Debate | Issue 19 | 2016 by Debate Magazine

DEBATE ISSUE 19 | AUGUST 2016

CREDITS PUBLISHED BY

EDITOR Laurien Barks lbarks@aut.ac.nz SUB - EDITOR Amelia Petrovich DESIGNER Ramina Rai rrai@aut.ac.nz CONTRIBUTORS Reegan Hill, Amelia Petrovich, SoCheata Tao, Kieran Bennett, Benjamin Matthews, Ethan Sills, Glen Osborne, Shawn Cleaver, Tharindu Jayasinghe, William Bowman, Caterina Atkinson, Tyler Hinde ADVERTISING Harriet Smythe hsmythe@aut.ac.nz

Contributions can be sent to lbarks@aut.ac.nz PRINTER Debate is printed lovingly by Soar Print

CONTENTS

Debate is a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA) This publication is entitled to the full protection given by the Copyright Act 1994 (“the Act”) to the holders of the copyright, being AUCKLAND STUDENT MOVEMENT AT AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED (“AuSM”). Reproduction, storage or display of any part of this publication by any process, electronic or otherwise (except for the educational purposes specified in the Act) without express permission is a break of the copyright of the publisher and will be prosecuted accordingly. Inquiries seeking permission to reproduce should be addressed to AuSM.

Pg 4 Editor’s Letter Pg 5 Comics Pg 6 Prez Sez Pg 7 Art Competition Pg 8 Exams, The Institution of the Past

Pg 15 My Ups and Downs Made Me Who I Am Today

Pg 24 South Auckland Science Challenge

Pg 16 In Short

Pg 26 Shawn vs Wild

Pg 18 Theatrebound: Interview with Morgana O’Reilly

Pg 28 Why #BlackLivesMatter Matters

Pg 10 Cool Shit

Pg 21 101 Average – Terrible Ways to Deal with Stress

Pg 12 Dungeons, Dragons, and Vodka

Pg 22 AUT ICT and Engineering Careers Fair

Pg 30 What’s On Pg 31 Recipe Pg 32 Reviews Pg 34 Puzzles

DISCLAIMER

Material contained in this publication does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of AuSM, its advertisers, contributors, Soar Print or its subsidiaries.

AUSM.ORG.NZ

COVER IMAGE BY RAMINA RAI FA C E B O O K . C O M / A U S M D E B AT E

EDITOR’S LETTER Hey All, I learned about a little thing called the Svalbard Global Seed Vault last week. The image of it actually caught my eye before the headline did – it was a pretty accurate representation of what I imagine the second ice age would look like. A Doomsday-esque metal box emerging from a rough, white, snowy mountainside. Before I’d actually read up on what it was, I pictured the final hundred human survivors inhabiting this metal panic room/bomb shelter mourning their looming extinction, and wishing they’d all started recycling a little sooner. However, I’m pleased to announce that the function this vault serves is a bit less grim, a lot less apocalypse-y, and is actually pretty awesome. This vault is insurance for plants. It’s a means of overcoming challenges such as climate change, overpopulation, war,

natural disasters, and avoiding extinction of plants that are vital to human survival. It rests in Svalbard, Norway - the farthest north a person can fly so it’s accessible but remote, stable with low humidity levels, above sea level to protect against flooding, and is able to naturally freeze the seeds which reduces costs with seed conservation. I didn’t realize before today that I’d be thinking about the best place in the world to have a seed fridge, yet here we are…I’m thinking about it, and I’m impressed by how effectively the vault guys selected a location. As for the size of this thing, it can store up to 4.5 million kinds of crops, with about 500 seeds going toward each crop, meaning this bad boy has the potential to be pumped full of 2.5 billion seeds. It’s currently got 864 309 samples in the vault – everything from maize, rice, and wheat, to eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato. Any country can make a deposit into the vault, and they’ve got a little something called a ‘Black Box System’ in place to ensure that only the depositors may

withdraw their seeds. Seeds are only accepted from the country that they’ve actually originated from, and there’s a lot of other legal speak surrounding the vault that basically ensures everyone gives and takes only what is there’s to give and take. Sounds simple enough. I love the idea of this communal seed vault. It’s a little sad that we might need to make deposits due to our own destructive human failure, but it has brighter benefits too. It’s a safety net that should be obvious, but doesn’t tend to strike you as such until you see it and have an ‘Of course that should exist!’ moment. I’m rather delighted to know one of these exists – like a Noah’s Arc for plants. It’s something that may never affect me personally, but I like knowing it’s there for others’ wellbeing. Well done science, you’ve impressed me again. Have a great week! Laurien

PREZ SEZ

U R S H U LA A N S E L L

TESSA WHALE

Kia ora guys,

Hey everyone!

Another week goes by, more bills and assessments are due. It’s all about finding the balance of life at university. People say there are three main parts: sleep, study and social life, but I see it as four with the cost of living involved.

I hope you’ve all had a great year so far.

Sleep: our bodies cannot handle going without for too long. Aim for eight hours - if you get anything between eight and six hours, you should be good. But try not to go below that. You will start to run your body down and get sick as well as stressed. Study: it’s what we are all here for at the end of the day. Work away at things - some nights you can give it 30 minutes, sometimes you can give the whole day. Every minute counts. Social life: this can be a mixture of things. The late nights up in the clubs, playing in a sports team, meeting up with friends just to eat, and any other things you might get up to. These things bring life to you, and keep you living. Cost of living: as I’ve previously said, this is really hard. For a lot of us, this means having to balance a job to pay rent, power, water, internet and more. Then eat! This has an effect on how well we do over all. To do well, we need to try to maintain a healthy mind and body. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, it takes a lot of learning about what works best for you. So stay strong and try to get a balance. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein Ursh xx

I’ve really enjoyed being your City Campus Representative, and I’m looking forward to making more progress throughout this semester. The main thing I’d like to talk about is a new initiative the campus representatives are working on. Every three weeks, there are now forum-type meetings on each campus, where you can drop in and have your say on student life around the campus. It’s a way for you to tell us what you’re enjoying, let us know what should be improved, or bring up any other ideas you have. The meetings are pretty casual and there are free snacks. I will post details about the meeting times on the AUT City Campus Facebook group. Apart from this initiative, I have also been focusing on increasing communication with students through social media and word-of-mouth. I think it’s really important to raise awareness of events and clubs, which is something I will be working on for the rest of this year. Please also remember that you can email me whenever at citycampusrep@aut.ac.nz with any issues or ideas you have. Until next time! Tessa

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They can be real, made up, or a combination of the two – the more creative the better! Draw your pictures in the space below, paint them digitally, or sculpt them with clay…whatever you make, we want to see! Email entries (or pictures of entries) to rrai@aut.ac.nz to be in to win. First prize is a Vodafone Smart Turbo 7 phone, with runners up taking away $50 simcards! Competition closes September 5th at noon. Get amongst kids!

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Exams, The Institution of the Past Reegan Hill Okay, I know it’s far too early to be talking about exams, but for a long time (since 2009) I’ve had a bone to pick with them. Here’s the issue: many people, myself included, don’t sit exams well. They can study all they like, but when it comes to sitting in the dead quiet, just your thoughts and paper, a lot of people clam up, words don’t come easily and thoughts are a jumbled, hard-to-process mess. There are different learning styles, different methods of expression, yet exams only test what you can remember and regurgitate on demand. In the real world, you have resources, you have the ability to go read a paragraph, to refresh your memory on a subject, or you can take your notes with you. So why are we sitting exams without resources? Why are we testing the memory instead of the ability to pull fact from materials in front of us? Why aren’t we testing the ability to interpret important information? Einstein, a man of the early to mid-1900s who had an IQ of above 160 (genius level starts around 145), thought exams were an unfair form of testing a student’s abilities. He believed a student should be graded on their overall performance, and he believed students would consequently learn for the sole sake of passing their exam, not for curiosity. This man was one of the smartest people the planet has seen, and I have to say, I agree with him. We have papers where 50 percent of our grade is based upon an exam, and for those who freeze, it’s scary. There is no other time in our lives where we will be in a situation where we won’t have access to resources, unless we’re stuck on a desert island with no cell service.

The education system is catching up, we have papers here at AUT that have no exams, papers where we have access to every resource and that’s fantastic. But there’s still room to grow. The world is looking to expand, progress, and move forward, how can that happen if the education system is stuck with something like exams, which originated roughly 2000 years ago?

He believed a student should be graded on their overall performance, and he believed students would consequently learn for the sole sake of passing their exam, not for curiosity. It’s time to change how we take exams. Even if it’s open book, or just an A4 sheet of notes, we need to stop testing memory and regurgitation, and start testing intellect. Why don’t we take exams like those unfamiliar text papers we took in high school English? There was still knowledge that we had to have in order to get high marks, we still had to analyse text given to us in a way that was accepted by the marking criteria, and we still had to use our intelligence to decipher what was in front of us. The answers weren’t given to us; we had to pull them from the resource in front of our eyes. Why don’t we rely upon more exams with the likes of case studies and real word applications? I know a few people will think, ‘it’s just another millennial raving about how things are unfair’. This isn’t about fairness, this is about education and the measure of learning. Everybody learns differently, by doing, seeing, reading, or any manner of actions, I’m asking for the system to see these different learning styles and adapt to the changing environment.

COOL SHIT

HOTDOG! AUT’s Market Days aren’t complete without the Real Deal hotdog and crepe caravan! These guys have been kind enough to offer up some vouchers to give away, so if you’re keen on a free lunch next Market Day, Facebook message us your name, campus, and favourite crepe topping. facebook.com/ausmdebate

FLY AWAY WITH ME

HUNGRY?

Or fly away by yourself, it doesn’t matter. But whoever you do or don’t decide to fly away with, we’d like you to take $50 off the original ticket price with our STA giveaway!

Debate’s got another $20 Lonestar voucher to giveaway this week! You could be dining at Lonestar Newmarket in no time, simply email your name, campus, and go-to comfort food to lbarks@aut.ac.nz. First in wins!

We have one $50 STA voucher to give to the first person who can email lbarks@aut.ac.nz their name, campus, and a photo of their favourite beach!

ABSURDITY OF HUMANITY In its most provocative and poetic season yet, The New Zealand Dance Company is proud to present The Absurdity of Humanity. Artistic Director Shona McCullagh couples the striking works of Ross McCormack (Matter) and Lina Limosani (Whispers from Pandora’s Box) to form a stageblazing trans-Tasman double bill, premiering in Auckland at Q Theatre August 24 – 27. Better yet…there’s $20 student tickets available! Just head on over to http://www.qtheatre.co.nz/ to book.

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Dungeons, Dragons, and Vodka…Oh My Amelia Petrovich | Illustration by Tyler Hinde It started with a trip to Countdown to buy pick ‘n’ mix, and ended with me voting to sacrifice a new friend to an un-named and vengeful god. Last weekend was certainly one of the more interesting ones of my life thus far. What seems scandalous and strange to me, however, was just an average weekly session for the rest of my party, many of them well used to slaying specters and creating backstories on the fly. In the world of Dungeons and Dragons, I was a complete rookie and it definitely showed. Dungeons and Dragons is a fantasy roleplaying game that involves storytelling and individual character decisions to advance a plot and complete goals. That’s the most technical description of the game I can muster up after just seven hours of game play (so far). But in simpler terms, I guess it’s really where a group of people sit around a table, everyone decides on a character that they “are” for the session, and a story is told where you have to react in character. There are also dice, score sheets, and lots of numbers… but we’ll get to that later. The game itself was first published in 1974 in the form of three booklets that detailed the concept, rules and how scoring worked. It was put together by Gary Gyax (the founder of The International Federation of Wargaming, which apparently is a thing) and Dave

Arneson, and within eleven months the entire handassembled print run of 1000 games was sold out. Now 42 years later, thousands upon thousands of people play Dungeons and Dragons worldwide and the game itself is up to its fifth edition. Despite being crazy popular in a lot of circles though, I’d still never given it a go, preferring to stick to simple games like Connect Four because my attention span is limited and I don’t often have more than one friend at a time. But that one friend I did have decided to become embroiled in D&D, leaving the complex and thrilling world of Connect Four behind him, and I began to realise that I had to join the world of serious character role-play if I was ever going to be able to participate in friendly conversation. Once upon a time I’d ask “how has your week been?” and be told about uni classes, but the day my buddy responded with “oh dude, you should have seen my necromancer last weekend, his companion is now an undead human hand,” I knew that the time to act was upon me. The very first and most important thing to do was to buy a stackload of nutritiously dubious food. In D&D, campaigns can go on for a long time and players need sustenance, a truth that our group’s resident Dungeon Master (the dude or dudette who organises the game and tells the story to accompany it) told me was the reason that “lots of us aren’t super healthy”. I grabbed celery to go with the onion dip, the green matched the luminous astronaut sweets we’d also thrown into the trolley.

Because I was new, clueless and horrible at math, we started the game purposely early so the whole crew could ‘roll up’ characters. This is how you determine what sort of character you’ll be during the game and what your individual abilities will be. Just like real people, D&D characters are born with their own unique race, class, and levels of ability, but it’s rolls of the dice that determine these rather than DNA (obviously). I was told to roll, add, report back, and fill in boxes on a score sheet until I ended up with a dyslexic wood elf named Thia who had a penchant for poisons. I was lost and confused, but I had a name and that in itself was kind of exciting. We then went around in a circle and self-consciously introduced ourselves in character, which felt a lot like an Alcoholics Anonymous meet up- almost as much hesitance, and a healthy dose of scandal. I discovered that I’d entered an all-female (despite the three physical men sitting opposite) party which consisted of a monster fighter with a tragic and mysterious backstory, another wood-elf who happened to be a master thief, a halfdragon chick who didn’t like the dark, and then another girl who might have been a god or something. I don’t know… she could make light beams. Anyway, the story that unraveled saw us navigating a haunted house, which was something I didn’t envision my poisonhappy elf doing, and it threw me off

completely in terms of role-play. As well as being able to ‘level up’ during campaigns when the Dungeon Master thinks your group has done something awesome, I found out you can also get ‘inspiration points’ when you make a decision that seems particularly on-point for your character. Being a poisons genius didn’t do anything particularly helpful on this campaign though, so I poured myself vanilla vodka and listened to the rest of the table do their thing for the most part.

Being a poisons genius didn’t do anything particularly helpful on this campaign though, so I poured myself vanilla vodka and listened to the rest of the table do their thing for the most part. As people embellished their actions and choices (“I smack the ghoul on the head with my hammer and scream, striking the most anime girl pose possible afterwards”) I was reminded of a chat I’d had with an old teacher once. “What a shame,” this person had said “that children have to grow up and lose their imagination.” These weren’t children I was hanging out with, but as my half-drunk brain muddled through the enigma that was D&D, I grew

happy that everyone else was talking about the same people in the same haunted house. Through that discussion and a few dice rolls, we were all picturing a scene, a story in our mind’s eye. Adults speak in hypotheticals sometimes, but seldom do we bond over pure fantasy, and in this way Dungeons and Dragons felt like a work out for whatever part of the brain guards and exercises the make-believe. “Amelia, do you want to do anything in the room with the creepy orb statue?” My musings were quelled by our DM, anxious to progress the party onwards. “Yeah, I walk up and grab the orb,” I said, imagining excitement of a penniless wood elf about to become the proud owner of a glowing trinket. “You…what? Okay, fuck. In picking up the orb you summon four ghosts that surround you and come at you to attack. Go ahead and roll. God dammit, why would you do that?” So seven hours later I was still pretty shit at Dungeons and Dragons. But everyone’s coming back in two weeks’ time, so I guess the story’s not over altogether. Dreaming up a return from the dead for our poor, sacrificed friend will be interesting, but the imagination of sortof-nerdy twenty-somethings is a capable thing.

My Ups and Downs Made Me Who I Am Today! By SoCheata Tao

I have been in Auckland for almost six months. Within this period, I have experienced a lot of ups and downs. However, I want to inspire you to look at the positive side of life, and let it play louder than the negative side. Make sure you control your mind, do not let your mind control you. For me, my ups push me to go further, and my downs motivate me to get through every single hardship I come across. You might even say that the effort I put into getting through the negative times, stays in my heart long after the hardship has passed. My ups light the way. They mimic the way I want to deal with any stuff in the future. This is what I call an internal motivation. This simply means every little achievement you have done in a day magically inspires the activities you have in the days to come. What if your plan does not work the way you want it to? Remember that every bad day is not the end of the world. There is more life ahead, and you can do with it whatever you want. That is the way life goes. I would like to remind you not to let your dark side or bad footprints dance their way onto your other days. You may need space to deal with the negative, and that’s okay. However, make sure those little things do not

follow you around. Treat that feeling as a motivator for the next day. You may think that I am talking about ideas that are too hard to make happen. But, believe me, I have experienced that feeling, myself, and I still managed to follow my own advice successfully. Trust me when I say that what you tell yourself is louder than anyone else’s voice.

I would like to remind you not to let your dark side or bad footprints dance their way onto your other days. It is time to let your positive thoughts and attitude toward every single problem control your path. I am aware that it is pretty easy to pay lip service, but how you actually deal with those matters tells a lot more about your real journey. It might look differently with different people, but we have got one common thing that we can do. Never let your bad day and the negative voice inside you outweigh your positive views of yourself. Remember that you are the main source of motivation for yourself. Stop blaming yourself for what you haven’t done well, but instead ask why that happens and what you should do in the future. The choice is really up to you.

IN SHORT

The Unitary Plan has been a contentious document since its unveiling, mainly due to its ability to look beyond the next fouryear election cycle. Its existence has troubled many groups, with some fearing that Auckland would become a bus-infested socialist paradise built on equality and sensible planning. That seems to be one step closer now, as the council has passed the plan and even added in its own clauses, some of which make apartment living more desirable and a likely option.

Herne Bay Resident Devastated Democracy Allowed to Function Kieran Bennett A local Herne Bay resident, several lobby groups against change, and a Facebook page have all been left reeling after Auckland Council followed basic democratic process, passed the Unitary Plan and then did not reveal the whole thing as a joke.

Herne Bay homeowner, Peter Crant, is reportedly “devastated” that the council listened to several generations of people locked out of the housing market instead of the carefully worded letters to the New Zealand Herald that he and three friends wrote. Mr Crant said that it was the council’s duty to maintain the status quo in the face of changing evidence and that he would be attending the home-owners meeting with a list of grievances to air. When he was informed that no one from the council would be attending what was essentially drinks at the local pub with six friends and their wives, Mr Crant muttered “fucking typical”. The Council has defended their actions, saying that they had come to the realisation that making decisions was the actual function of the council. Several lobby groups, including Mr Crant, will be lodging appeals in order to receive the “correct” kind of democracy.

Kieran Bennett The New Zealand Olympic team has now returned to New Zealand following the conclusion of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In tow is a pool of Olympic medals that, per-capita, is very impressive. Over the course of the Olympic Games there were a number of key upsets. Most notably the sevens team that wasn’t full of men coming away with silver, and the country’s single athletics champion also walking away with silver. While initially crushing for athletes and the country as a whole, the New Zealand Olympic committee was quick to point out that per-capita, they were basically gold medals.

New Zealand Olympians Bring Home Record Number of Per-Capita Medals

And now that the New Zealand team has returned with a number of medals that is, internationally, really quite small, they are quick to point out that same fact. The New Zealand Olympic committee has stressed the fact that New Zealand “isn’t like a real country” and that fans would need to “significantly stretch and adjust expectations” in order to actually feel satisfaction for something they had no real part in achieving. The official New Zealand medal counts are now being adjusted to reflect per-capita; a move that has given New Zealand another 40 gold medals. The move has been celebrated by athletes and statisticians everywhere.

Off Grid AUT Benjamin Matthews A group of adventurous AUT students is going off grid and experiencing our country’s stunning scenery. Recently formed, Off Grid AUT is an outdoors club for people who like walking, tramping, cycling, skiing, and camping. Secondyear student, Amelia Bassett-Burr, started Off Grid AUT after wanting to join an outdoors club and being unable to find one. “I didn’t get out as much as I would’ve liked,” Amelia explains, “so what I decided to do at the start of the year was to create a club that caters for people who couldn’t get themselves places, or wanted to meet new people.” So far there are seven people involved with the club’s organisation, about 30 paid members, and 300 likes on Facebook. Amelia says events are either free or a five dollar charge for transport and fuel costs. Although a new club, Off Grid has done a few walks, including the Tongariro Crossing – a seven-hour trek through mountainous terrain. However, Amelia says once winter’s over, the club plans to do kayaking and snorkelling.

“If you’re not signed up and you haven’t paid the membership fee,” she says, “that doesn’t mean you can’t come on events. So I want to encourage you to bring your friends.” If anyone wants to get involved, Amelia says a person should have suitable equipment, such as a pair of sneakers, a rain jacket, and drink bottle. She also adds “a good attitude”. The club supplies an equipment list, suggesting what to bring before an event. As a safety precaution, Amelia says they make sure people have the right gear. They also bring a survival kit for each trip. “We haven’t done any events large enough to really require much more safety than that,” Amelia says. “There hasn’t really been very dangerous moments. Otherwise, we’ll implement other strategies.” To join Off Grid AUT, look for the club’s Facebook page. Once there, a link will direct to a signup page. There is a five dollar joining fee.

Theatrebound A Brief Chat with Morgana O’Reilly Kiwi actress, Morgana O’Reilly, is a star on the rise. Starting with roles in local theatre, comedies such as Sunny Skies and A Thousand Apologies, and telemovies like Billy T, Morgana broke out on her own as troublesome and trouble-riddled protagonist Kylie in Housebound, and a two-year stint on Aussie soap Neighbours as the tour-de-force Naomi Canning. Now she’s back in the country for the Auckland Theatre Company’s production of Venus in Fur. Set in New York, playwright Thomas is trying to cast a female lead for his saucy stage version of the classic S&M novel. When Vanda comes in, he believes he has found the right woman, but it all quickly turns into a battle of wits as the actress turns the tables on Thomas. In the midst of the final week of rehearsals, O’Reilly talked to Ethan Sills about playing Vanda, sexism in the industry, and covering up baby bumps on screen.

How are the rehearsals going? Good, good. It’s just heating up as we get closer and closer to the opening. It’s very heady material so it’s cranking up and leading us down a rabbit hole of concepts and ideas and decisions and indecisions. I just wanted to start with Neighbours, as I am a very big Naomi fan. What was the highlight of being one of the better received characters of the last few years? I was really worried when I started – well, not worried, but I was interested to see the audience’s response to her as she basically goes into that show to try and break up one of the more beloved relationships [Toadie and Sonya]. I loved that people saw that Naomi had a real heart and kind of loved her for that…that was really cool. The highlight… as an actor, when you tell somebody that you’re an actor most of the time it’s met with “Oh really, what have you done?” So it’s really a nice change to do something with such a big audience. I was up in Edinburgh doing my solo show at the fringe festival a couple of years ago while on screen as Naomi, and Neighbours is huge in the UK, so I got a really wonderful taste of what it’s like to be quite well known for a second. It was really lovely to see people coming up to you and that they’ve seen your work and they love it is really flattering and generous of them. I was sitting at a whiskey bar and the bartender was like “Are you Naomi from Neighbours?”, and I was like yeah, and she said “Do you know him?” and pointed at this other guy sitting on the other side of the bar and I was like nah and she said “That’s so and so

each other, it was pretty cool, pretty weird. Do you get recognised much over here as Naomi? Um, not so much. I actually feel like I get recognised here for the other shows that I’ve done that are New Zealand shows which is also really nice cause in Australia they don’t recognise any of that. You were pregnant during your last few months on the show. What was the experience like, especially with always having to be holding handbags in front of your stomach? It was really good. It was full on because being pregnant is full on. Working long hours, wearing six inch heels in 36 degree heat was testing when one is very pregnant. I remember there were a few weeks there [before I told anyone], and I remember standing outside in heels and almost wanting to yell “I’M PREGNANT”, as you knew people would help you as soon as they knew something like that. [Though] your body changes so fast and it kind of triggers these things as being like “Oh my god, if I’m covering up my belly, then all I am is getting chubby on screen” which is hilarious when I look back, as near the end I’m so pregnant even my eyelashes look pregnant. It just got comical as I’d be doing these scenes and be holding a folder in front of me – I got so good at turning profile and just moving the folders or clipboards or whatever to cover my stomach and holding stuff on top of my stomach and feeling the baby kicking them. In scenes where I [was] meant to be sexy and flirtatious and I [was] like “I’m just a whale with another person inside my body’. So, in a nutshell, it was strangely wonderful.

from Coronation Street” and she made us introduce ourselves to

“But when you ask any actress about the kind of character breakdowns they get for auditions and the amount of times the word ‘sexy’ is used as a character description, it’s become so normal. Like, you can’t play sexy. If you’re told that your character is sexual, you can understand that sort of person, but if your character is sexy, what is that, what can I do with that?”

Moving onto the play. Can you just describe Vanda in your own words and what drew you to the character? Vanda is sassy and strong and vivacious and bold, she’s so bold and fearless and that’s what I love about her. She is just a balls-tothe-wall life force and in the end, of course, there is a little human underneath who shows herself. And she is so clever and slick and funny and ridiculous, I love that, and so much smarter than she lets on.

had it on in the background and I didn’t put the subtitles on and just let it play on as a reference as it’s easy to turn a reference into a bible, or subconsciously take on someone’s performance. It’s so big and so dense and the show is just two people talking the whole time that as soon as we started getting into rehearsals you forget everything else, all the other reference stuff, as you just need to do what you do up on stage.

Reading about the play, Vanda sounds a lot like Naomi to me. Did playing that role first help with this? No, they don’t relate to me so much. I know they sound quite similar, but I think Vanda is way smarter than Naomi in an academic sense. I think I, as Morgana, lend myself more to characters like Vanda and Naomi quite well as I know I have a strength and a silliness that those characters like.

You mentioned earlier your one woman show (The Height of the Eiffel Tower). How does writing and directing your own show compare with this experience? For a start it’s nice to have another person on stage. And it’s a really different tone, my one woman show is about a very Kiwi middle aged woman with her own fears of oblivion and this is in contemporary New York and discusses issues of woman in storytelling.

The Roman Polanski film adaptation of the play came out a few years ago. Does that put any added pressure on you when there is this other version out there? I got the film and I started watching it and it was good just to see it visually for a second but after five minutes I thought ‘no, no, no, I don’t need to see any more of this’. I

That’s one thing that’s making me quite excited at the moment, these conversations we’re having in rehearsal about how women in storytelling, in film, in scripts, the way that they are written often as devices to satisfy a male storyline. Not to say that doesn’t happen in reverse, when a male is

a plot device, but those shows are usually hailed as breakthrough female features, like Sex and the City and Ab Fab and it’s like “Wow, there are female storylines”. But when you ask any actress about the kind of character breakdowns they get for auditions and the amount of times the word ‘sexy’ is used as a character description, it’s become so normal. Like, you can’t play sexy. If you’re told that your character is sexual, you can understand that sort of person, but if your character is sexy, what is that, what can I do with that? That’s not a way people are, that’s a way they are seen by another person. It’s been good to clarify that in my brain. Is it nice to be back on stage again? How does theatre work compare with being on a soap or doing a movie? Theatre always feels like home to me as that’s definitely where I started and I was brought up in the theatre. So being backstage or being on an empty stage is very comfortable, and working in this way, working a lovely four week rehearsal space…it’s a really comfortable, wonderfully inspiring space, so it’s nice coming home. Venus in Fur is on at the Herald Theatre from August 18 – September 18.

101 Average – Terrible Ways to Deal with Stress Amelia Petrovich The entire world is slowly losing its mind. 1 in 5 New Zealanders say they suffer from workplace-related stress and 1 in 10 are unhappy with their own life-work balance, so for some reason I’ve taken it upon myself to try out all 101 ways to deal with stress suggested to me by a somewhat dubious online pdf. There are better resources for the strung out and lots of them are easily accessible, but hey, where’s the fun in that? Welcome to round two of: ‘101 Average – Terrible Ways to Deal with Stress’. 11) Avoid negative people I think this one goes without saying, really. If you’re having a hard time and freaking out, people who are going to be upsetting and make that time harder aren’t worth your company. I reckon there’d possibly be more merit in also advising stressed out specimens to avoid positive people if need be, too. Positivity is great and all but if you’re in the middle of a meltdown and some cheerful chap tells you to “just look for the silver lining :) :) :)” you’re probably going to be likely to slap a bitch. I stayed home last Monday to do work and avoid everyone, positive or negative. It was a neutral time. 12) Use time wisely Another piece of advice rooted in all things vague and subjective. Of course it sounds good and proactive, but what does “wisely” even mean exactly? How do I know that I’m doing it? I tried being subjective with this at work, making the executive decision that nothing that’d stress me out was worth spending time on. Polishing the forks? No sir. Getting the broom out of the cupboard? Someone else can do it. Carrying a few glasses at a time to avoid accidents? Nah, pass me ten mate…

…I shattered a wine glass into roughly a hundred pieces and had to grab a broom anyway. The rest of my guilt coaxed me into finishing the forks. Unsuccessful. 13) Simplify mealtimes I had Weetbix and chopped banana every single day this week and, aside from taking the thrill of my morning from me a little (because nothing makes me breathless like an unpredictable breakfast), this was a pretty cool thing. It took me all of five seconds to make and probably even less than that to eat, because Weetbix is about scarfing down milk and cereal before everything becomes baby mush. My mornings are certainly more efficient and I like heading into uni with the taste of a challenge still lingering in my mouth. 14) Always make copies of important pages I’m going down to my parents’ place in Wellington this week. When I’m there I’m planning to photocopy the hell out of the chapter in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows where Dumbledore talks about how things that happen inside your head aren’t necessarily untrue. It’s the founding document for my life and I need it with me always, this’ll be a good thing. 15) Anticipate your needs Is this… is this just a new way of saying “go grocery shopping” or “put a bin next to your desk for pencil shavings”? Life is a constant process of anticipating and acting on needs. I hate this one. I didn’t test it this week because if I hadn’t been anticipating my needs every day for the last 22 years I’d be dead… I’m an expert at suggestion #15, and so are you. 16) Repair anything that doesn’t work properly This weekend we replaced our crappy, sagging beanbags for a new swish one with lots of beans. Did you know that beanbag beans are measured in litres? I didn’t, that’s the kind of knowledge gems you come away with when you tackle flat repairs. It may not have relaxed you at all, but just know that right now I’m sitting on an overstuffed beanbag giving my spine the full support it needs. And you? You know the standard measurement for beanbag beans. You’re welcome.

The AUT ICT And Engineering Careers Fair

By Glen Osborne I am a second year Bachelor of Computer and Information Sciences (BCIS) student, and since I started my program at AUT, my thinking has been all about classes and student life; what I need to do to be a good student and get good grades, who I will meet, and what experiences I will have on campus. Attending the AUT ICT and Engineering Careers Fair has given me lots to think about after my student life has come to a completion. The first thing that struck me was a talk from AUT alumnus Joel Compton (BCIS, 2014), now a Software Specialist at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, who gave an awesome talk about the company he works for, the cool tasks he performs, and the key responsibilities he manages in the IT division. I suddenly pictured myself as someone in this kind of position; solving problems and creating solutions, and I tried to search my experience to see how I would act if I was in his position. It was then that I realised I was now thinking in terms of the possibilities Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d have in future employment. I was thinking in terms of what qualities and papers the employers would be looking for. I could see myself working there and started to think about the skills Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d need to get that job.

I had not let myself look beyond my next assignment or the papers I’d take next semester. The fact that an AUT student in my degree had been where I am now made the whole dream of working there much more of an option for me. I decided to sign up for the next two speakers, feeling so inspired that I could get an idea of what their companies did, and what they were looking for in a graduate or intern.

I realised that all three of us had made life-changing decisions that morning that would reshape how we approach our study moving forward. Deloitte was not what I expected, instead of an accounting firm (read boring tax and auditing) I realized they actually have a wide range of jobs and were consultants on projects that seemed to span all areas of, not only IT, but politics, medical, financial, and business services. After the two speakers, I again started to realise that my skills could be put to good use in this company and there would be a wide range of possible projects and topics to learn. As my head started to swim with the possibilities and range of employment options, I realized the fact that I had not considered consulting in IT advisory was a big error on my part. After winning some candy for a correct answer to the questions, I headed out to find some friends to talk to about what I was now thinking and feeling. I was asked if I wanted to have my picture taken to update my CV and LinkedIn, it was free (choice!) so I agreed and tried to look reasonably serious while the camera man did his shot. I then found some friends and before I could start telling them about F&P Healthcare and Deloitte, they both started excitedly talking at me at the same time. They had been working the room and talking to all the recruiters at the booths and were alive with all sorts of information and ideas

about where they were going to work. I was invited to the booths to be shown where they wanted to work. I talked them into attending the Catalyst IT presentation and all three of us were struggling to keep quiet when the speaker started. Half way through this presentation I made the decision to go learn web technologies, it was being used everywhere and that idea really peaked my interest. I returned to the expo room and decided I’d try to talk to everyone there and discover what other opportunities awaited. I started with Jade Software and got talking about my interests and my papers and realised I had not really asked the recruiter what the specifics of their company were. I learned that Jade are an innovative company that uses a start-up structure to promote an open collaborative environment, and I started to share about my start-up adventures and how cool the disruptive changes coming to world would be and realised I had again gotten so excited. I took a breath and stepped back to let her answer some questions from others. As I was gathering my thoughts I saw the other Jade recruiter and couldn’t help but to start talking tech again and get excited. This recruiter noted that this enthusiasm was exactly what I should display at job interviews, which allowed me to continue explaining my programming project and listen to his work stories. It was at this point that my two friends showed up and wanted to talk so we went outside and took turns recounting our experiences, I realised that all three of us had made lifechanging decisions that morning that would reshape how we approach our study moving forward. I was now going to take web technologies, both of my friends were going to do more IT management papers and we were definitely coming back to the Careers Fair next year with a plan to take the world by storm. All three of us agreed that it was time to update our CVs and the talk on the shuttle ride to the South Campus was all about the future and how we would get there. My perspective has changed from focusing just on my next grade, to now thinking about all the steps I could take to get the confidence and the grades to secure ‘my dream job’. Now I am going to plan ahead, not just for my next paper.

South Auckland Science Challenge On Friday August 12th, five South Auckland primary schools worked alongside AUT to take part in a Science Challenge. AUT University’s Pacific Advancement team and SouthSci made a joint effort to put this challenge together for primary students who weren’t old enough to take part in the National Science Fair. Student mentors from AUT worked with groups of five primary students each and conducted an experiment involving a vacuum, a meter square quadrant, and a microscope. The groups estimated the number of dust mites in the carpet and once interpreted, that number provided information on the health of the environment. Laurien had a chat to the team (Sarah Morgan – project manager of SouthSci, Nick Pattison – STEM Director at Rongomai, and Walter Fraser – AUT’s Head of Pacific Advancement and Associate Head of South Campus) about the Science Challenge, what they’ve accomplished, and where they hope to go in the future.

What inspired you to issue a Science Challenge?

How successful was the Science Challenge? How did the students respond?

SM: Nick Pattison runs a STEM immersion class and his students do a lot of project-based learning. These projects would be perfect for showcasing at the local Science Fair but the age cutoff is above them. This combined with the desire for whole-class inclusion (not just the high achievers) and no over-all winners (therefore no losers in science) led to the idea for the Science Challenge. It’s hoped that the model is replicable between schools and over time – the next challenge might be classroom water quality testing, for example.

SM: The students loved it – both young and old. There were even reports of AUT student mentors wanting to skip class to take part (highly discouraged…), and some of the schools have requested keeping the equipment for the rest of the week to explore further.

NP: To promote citizen science through an event that better meets the needs of South Auckland students so everyone can be successful on the day!

What form did the Science Challenge take? What experiment did the students conduct? SM: The students followed a protocol from the Healthy Homes experiment Nick’s class has been working on in collaboration with Manurewa High School and Landcare Research, funded under an Unlocking Curious Minds research grant. This project in turn grew out of a Participatory Science Platform-funded project looking at mould in homes. The mite protocol more easily correlates to a measure of health of the environment. The students vacuumed a meter square of classroom carpet and counted the dust mites collected under the microscope. They then had to communicate their findings via poster etc, and then critique an AUT mentor doing the experiment again with something glaringly wrong.

What were the results of the experiment? SM: I don’t think the data has been collated yet, but I think every group in all 6 schools found dust mites (this is normal, it’s the ratio of mites to space that is important).

NP: Very successful, everyone involved had extremely positive feedback

Why is this kind of thing important to both Primary and Tertiary students? SM: For the primary level, STEM is being more widely recognised as essential for development for the future knowledge economy, and is currently omitted from most primary teaching schedules. Skills like problem solving, innovation, planning, reflecting, communicating and critiquing are all skills the students need regardless of study topic. The tertiary students are developing leadership and mentoring skills while also giving back to the community and presenting as role models for the younger students.

Would you look to change anything if you were to have another challenge in the future? SM: More schools! NP: More schools and a different subject...maybe testing water.

Would you consider doing other kinds of challenges for primary students in collaboration with other organizations? Math/Language/ History challenges? SM: I think this group is particularly focussed on STEM, but the model could be easily emulated by any group at any time!

SHAWN VS WILD

Shawn Cleaver

Bears.

It is possible to get Europe’d out. Bigass church after bigass church. Crowds on crowds. Priceless art followed by more priceless art. Also the constant “No I don’t want a FUCKING selfie stick, mate. Beat it.” I literally saw a lake in between some mountains on google maps and though “that must be pretty!”

Obviously that didn’t worry me in the slightest, and I totally didn’t fret about it as I left my hotel to find the trail. Literally before I even found the trail, I got lost. I misread the instructions and ended up spending over an hour trying to find the stupid start sign. I retraced, backtracked, read my phone screenshots over and over, and ended up in some logging camp or some shit. This is where I gave up and decided to just walk to the closest high point and try to salvage a view before turning back.

After six hours on both busses and trains, I discovered I wasn’t wrong. I found myself in Liptovský Mikuláš, a small town amongst the Slovakian Tatra Mountains. In the same Google search where I found that out, I also found out there were bears where I was planning to hike.

I had told a friend beforehand, if I wasn’t back by a certain time then call the banners, because I’m in trouble. So by the time I finally found the damn sign where

the actual trail began, I was already too behind schedule to start. It was a long walk of shame back into town. So, the next day I decided to try again. I walked the same hour to the trail, actually found the start this time, and then entered the unknown. It was eerily quiet during the initial ascent, minus my loud clapping every twenty seconds in an attempt to scare away bears. I knew nothing about the woods I was in, there were no other hikers around, and I was relying on these sparse blue markers on the trees for direction. Half an hour in, the blue markers seemed to just stop. Positive I was still on the path, I fought through the bush that seemed to stop going uphill. I know hikes

I knew nothing about the woods I was in, there were no other hikers around, and I was relying on these sparse blue markers on the trees for direction.

usually end up on top of the mountain, so this was confusing. After forty minutes without a blue marker, I admitted I was lost. So what did I do? I took selfies. If anything, it was to show my last moments before the Blair Witch got me. A glance at the shot clock revealed that I had spent about an hour and a half being lost once I was finally reunited with the blue markers. I had half a mind to give up again, but I would have left Liptovský Mikuláš a failure, since I had a bus booked the next day. So I picked up the pace and carried on.

I remember, I was all like “Ohhhh wooooaaaaaWAAAAAAAAAOOOHHHHH!!! CHAAAAAHHOOOOOOO!” This newly unfit backpacker had backed his pack to the top of Mt Olympus (Technically Mt Poludnica, but whatever).

Who would have known that six months of replacing regular exercise with alcohol, sugar, and croissants would have a negative effect on my fitness?

Who would have known that six months of replacing regular exercise with alcohol, sugar, and croissants would have a negative effect on my fitness? Every twenty seconds, I took a tactical stop, which was embarrassing even though no one else was within five kilometres of me. I felt my new gut sway as I scurried up rocks to stay in the presence of the blue markers. I scoffed my lunch to reduce the chance of the smell getting to nearby bears. Totally not paranoid though.

Although I could see my hotel, I was without a massive zipline, so I had to reach it the old fashioned way. I began the trip down but instead of clapping, I took to singing to avoid consumption via bear. I took off my uselessly sweaty shirt, and while covered in dirt, I skipped through the woods with a second wind only downhill can bring.

It must have been around two hours before I reached the top. I wish I recorded my reaction. The view came out of nowhere and from what

I reached a mountainside meadow before it started to shower. I remained dry under an evergreen and listened to the rain hit the grass with a kind of pop I want

everyone to experience. This is where the words don’t reach. Sitting there, listening to nothing but the water finding the ground was a very wholesome moment. Unfortunately, despite a small break to encourage me to leave the safety of the evergreen, the once serene rainfall turned into a full on thunderstorm. Easily the loudest crack of thunder I’ve ever heard, made my constant bear-clapping seem a bit stupid at this point. Jogging through the rain in full survival mode, just trying to keep my vital organs warm, still without a shirt on because I was too cold to stop moving (strange logic in hindsight…), I stumbled upon this bus shelter thing. I totally thought it was a mirage, but it kept me mostly dry. I had time to put my shirt on again and wait out the rain, which must have taken an hour to calm down. I realized how close I was to the village where I started once I got moving again. The sun peeked from behind the clouds, and I began to recognize where I was. I looked back at the summit from the township and was satisfied with having come all the way up there. I had celebration ice-cream waiting for me when I arrived back at the hotel, like a good little pudgy traveller.

Why #BlackLivesMatter Matters Benjamin Matthews | Photo by Tony Webster What we’re witnessing in the United States is disturbing. Pure barbarianism has become the norm, as minorities are shoved into the corner and punched. America acts surprised when the oppressed bite back. As much as I condemn acts of violence as in the case of Micah Johnson, blaming the Black Lives Matter movement is not the answer. What really causes tragic events such as these is the systematic and ingrained racism, a relic of a bygone era – an era we truly need to end once and for all. BLM are accused of waging a war on cops. They’re not. Their demands are simple – make cops accountable for their actions. Why can’t the conservative pundits get this simple idea? Do they really need this simple concept rammed into their heads? Cops shooting African Americans is a serious issue. Philando Castile, his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter, were driving down a Minnesotan road when a police officer pulled them over. Philando told the police that he had a gun in his car, although he made it clear he wasn’t going to use it. As the man leaned down to get his driver’s licence, the cop shot Philando point-blank. His girlfriend was recording the incident at the time. If she hadn’t, we may never have known the truth – the police in America don’t seem willing to use body-cameras. As the unsettling footage continues rolling, Diamond is forced to leave the car, being handcuffed in front of her daughter. All the while, Philando is bleeding to death. As Diamond is forced to the ground, her daughter can be heard screaming. How can a country call itself the land of the free when innocent people cannot walk or drive down the street without the fear of being shot, whether by the police or other thugs?

America really needs to rethink how their country is run. They cannot allow cops to terrorise others. The police are there to protect and to serve. That’s definitely not what they’re doing right now. According to the Washington Post, an African American is 2.5 times more likely to be shot by police. Though it’s important to note, BLM aren’t against cops – far from it. As mentioned before, they want accountability. That is all. But the right-wingers don’t get that.

The BLM movement is accused of prioritising African Americans above everyone else. This is far from the truth. All they want is for America to recognise them as people. The worst example of innate racism is Trump and his supporters. His rallies feel like the Nuremberg Rally. Trump aggravates the crowd into a frenzy, telling them to abuse anyone that’s anti-Trump. These confrontations usually lead to violence, as Trump’s supporters beat the living hell out of protesters. All the while, they’re chanting “all lives matter”. A disgusting insult. The BLM movement is accused of prioritising African Americans above everyone else. This is far from the truth. All they want is for America to recognise them as people. The thugs at Trump’s rallies prove BLM’s point. The conservatives are inconsistent. One moment they’re sprouting out about how much they love the second amendment, and in the next moment, they’re doing everything in their power to infringe the rights of others, especially concerning the first amendment. BLM has the right to protest. It states so in the constitution. To deny BLM’s right to protest is hypocritical. The mess America has found itself in is a complicated issue. It’s not going to solve itself overnight. There are many factors involved. America’s unhealthy love affair with guns isn’t helping matters. But that’s an entirely different issue. America needs to wake up before it’s too late. Before their country becomes a police state. After reading about BLM’s goals one thing’s for certain, black lives DO matter more so now than ever.

Quick Pickled Cucumber William Bowman You could actually follow this same process with lots of other root veggies: carrots, radish, beetroot, etc. This is going to be more of a guide than a recipe, simply because you’ll likely be dealing with a different sized jar, more or less veg, and a different palate. Experiment and see what works for you - you won’t muck it up.

Ingredients • • • • • •

1 cucumber 1/2 cup black vinegar 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar 1/2 cup mirin 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 chilli, chopped or chilli flakes

Chop your cucumber however you like, but so it will fit in a jar or two. Mix other ingredients in a bowl and add cucumber. Stir to coat in pickling liquid. Place in the jar, and store in the fridge for a week or so. Eat with anything you want to give a bit of a kick to! Salads, in rice paper rolls, on top of noodles. Experiment with other veggies, and other flavours in your pickling liquid. Just make sure there is some sort of vinegar involved.

What’s On At AUT

In Auckland

The ‘Nothing Else’ snack bar developed by AUT on the South campus is on its way to the commercial snack bar market this month. The low GI snack bars will be manufactured and distributed by South Auckland food manufacturer AB Foods, in consultation with AUT Professor of Nutrition Elaine Rush from a health and nutrition perspective, and advertising creativity lecturer Dave Brown, who created the ‘Nothing Else’ brand.

Remember is at Hawkins Theatre this week with $7 student tickets available at the venue. With help from a fellow Holocaust survivor, a widower who struggles with memory loss embarks on a crosscountry odyssey to find the former Nazi responsible for the deaths of their family members

AUT Live – the Most Open Day – is the new name of AUT’s course information event. It will be held on August 27th from 9 – 5 on AUT City Campus.

Songwriter Sessions at the Empire Tavern on Monday August 22nd 8:30pm – 11pm. Troubadours songwriters club is a collective organisation for songwriters in Auckland to meet, share, showcase, and promote their work for free. Songwriters of any genre are welcome to join.

Join the Student Representative Council, and nominate yourself today! Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody. Nominations close Friday August 26th.

REVIEWS

SU ICID E SQUAD

extremely underdeveloped to the point that when several of them die, you feel nothing for their demise.

Directed by David Ayer Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis

You could potentially look past the half-thought out characters if there was at least an intriguing plot. Yet the movie is built on your stereotypical, non-threatening end of the world tropes, with the central villain - a witch twitching in a dirty dress for half the movie - being entirely non-threatening.

Reviewed by Ethan Sills

With superhero movies coming thick and fast, the bar with which we judge them has raised significantly since the trend first kicked off in the early noughties. As such, while Suicide Squad barely passes as a C-grade, mindless blockbuster - compared to the majority of recent superhero movies, it disappointingly misses the mark entirely. The premise sees a group of dangerous supervillains from the DC world forced by a ruthless government agent into assisting the military in defeating a powerful witch from destroying the world. While the cast (Will Smith and Margot Robbie in particular) add some fun and depth to the movie, the characters themselves are

At times, it feels like you are watching two different movies. The character introductions are fast and shiny, but then we get a slow, drawn out wander through the devastated city before reaching the unnecessarily slow-moâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ed finale, lacking of any emotion. There are occasional hints of a better movie, or at least one mildly more enjoyable, but a dismal attempt at editing ruins all hope. Thanks to the overplayed soundtrack, completely unthreatening villain, and the tame, generic storyline, there is little to like in Suicide Squad. The cast certainly gives it their all in the all-toobrief moments of humanity, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clear that DC has a long way to go before they can rule the comic book flick. Â

KUBO AND T HE T WO S TRI N G S Directed by Travis Knight Starring Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey Tharindu Jayasinghe

The most beautiful stop-motion animation anchored by a very curious premise makes for a fun hour and a half in the latest movie by Laika. The studio that made memorable titles such as Coraline and ParaNorman, returns with the familiar witty tones and profound story arcs to make Kubo as good as, if not better than, its predecessors. The setting is ancient Japan and the story follows Kubo, a young boy caring for his mother by making a living storytelling by means of his shamisen and coloured origami paper. Introduce a little chaos and this snowballs into a manic quest for Kubo to find his late father Hanzo’s suit of armor.

EM IR AT ES A IRLINE Reviewed by Benjamin Matthews

I hate flying. I mean, I really hate flying. There’s something about being cramped into a tin can with another 300 or so people. Maybe it’s my OCD playing up, but flying isn’t enjoyable for me. This isn’t the first time I’ve flown all the way to England. I’ve done the 30-hour trek almost half a dozen times. Throughout experiencing a number of Airlines, ranging from Air New Zealand to Malaysian Airline (the guys that lost a plane), nothing comes close to Emirates Airline. The Dubai-based airline works hard to make a stressful journey feel not so stressful. Of all the airlines, Emirates flies the highest, to avoid being shot down by missiles, etc. This means there’s far less turbulence than most flights. Meals feel like real food; you don’t have to play ‘guess the meal’. Everything is quite clean – for once I preferred going to the toilet on the airplane rather than the airport. In-flight entertainment has all the latest films, and although the TV screens didn’t work at first, the hostess quickly fixed them without too much hassle. I mightn’t enjoy flying, but Emirates did make the journey feel bearable.

One of the most satisfying aspects of this story is that there are few (or no) loose ends. Very early on, Kubo is told he is only allowed three questions to which he replies, he has more than that – which is just how the audience would feel initially. The general feeling of the movie is very upbeat although, in typical Laika fashion, the story is riddled with sombre themes, which makes for compelling viewing. Throw in a stacked voice cast, some premium-end animation, a Regina Spektor cover of While My Guitar Gently Weeps and you have a winner.

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Circle all the words in the wordfind, tear this page out & pop it into the box on the side of the red Debate stands, and you could win a motherflippinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sweet prize!

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Fun, relaxation and escape from the ordinary. Time for a winter get-away at the AuSM Lodge! Winter fun-lovers and savvy skiers... book your affordable get-away at AuSM Lodge, and it could be the best bargain you’ve had in a long time. AuSM Lodge is well equipped and offers cheap and comfortable accommodation for up to 12 people– from as little as $300 per night, (that’s only $25 per person) during the peak winter season. Situated right in the heart of Tongariro National Park Village and 35 minutes drive from Mt Ruapehu, the Lodge is the perfect choice for planning a budget winter blast. There are a few weekends still available during the ski season, so book today. For further information about the Lodge, its availability, and to book online:

ausm.org.nz/About/AuSM+Lodge.html

WE’RE CHANGING YOUR ONLINE EXPERIENCE FOR THE BETTER On 22 August UniCentral will be no more. In its place will be MyAUT - your brand new online portal for accessing your AUT services. It’s designed to make your uni life easier - find and manage your academic and information and complete tasks all in one place. MyAUT lets you: • See your internet and print balances at a glance • Get quick and easy access to your AUT mail and calendar (which includes your timetable)

Come and talk to our team and experience MyAUT for yourself: City Campus Wednesday 17 August  WG 306

• View availability of computers across campuses and make bookings

North Campus Tuesday 16 August

 AF 125, Tech Central

• Download and print enrolment documents

South Campus Thursday 18 August

 KaiFe

• Pay fees and other invoices • Change your profile photo and update personal details including your password • Upload/download files to your storage options (e.g. H:Drive) and work together on files (using OneDrive for Business)

Or for more information, visit

ithelp.aut.ac.nz/myaut or call the ICT Service Desk on (09) 921 9888