvious, the ambiguous and the
naive.
It's author points out that sexism is an over-used but little
understood term. Few would dispute that, yet Taunt claims to be
opening our eyes to an unexplored problem.
After stating the obvious, Taunt
seems to promise an investigation
of the 'real issues and concerns in
the "sexism" debate.' These need,
she says, to be 'addressed fairly
and squarely.' However, what
follows is a string of paragraphs
linked more by word association
than by logic — the 'issues and
concerns' she discusses are as
cllched as the word 'sexist' which
she so despises.
Far from being 'square' (ie.
direct). Taunt's approach is confused and non-committal. For
example, she claims that what is
generally called positive discrimination 'give rise to sexism —
with all its impeding injustices,' yet
she says that this is not necessarily "wrong." In other words,
although Taunt does not appear to
believe that sexism is "wrong,"
she asserts that it promotes 'injustices.' Make up your mind,
Louise!
Similarly, it would be different to
describe Taunt's approach as
'fair.' She makes simplistic generalizations and false accusations
which far out do any of the
statements she cites with such
disdain. Most objectionable is her
suggestion that 'there is nothing
"non-sexist" about the Feminist
Movement.' There are a lot of
things non-sexist about feminism!
To recognize those factors, it is
first necessary to reject the generalizing nature of Taunt's proclaimation. There are a number of
feminist stances to take into
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
account — ranging from Liberal
Feminism, to Socialist Feminism,
to Radical Feminism — and every
one of those stances Is represented by an extensive range of
theory and activity. It is true that
some feminists (particularly Liberal Feminists), are Interested In
short-term solutions such as positive discrimination. Such feminists
aim to redress the balance while
working within the present social,
economic and political structures.
It Is also true that some feminists
(particularly some Radical Feminists), believe that a womancentred society, based on the
positive characteristics which have
been associated with women and
which women have been encouraged to develop, is a solution to
the apparent destructlveness of a
man-centred world. However, it Is
naive to make a sweeping statement about 'The Feminist Movement' based on certain aspects of
particular sectors of that diverse
body of thought and activity.
Finally, If there is one outstanding feature common to most (if not
all) feminists, past and present,
that is their emphasis on the need
to Improve social conditions in
general. Feminist theorists, from
IVIary Wollstonecraft, to Frederick
Engels, to Betty Friedan and Juliet
Mitchell, have all refered to this in
specific terms. Furthermore, while
it is true that the phrase 'women's
issues' might be described as sexist, the issues it normally covers
(women's employment, sexual
harrassment, abortion, etc), are
not — they are everyone's
concern!
Heidi Marfurt
Mad Pam
Dear Lot's,
I would like to address the comment made by Phil Semmel regarding Sean Purcell's description
of Anthony Negline as "Michael
Barnard's mutant spawn." I don't
think Mr. Semmel should ridicule
Mr. Purcell's comment as being of
no consequence — it was the
common feeling of many who read
Negline's article on the left and
Vietnam. Especially people like
myself who have made a point of
studying such matters to postgraduate level. I felt that Mr.
Negline's interpretation was a
gross misinterpretation and over
simplification of what actually
occurred on the left in the Vietnam
era. He obviously- distorted the
facts to suit his own rampantly
right wing philosophy. Calling the
article "The left and the Truth" is a
misnomer to say the least In all
honesty and in the interests of
page 29
objective, academic scholarship,
Mr. Negline should have renamed
It "The left and the Truth — a
perspective." To represent his
own particular interpretation as
the truth is too presumptious of its
validity for my liking and borders
on the fascism he so detests.
Pamela Wilson
P.S. I think Mr. Negline has already
found the solution to the problem
some people have in equating
democracy with dictatorships —
simply "If the hat fits, wear it."
RAPE (?)
ON CAMPUS
Dear Lot's,
Is Kaye Osborn (Lot's Wife 22/
7), a reporter for Truth?
Her stories of "rape in the carparks, in the Main Library
toilets and women being molested in the library stacks" have
indeed been well filtered. To set
her mind (and the minds of other
library users) at rest:
No-one has ever been raped in
the Main Library toilets — or anywhere else in the Main Library or
any other library on campus. A
woman was once molested in a
toilet — several years ago.
No-one has been molested In
the library stacks — unless by
molestation she means "The
Flasher" who did infest the stacks
for a few days — again, several
years ago.
I suspect that the "increase in
rapes" she claims is simply an
increase in the frequency of reappearance of old stories.
Yours faithfully,
T.B. Southwell,
University Librarian
Greek Democracy
Dear Lot's,
Peter D. Vlaho's article on
Greece; Democracy Comes of
Age (Lot's Wife, #10), stood out in
its naivety. Not that Peter's views
are unique. Everyday, through
schools, newspapers (Lot's included), television, radio, work,
parents, etc., the PERSPECTIVE
OF POWER is reaffirmed. It is difficult to see daily life from any
other perspective because all our
reference points have been given
to us by power.
Peter's 'degree of confidence
that Greek Democracy has not
tailed' is laughable, considering
that democracy has never existed
there — or anywhere else. When
have people had control over their
own lives?
In the 'democratic' countries
dissent is managed via the ballot
box — a system which offers any
choice that keeps power intact. If
you don't like the government you
can vote an alternative government — but you can't vote an alternative to government. The choice
of governments is illusionary
because, whichever government
we choose, we always get upholders of the three basic rules —
work, consume, respect authority.
Bullshitting around with N.A.T.O.,
E.E.G., economic policies to avoid
national bankruptcy are not only
trivial but serve to hide the real
state secret — the secret misery
of daily life. The failed cured, the
alternatives that were no alternative, the broken promises, the sellouts, all create a climate of
cynicism and apathy.
To build the world we want
NOW, we need to work on our
relationships, interactions and
interventions in daily life. Pasok
(the Greek socialist government
we are to praise) is a political
movement based on an ideology
which (like all ideologies) is as participatory as a 'painting-by-numbers' kit.
Chris Morphomeros
Anthony Negline
hits back
Dear Editors,
It was expected that the articles
I submitted, and which you kindly
printed, would be contentious for
many and the stimulus for the response of a few. The two letters in
the last issue of Lot's Wife, which
refer to those articles are not
challenging so much as chrulish.
They prefer unsubstantiated opinions and biased rejections lightly veiled beneath "AD PERSONAM"
reflections which are, on consideration, no more than feline
reactions to mild provocation.
Sean Purcell tranters to you and
to me his personal frustrations
gathered, one might charitably
suppose, from prolonged years of
under-graduate yearnings for
more than mere self-esteem —
with which I sympathise and for
which I wish him all that is good.
His remark that I am the 'mutant
spawn' of Michael Barnard is as
illogical as it is indecorous. None
is more than a total of experiences
and knowledge acquired and
cogitated except, oh wonders,
Sean Purcell, who takes little
intellectual nourishment to prove
the truth that, what I eat today
walks and talks tomorrow! His
speculation on the sources of my
information is as stupid as it is
singular. Sigmund Freud would
have delighted in Sean's letter as
an amazing short-cut to prolonged and painful analysis.
Bill Leahy, Arts, and aspirant to
the Catholic Priesthood of the
Carmalite Gender, is slightly less
determined to praise; but he belittles me when he writes of "naive
without being idealistic," as though
being idealistic is in every other
case, naive, like in the Person of
Christ he seeks to survive. This
would be quite consistent with his
progressive views and his facile
and quite incorrect reference to
Papal Encyclicals as 'Bulls,' which
is all "balls" if I may say so. Bill
states that he is an avid reader of
'Women's Weekly,' which I doubt,
though his woolly notions would
well derive from the knitting section! He would be better employed
In the furtherence of his avocation
to read more of the treasury and
wisdom of the Church of his
allegiance — thus less inclined to
near-miss quotations and definitions. He joins many another,
these days, who raise a chuckle
against the Church, to appropriate
no more than a disassociation and
perverse originality, so sick by
repition.
Brother Leahy's so called "respect for human rights" has been
the cause of at the least sixty-five
thousand deaths in Vietnam, two
hundred thousand prisoners of
conscience and so and so on. I
challenge him to look at the facts
of the matter in question and if
possible, produce a proper rebutal.
If I take, Mr. Leahy's argument to
its logical conclusion, I am free to
say that Australia should pose no
threat to Australian sovereignty.
Bill Leahy seems to have committed the modern sin of equating
democracy with dictatorship.
I would indeed be interested to
hear from anyone who has discovered the solution to this
equation.
Yours sincerely,
Anthony Negline
First Year Arts
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
Andrew Clarke
There was a time when little
front-wheel drive cars had only
two things going for them: good
fuel economy and easy parking.
Those days are long gone and little front-wheel drives are normally
quite good cars. For a very reasonable cost, we can now buy very
sporty front-wheel hatchbacks
that can actually enthuse a driver.
Just three examples, and probably the best ones are the Honda
Civic 3 door, Daihatsu's Turbocharged Charade and the Colt
GSR by Mitsubishi.
Design:
Whilst not being the biggest
selling cars in their class, these
three cars are certainly the leaders of the class in many ways. For
a start, each car looks unique. The
Colt has five doors with smooth
curved lines all round with no
sharp edges, steeply racked
windscreen and rear window. The
car looks "cheeky" and quite
aerodynamic, but one wonders
how advantageous the wheel arch
extensions are.
The Honda Is an interesting car
to look at. It is very low with steep
rackings on both the bonnet and
the windscreen. The rear window,
and subsequently the tail, is
nearly vertical. This allows small
pillars at the back and thus provides an excellent panoramic
view. An easy leader in this major
area of safety.
Daihatsu offer an optional spoiler
pack for their turbo model. This
pack involves having spoilers
moulded to the bumper bars at the
front and back. These spoilers are
more than just a good looking
option as they help give the car
enormous grip. The current model
Charade has had its corners rounded off and thus the car looks
smoother and is very attractive
instead of being cute. In this guise
with its "turbo stripping" the
Charade was a regular head
turner.
Comfort:
None of these cars were particularly luxurious but then none
of them are meant to be. All three
had only minimal instrumentation,
plus a rev counter (the Japanese
just don't know about voltmeters,
oil pressure gauges and the like),
The Charade didn't even have a
turbo boost gauge, just an idiot
light to tell you when it is providing boost.
The sound systerrs.(apart from
the Charade's exhaust) could be
thrown out and replaced by better
ones; none gave an acceptable listening quality. The Colt had a four
speaker(one for each corner), and
an AM/FM cassette player, the
Civics music was via two very
trebly d o o r - m o u n t e d speakers
with a Pioneer AM/FM cassette
player as the provider of music.
One speaker and an AM/FM radio
is all that Daihatsu gave this
Charade, hardly a situation for a
LOT'S WIFE
* 11
young person to have to live with
At least the exhaust note was
very nice.
Ventilation in the Civic was
below standard for the rest of the
car,with only central heater outlets at face levels. Both the Colt
and the Charade were well looked
after in this area. The Colt was also
well looked after in the seating, so
too was the Civic. The seats were
comfortable, and both cars would
seat five people in reasonable
comfort. The Charade would not
seat five; at most four people
could be safely seated. The front
seats were very impressive to look
at and very impressive to sit in.
Lateral support was excellent and
the only place the seats lacked
was in the under-thigh department
(no doubt only obvious due to this
being the only let-down).
The Civic has no storage pockets, not even for cassettes, let
alone more important items, such
as a Melway's. The Colt was not
much better with an air-conditioning unit taking up the shelf
space. At least the Melway's fitted
in the glove box. Only the Charade
had a pocket suited to holding the
Melway's, one in each for the
front doors.
Load space was limited in all of
the cars, only to a lesser degree in
the Colt. At least all the cars had
splitting fold-down seats to increase this feature.
Engineering:
The uniqueness of these cars is
also shown in the engineering.
Underneath the different looking
bodies are three very different
trains of thought, even though all
have transversely mounted engines driving the front wheels.
Honda puts itself on its own by
using a 12 valve cylinder head,
(three valves per cylinder), to provide 63 kw from just a 1.5 litre displacement. The ratios on the slick
five speed gearbox seem to be
ideally suited to this gutsy little
engine. When reved hard a harshness develops in the engine at
above 5,500 r.p.m. and thus I didn't
feel comfortable revving all the
way through to the 6,500 r.p.m.
redline.
Both the Civic and the Charade
f^RICE
ENGINE
Cylinders
displacement
power
torque
weight-to-power
ECONOMY
ACCELERATION
0- 6 0 km/h
0- 100 km/h
50- 7 0 km/h
90-110 km/h
suffer from very little torque steer,
the latter almost having none. Of
these two only the Civic will spin
its front wheels and then only
under very hard standing starts.
The exhilaratinglittle Charade has
a tiny three cylinder, 1 litre engine;
with the turbo-charger this unit
develops a healthy 50 kw. By far
the most impressive feature of this
engine is its willingness to rev well
past its 6,000 r.p.m. redline. The
next most impressive feature of
this engine is its sound. The
natural burble of the three cylinder engine coupled to a twin pipe
exhaust system gives the car a
very purposeful sound, much like
a powerful V8. The sound alone is
enough to sell the car, to me
anyway.
The Colt has a fairly normal 1.6
litre, four cylinder engine.'Nothing
unique' you say; true. It differs
from the norm by its eight speed
gearbox (really a 4x2 unit^whereas
most cars in this class, including
the Civic and Charade, use a five
speed gearbox (normally four
gears and one overdrive). This
gearbox has four power gears and
four economy gears. The real
value,3/mmicl<value aside, of this
gearbox is very dubious. It must
weigh more than a five speed (it
has three extra cogs) and city driving in economy rarely sees the
need to go above third gear if not
second. Second gear economy is
good for 115 kmh, and fourth gear
economy just above an idle at 60
kmh, hardly sensible. In fairness.
the Colt was fairly economical.
Performance:
All three cars felt quick, very
quick. True figures show that
these cars are not in the supercar
league, but they are still quick for
their size and price. A six cylinder
Commodore, or even the new
Magna, will have a run to its limits
so as not to be beaten by too much
by anyone of these flying bricks.
The Colt GSR is the slowest of
this trio, in all respects. It is
slower in a straight line, it is slower
around corners. The handling of
this car is not helped by excessive
torque steer, soggy suspension
and lots of body roll (even though
the GSR option has front and rear
anti-roll bars). This car also suffers
very badly from understeer,thanks
largely to all the previous mentioned problems, and only reasonable tyres.
Honda's Civic is a very different
story. It has beautifully tuned suspension, not too firm and not too
soft. Body roll is far from excessive
and generally the car handles in a
no-fuss manner. The great engine
gives plenty of power to squirt
from corner to corner; coupled
with the ability to corner quickly;
and you have a very quick car. Certainly quick enough to surprise
many a driver of more expensive
quick cars.
The Charade Turbo takes everything in its stride. Nothing was
able to upset my confidence in
this car, not even very heavy rain.
A superbly responsive engine,
brilliant handling, no torque steer,
low understeer and extremely
high grip levels are all very handy
assets. Whilst the car was very
quick^ it had superb beautifully
weighted brakes to pull it up very
quickly and easily.
Nice gearboxes also complemented the sporty nature of
both the Civic and the Charade,
whilst once again the Colt's was
just not up to this very high
standard.
Conclusion:
The Colt GSR is really only a
family hatchback with sporting
features (ie. front air dam spoiler
and GSR stripes). It therefore is
just not in the same class as the
other two cars, except for in
market appeal. The Civic is a
brilliant car, but slightly expensive
for its equipment levels. It has a
superb engine built by Honda, the
same company that supplies the
Williams Formula One team with
powerplants, and like the Formula
One engine, it is one of the most
powerful, efficient engines in its
class.
Whilst the Civic is brilliant, the
Charade is better. I would not
think twice, if in the market for one
of these cars^in handing over $11,000 to the Daihatsu people. This is
a car I was very impressed by and
one whose racing potential is yet
to be realised.
MITSUBISHI
Colt GSR
$10,217
HONDA
Civic 3 door
$11,380
DIAHATSU
Charade Turbo
$10,923
1597cc
1488 cc
63 kW @ 6000 r.p.m.
128 Nm @ 3500 r.p.m.
3
g93 cc
50 kW @ 5500 r.p.m.
106 N m @ 3200 r.p.m
58 kW @ 6 0 0 0 r.p.m.
117 Nm @ 4 0 0 0 r.p.m.
15.9 kg/kW
9.4 1/100km
Economy in brackets
5.8 sec ( 6.0 sec)
11.9 sec (13.5 sec)
6.4 sec ( 6.9 sec) - 3rd
7.7 sec (10.8 sec) - 4th
3.1 sec ( 7.0 sec) - 3rd
5.7 sec (14.8 sec) - 4th
Mitsubishi Australia
13.1 kg/kW
gear
gear
gear
gear
9.3 1/100 km
Wet Roads
5.4 sec
11.4 sec
3.8 sec - 3rd gear
4.6 sec - 4th gear
5.6 sec - 4th gear
6.7 sec - 5th gear
Honda Australia
14.2kg/kW
10.0 1/100 km
5.1 sec
10.5 sec
3.9 sec - 3rd gear
5.5 sec - 4th gear
5.8 sec - 4th gear
8.9 sec - 5th gear
Daihatsu Australia
page 30
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