Issue 88.6

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ISSUE 88.6 AUGUST 2020

Student Employment Grow, Support Impact, to find Connect work while you study.

auu.org.au/studentemployment

n Dit 2020

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ON DIT CONTENTS Editorial What’s On? State of the Union SRC President Left, Right, and Centre Vox Pop Club Spotlight Econ Dit Rural Student News International Student News Pop quiz ARTICLES University fee increases The humanities in crisis Black Lives Matter: Photos The News Downgraded freedoms You wanna?...

If you catch my drift Review: Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways Cut and run Spin a yarn winning stories Clubs anonymous Wedge politics I dare you to enjoy your PhD How Resident Evil turned into my very own Karen’s ziti

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CREATIVE WRITING AND ARTWORK Artist spotlight: Alissar Aleid 54 Child’s Play 64 Raindrops 65 EDITORS Nick Birchall Felix Eldridge Taylor Fernandez Larisa Forgac SUBEDITORS Will Broderick Ivan Bucalo Michael Genrich Mirco di Giacomo Oliver Hales Isobel Moore Annika Pietek Eric Pan Emily Woodcock DESIGN Larisa Forgac COVER ART Blak Power

By Kuki Wangui Instagram: @kukikinyanjui

We wish to acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the Adelaide region on which the University of Adelaide is located. We also acknowledge Elders, living and past, and understand that the cultural and heritage beliefs that the Kaurna people hold are still important to the living members of their community today.

EDITORIAL

Hi from Felix, Taylor, Larisa, and Nick We wish you a warm welcome to semester 2 at uni, and we hope that you are all feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the new semester. These are still very confusing and strange times, with university going almost back to normal for some, and remaining online for others. Despite all the changes, On Dit will still be here to provide you with entertainment, quality content, and distraction from the stress of real life.

What a turbulent mid-year break this has been! We’ve witnessed the Black Lives Matter movement blossom and prosper in Australia and Adelaide, with a commendable effort from our fellow students and Adelaideans. As a community, we stood up against injustice in a safe and dignified manner, obeying social distancing while still making a strong point - that black lives matter and that black voices need to be heard. In this issue, we wanted to feature some of the experiences from this movement. Our front showcases the talent of bpoc artists in our community, and the collection of photos from the July protest is a testament to the passion and dedication of its participants.

On a different front, we’ve seen the Federal Government’s announcement of university fee price hikes, which are set to especially affect humanities degrees. This controversial and shocking change will impact thousands of university students and make quality education less accessible and affordable. On Dit is featuring several articles that discuss said price hikes, the value of tertiary education, and the importance of student activism in ensuring that everyone has the ability to pursue the degree of their choice, at a reasonable cost.

Finally, with the fallout of Covid-19 still affecting the country, and with little assistance from the Federal Government, many publications, especially those in regional areas, have had to close to lay off staff. This combined with cuts to the budget of the ABC will undoubtedly result in poorer quality journalism and news coverage, which will adversely affect the nation. On a happier note, at least On Dit is still running.

We hope you enjoy this issue! Stay safe and take care of each other in these strange times!

On Dit

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STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL NOTICE OF 2020 ELECTION POLLING DATES:

Monday 31st August to Friday 4th September 2020

NOMINATIONS:

Open at 9.00am on Monday 10th August 2020 Close strictly at 4.00pm on Friday 14th August 2020

POSITIONS AVAILABLE FOR ELECTION:

SRC PRESIDENT (1 position) – responsible for the overall co-ordination and leadership of the SRC and as chief spokesperson for the SRC. GENERAL SECRETARY (1 position) – responsible for calling meetings, taking minutes and general administrative roles.

EDUCATION OFFICER (1 position) – Acts to highlight issues relating to student’s education and other academic concerns.

WELFARE OFFICER (1 position) – Acts to promote the welfare of all students and to promote and strengthen support for students.

WOMEN’S OFFICER (1 position) – Acts as an advocate for women’s interests, a co-ordinator of women’s action on campus. To be eligible to nominate for this position candidates must identify as a woman.

QUEER OFFICER (1 position) – Acts to advocate on behalf of queer students, to promote and strengthen the rights of queer students on campus and to combat discrimination at university and the wider community. To be eligible to nominate for this position candidates must identify as queer.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT OFFICER (1 position) – Advocates on behalf of students enrolled as international students at the University of Adelaide, and to promote equality and opportunities for international students. To be eligible to nominate for this position candidates must be enrolled as an international student at the University of Adelaide.

POSTGRADUATE STUDENT OFFICER (1 position) – Acts to advocate on behalf of postgraduate students of the University of Adelaide. To be eligible to nominate for this position candidates must be currently undertaking postgraduate study at the University of Adelaide.

ETHNO-CULTURAL OFFICER (1 position) – Acts to advocate on behalf of students with a cultural or linguistically diverse background. To be eligible to nominate for this position candidates must identify as having a linguistically or culturally diverse background.

ATSI OFFICER (1 position) – Acts to advocate on behalf of students who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. To be eligible to nominate for this position candidates must identify as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

ENVIRONMENT OFFICER (1 position) – Acts to advocate for environmental sustainability within the university and broader community.

SOCIAL JUSTICE OFFICER (1 position) – Acts to highlight issues relating to social justice.

MATURE AGE OFFICER (1 position) - Acts to advocate on behalf of Mature Aged students. To be eligible to nominate for this position candidates must be over the age of 25.

DISABILITY OFFICER (1 position) – Acts on behalf of students with a disability on campus. To be eligible to nominate for this position candidates must identify as having a disability, mental illness or chronic illness.

RURAL OFFICER (1 position) – Acts to advocate on behalf of rural and regional students. To be eligible to nominate for this position candidates must have must lived in a regional or remote area, or have moved from a regional remote area, within the last three (3) years and within six (6) months of commencing their studies at Adelaide University.

GENERAL COUNCILLOR (8 positions) – Acts as an advocate for all students, assists office bearers in the fulfilment of their functions.

TO NOMINATE AS A CANDIDATE:

1. Only students currently enrolled at the University of Adelaide who are financial members of the AUU may nominate.

2. Nomination forms must be either: a) completed and submitted online at www.auu.org.au/elections or, where a candidate is unable to submit online, b) obtained from AUU Reception during opening hours and once completed given in person to the Returning Officer or their nominated delegate or mailed to the returning officer via registered post.

3. A policy statement and photograph can be submitted, if desired, at the time of nomination at www.auu.org.au/elections .

• • •

Policy statements must not exceed 200 words including the candidate’s name and the position for which they are standing; any words over 200 will not be published.

No policy statements or photographs will be accepted after close of nominations.

If you are unable to submit your policy statement or photograph as above, please contact the Returning Officer at returningofficer@adelaide.edu.au to arrange an alternative method of submission.

4. All SRC candidates will be required to attend an information session, to be held before the elections, outlining candidate election campaign responsibilities.

NOMINATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE CLOSE OF NOMINATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED QUERIES:

Any questions concerning the Election should be directed to the Returning Officer via returningofficer@adelaide.edu.au.

Published and authorised by the Returning Officer, July 2020.

Please Recycle

ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY UNION NOTICE OF 2020 ELECTION POLLING DATES:

Monday 31st August to Friday 4th September 2020

NOMINATIONS:

Open at 9.00am on Monday 10th August 2020 Close strictly at 4.00pm on Friday 14th August 2020

POSITIONS AVAILABLE FOR ELECTION: GENERAL MEMBER OF THE AUU BOARD (5 positions; each elected for a term of two (2) years) - the AUU Board is the governing body of the AUU and is responsible for managing its affairs. The AUU provides funding for activities, events and services on campus, as well as providing support and assistance to affiliated student organisations. The Board meets monthly and has various sub-committees in which Board members are expected to participate.

TO NOMINATE AS A CANDIDATE: 1. Only students currently enrolled at the University of Adelaide who are financial members of the AUU may nominate. Members must be over the age of 18 years, able to hold a liquor licence and be legally able to hold the position of a director of an incorporated association.

2. Nomination forms must be either: a) completed and submitted online at www.auu.org.au/elections or, where a candidate is unable to submit online, b) obtained from AUU Reception during opening hours and once completed given in person to the Returning Officer or their nominated delegate or mailed to the returning officer via registered post.

3. A policy statement and photograph can be submitted, if desired, at the time of nomination at www.auu.org.au/elections.

• • •

Policy statements must not exceed 200 words including the candidate’s name and the position for which they are standing; any words over 200 will not be published.

No policy statements or photographs will be accepted after close of nominations.

If you are unable to submit your policy statement or photograph as above, please contact the Returning Officer at returningofficer@adelaide.edu.au. to arrange an alternative method of submission.

4. All AUU Board candidates will be required to attend an information session, to be held before the elections, outlining the responsibilities of an AUU director and the structure of the organisation.

NOMINATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE CLOSE OF NOMINATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED QUERIES: Any questions concerning the Election should be directed to the Returning Officer via returningofficer@adelaide.edu.au.

Published and authorised by the Returning Officer, July 2020.

Please recycle.

N O S ’ T A H W ?

N O S ’ T A H W

adelaide uni rotaract club & trash hero adelaide river torrens clean-up

WHEN: August 5th, 9:30am- 11am WHERE: Adelaide Zoo Entry (via Plane Tree Drive)

Journalism now: politics, ownership and suppression in media

WHEN: August 13th, 6pm (Tickets available through the Adelaide Uni Media Association Facebook Page) WHERE: Adelaide Uni Hub Central, Mezzanine

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A H W ?

N O S ’ T A H W ?

N O rotaract cooking club: venezuela

WHEN: August 15th, 12:30pm WHERE: Via Zoom link on Adelaide University Rotaract Club’s Facebook Page

adelaide university univision

WHEN: August 18th - September 1st WHERE: Voting online via AUU Facebook Page

games at adelaide uni weekly friday online games nights

WHEN: Hosted every Friday night at 5pm WHERE: Online via Discord link on GAMES Facebook Page

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STATE OF THE UNION Words by AUU President Stella Seung-Joo Woo

Hello everyone! Welcome to another semester of uni, and to those who are new I hope you all enjoy your future years. Also, congratulations to all those that have graduated! It has been a hectic year with COVID-19, I hope you are all safe and sound. To those who will need to travel interstate make sure you complete the Cross Border Travel Application. If you have any questions Ask Adelaide should be able to assist you. For those who have just graduated there are so many things to look forward to in the future. Hopefully, it won’t be long until I graduate! To those who are planning to do postgraduate studies, maybe I’ll see you around on campus again!

Most of us have just finished exams and with all the exams being online, some of us would have found it difficult, if you need any academic advice please check out https://www.auu.org.au/services/ student-care/. Please note that they may be very busy during these times so the earlier the better. Keep in mind that you can also convert your grades to a PNG (Pass Non-Graded), meaning it won’t affect your GPA. All fails have also been automatically converted to Withdraw No Fail. If you have questions please check this website https://www.adelaide.edu. au/covid-19/student-information.

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To those who are new, I look forward to seeing you all. If you want to meet people with similar interests go and check out https://www.auu.org.au/get-involved/ clubs/. And as I always say, if you don’t find a club that you’re interested in, you can always start your own!

Email me or add me on kakao talk if you need someone to talk to or if you have any feedback that you want to give. I wish all the graduates the best in their future endeavours and to those starting semester 2, let’s all hope the rest of the year is safe and fun.

Stella Seung-Joo Woo auupresident@auu.org.au Kakao Talk ID: snipshot

SRC PRESIDENT Words by SRC President Oscar Ong

Hello from the other side! (some of you might remember I was on the other side of the column last year). Welcome back to (yet another!) semester of uni. For those who’ve just started uni, I am the President of Student Representative Council (SRC), representing you to the University and the wider public. I am currently studying a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. To find out more about what we do, you can read our previous agendas and my report here: https://bit.ly/3fOoMyF. Life has been busy since I took over the position of SRC President on the 21st of April!

A lot has happened since then. I have worked with the University to introduce a series of changes to ensure minimal disruption to your studies. This includes the introduction the of Pass Non-Graded (PNG) option for Semester 1 and further extending it to Semester 2 through Academic Board, reversed the unfair exam hurdle requirement, an HDR COVID-19 60 days scholarship extension, an SA International Student state support package, and free visa extensions for international students.

I have also ensured that offshore medical students are allowed to continue their studies, a high number of blended tutorials and practicals, and organised multiple Q&A sessions. I have received reassurance from the acting VC on multiple students concerns, as well as delivering on free vaccinations for health pracs students, accommodation fees refunds for offshore students, adequate accommodations support, an option to delay fee payments for international

students, and guaranteed internships for graduating students to meet their graduation requirement. I also organised a work rights webinar, collaborated with the University on a survey to gain student experience feedback, anti-racism campaigns, etc.

It’s also important to note that there are supports available to you, including Student Care (08 8313 5430), Ask Adelaide (08 8313 5208), Counselling Services (08 8313 5663), International Students Support (08 8313 4828) and Security (08 8313 5990).

I acknowledge it’s an extremely stressful time for all of you, and some of you might be reading this in a different state or country.

Please be reassured however, that my team and I did not forget you and we are working hard every single day to ensure that your welfare is the first priority of the University, and to get you back on campus as soon as possible. We are all in this together and we will come out stronger together at the end of this pandemic. I hope to be able to see you around campus as we return back to our normal lives.

Questions/suggestions about the SRC/ University? You are always welcome to email me or send me a message through social media!

Oscar Zi Shao Ong SRC President oscarzishao.ong@adelaide.edu.au Facebook/WeChat ID: oscarong1997

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LEFT RIGHT & CENTRE LEFT Nix Herriot

Socialist Alternative

1. Wearing a mask is an important act of social solidarity. But many people will struggle to afford masks and many more are not in a position to make one themselves.

If masks are to be compulsory, they must be freely available. Clearly this isn’t just about individual responsibility. Originating in a botched quarantine operation, the Victorian outbreak has struck the poorest suburbs, meatworks, aged care facilities and public housing towers because the virus thrives on inequality. I don’t want to see mandatory mask laws used as yet another way to make workers and the poor pay for a crisis they didn’t create.

2. Australia’s history of anti-Chinese racism has reared its ugly head in a recently resurrected Cold War paranoia. Anxiety about Beijing’s influence is a cynical and hypocritical attempt to whip up Australian nationalism and sow suspicion towards ordinary Chinese students and workers.

Where’s the front-page outrage over America’s extensive military influence in Australian universities? Let’s be clear: the biggest ‘concern’ for Australian students isn’t China, it’s Scott Morrison and our own money-grubbing vice chancellors.

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Canberra, Washington or Beijing - we should oppose any corporate and government ‘influence’ and fight for free, fully funded and academically independent universities. We’d do well to remember the dictum of German socialist Karl Liebknecht: ‘the main enemy is at home’.

3. The scale, militancy and scope of Black Lives Matter reveals not just an accumulation of anger about racism but a more general and deeply-rooted rage.

Targeting icons of power, protesters are denouncing an entire system. This movement is about transforming a sick society. And, of course, rebellion has unfolded in the penumbra of a global pandemic. George Floyd had just lost his job, joining over 50 million Americans made unemployed since March. In an era of death and destitution, governments have little to offer but repression. Let’s celebrate this new radicalisation with our own radical optimism and solidarity.

CENTRE

Billy Zimmermann Adelaide University Labor Club

1. The Government of Victoria is correct in mandating facemasks be worn. Any person selfish enough to believe they shouldn’t

1. Do you agree with Victoria’s decision to implement mandatory wearing of face-masks? Is this a breach of our civil liberties?

2. The University of Queensland has recently come under fire for its alleged inappropriate ties with the Chinese Government. Is Chinese influence in our universities a legitimate concern, or merely a resurgence of Sinophobia?

3. Activists around the world came together to protest police-brutality and systematic-racial violence in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

With the protests nearing their third-consecutive month resulting in worldwide upheavals, what do you believe has allowed the Black Lives Matter movement to continue to go from strength to strength, where other protests might normally have faltered?

have to wear a facemask is jeopardizing public health and prolonging our return to normality.

It is unfortunate that the Young Liberals prosecute a strong anti CI message all while inviting the Ramsay Centre onto campus.

2. Since the election of the Abbott government and their capping of domestic student enrolments, Universities have been forced to turn to other means of income.

3. The United States of America is not only rooted in systematic racism, these racist policies have continued to this day allowing the spark of George Floyd’s death to trigger sweeping protests.

One of these ways is partnering with external organisations who offer large sums of money in exchange for a presence at campus or the privilege of running subjects.

It is clear to see that the intention of the Confucius Institute is to function as an organ of the CCP’s tremendous soft power network. The University of Queensland is a particularly notable example of universities outsourcing themselves to organisations with political agendas. Not only do they have courses from the Confucius Institute they also operate courses from the racist Ramsay Centre.

Where any other issue at a protest is hard to be felt by the common person; millions across America have experienced the systematic racism of the prison system, the education system and unfair employment outcomes.

If anyone is interested, I would highly recommend 13th on Netflix.

RIGHT The Adelaide University Liberal Club chose not to submit an answer for this issue.

In saying that, we cannot let Sinophobia into our campuses either, many people’s activism against the CI treads dangerously into anti-Chinese racism. Take Pauline Hanson for example.

Any group paying huge sums of money to a university with the intention of influencing today’s students should not be welcome.

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vox pop Henry International Relations and Economics 1. No, not really, I was enjoying my bed 2. Call of duty Modern Warfare Warzone 3. A-Thousand-DollarPowerPoint 4. International Relations Capstone

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Lucy Law and International Studies 1. Ecstatic! I hated studying online. It’s hard to feel part of university culture!

2. The Exeter 3. Depressing 4. Climate Change Law and a Parliamentary Internship

1.

2.

3.

4.

Are you happy to be back on campus?

Shoutout the thing that kept you sane over the break Describe online learning in one word What subject are you most looking forward to this semester?

Caleb Medicine 1. Yes, very happy 2. Deon Mai 3. Insightful 4. Clinical Practice.

Ana History (Honours) 1. Yeah I’m keen to jump back into fighting attacks on education and meet new people 2. Watching the BLM Protests and the inspiring uprising in America unfold 3. Scam 4. Revolutions!

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Adelaide Sustainability Association

CLUB SPOTLIGHT

Lucy O’Connell Doherty

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1. Why did you join the club?

I joined the Sustainability Association last year because I was becoming increasingly passionate about environment protection, and wanted to empower other students to explore sustainability, both in their lifestyles and career pathways.

2. What sorts of events does your club run?

Sustainability is a broad area, and that’s definitely reflected in our events! We launched 2020 (pre COVID) with a grass-roots style Sustainable Fashion Runway, with the Adelaide Fashion Collective; we were blown away by the students who volunteered as runway models, wearing fierce looks from secondhand outfits to recycled curtains!

This year we’ve also co-run the Sustainable Finance Project, Future Industries Hackathon and organised our award winning Young Sustainable Leaders (YSL) Program.

Applications for YSL occur early each year, and participants receive incredible opportunities, including sustainable industry mentors and professional advancement workshops.

Finally, our signature event is Sustainability Week! 2020’s edition is Week 5 (August 24-28th), and encompasses all areas of sustainability, including: economics, permaculture, fashion, food and activism. We’ll be in the Co-op Space in Hub Central, and online, and there’ll be plenty of giveaways too, so definitely click ‘going’ on our FB event to join the fun!

3. What has been your best experience from your membership?

I love that membership’s free, and our members are diverse; so you make friends and build a network with people from all Faculties and backgrounds.

4. What are your club’s plans for the future?

During lockdown, we experimented with the Community Isolation Garden, in which we sent students free herb seed packs for them to grow at home. The project took a pause; however, we’re currently designing a permanent Community Garden in Whitmore Square for students from UofA and UniSA– so if you’ve got a green thumb, stay tuned!

Pig Club Kellie Adamson and Kate Chapman 1. Why did you join the club?

Kate: I joined mostly because a lot of my First-Year friends were also doing so. The Pigs looked really cute and they gave out cool socks for joining! I also couldn’t really say no to Tobi (our president) and the rest of the 2019 committee at the O’week stand, because I could tell how much passion they had for this club.

Kellie: After hearing from friends about the hands-on opportunities in Pig Club I joined up in second year of uni. The family-like atmosphere of pig club and welcoming nature of the committee were also a big factor of why I have continued to stay with Pig Club for the past 3 years.

3. What has been your best experience from your membership?

Kate: It’s hard to choose but I would have to say the journey to the Adelaide Show is the best experience.

You get to be so hands on with the animals in the lead up by mucking out, clicker training them and feeding them. Then you can send them off like proud parents to the show where we are able to learn even more about the Pig Industry and you get to cuddle piglets!!!

Kellie: Getting pigs in to look after and then take them to the Adelaide show is always a highlight. Watching the pigs blossom from shy to curious and friendly is amazing. It is exceptionally special when you can lay in their pens with them at the show and have a nap together.

4. What are your club’s plans for the future?

Kate: Our committee has been trying really hard all year to not let COVID-19 stop us. The Adelaide Show being cancelled was a bump in the road but we have quickly recovered by sourcing our own pigs for this semester and are looking at planning a BIG Roseworthy Show where all of our members can show off to the rest of

the Roseworthy Community how much hard work and effort we have put into the Pigs this year.

UoA’s Totally Cooked Nick Birchall 1. Why did you join the club?

So I, along with my friends Lucy and Ashley started the club earlier this year. We felt there was a gap in the market for a student-led club focused on the always popular F-word…food!

2. What sorts of events does your club run?

We’ve been limited in what we can get done with COVID, but so far we’ve hosted cook-alongs and recipes of the week. We also run a Facebook group called “UofA’s Totally Cooked Community Kitchen” where people can share photos and stories of their culinary creations!

3. What has been your best experience from your membership?

For me, it has definitely been the people! The food’s great, don’t get me wrong, but having the opportunity to meet and learn from such a wide variety of individuals from a vast array of cultures and cuisines, and see their unique interpretations on old classics or traditional dishes has been so rewarding.

4. What are your club’s plans for the future?

Once restrictions have eased, we’re looking at doing more inperson events, such as pot-lucks, or community lunches. Right at the moment though, we’ve got a video series in the works looking at basic recipes and techniques around the kitchen, for those budding chefs looking for a bit of a helping hand!

CLUB SPOTLIGHT

2. What sorts of events does your club run?

Pig Club runs educational events such as lunch and learns, and dissection workshops where members can expand their knowledge surrounding the pig industry. We also get pigs in every year for our members to increase their animal handling and pig experience. Usually we would take them to the Royal Adelaide Show, but since that is not possible this year, we have something else which is a surprise in store!

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ECON DIT Brexit Economics Words by Ritwik Kalra

On 1st February 2020, The United Kingdom formally left the European Union because of a referendum in 2016 that favoured the leave side with a 52% majority. The main reason for this was to regain control over immigration which was earlier controlled by the European Union.

The European Union is a political and economic unification between 28 European countries that work for the betterment of all the people living in these regions. After Brexit, the union now comprises of 27 countries because the UK is not a member anymore.

A downside of BREXIT will be the elimination of free tariffs of goods from the UK to other countries and vice versa but they can now trade with other countries around the world without any intervention from the European Union.

Some unforeseen problems have occurred because of Brexit as well.

One of the major ones being the unsatisfaction of Scotland. According to the referendum, the majority of Scotland

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voted to remain as a part of the European Union but the votes that were against it in England and Wales overweighted them by a very small margin. Because of these reasons, Scotland is considering becoming an independent nation by leaving the United Kingdom. If that happens, the UK’s economy will be severely affected.

It is said that most of the people who voted in favour of Brexit comprised of lower class and unemployed people who feared that immigrants might steal their jobs and hence, they voted for Brexit.

But in reality, there has been a reduction in the number of job opportunities in the UK because a lot of entrepreneurs from this region have moved to other European countries to explore a wider market. On the other hand, it will be hard for entrepreneurs from other parts of Europe to establish their businesses in the UK because of the trade barriers. An estimate of 2.5 million people didn’t vote in the referendum because they were too young to vote at that time, some of the voters have passed away which only created further chaos due to differences

in opinion. Most of the youth was against Brexit because it diminishes the opportunities they could have possibly had outside of the United Kingdom.

Other negative impacts that the UK had to suffer from were • Reduction in per capita income • Less investment • Higher unemployment rate Another vital change that the United Kingdom has gone through is the transition to blue coloured passports from the red coloured passports that were used by them when they were a part of the European Union. The commemorative 50p coins in the colours gold and silver were also introduced for circulation on 31 January 2020.

being discussed right now. Other aspects such as law enforcement, the supply of electricity and gas, flight standards etc are also needed to be taken care of within the transition period. This period is very crucial for the UK because now they have the opportunity to form independent policies in various aspects and if done correctly, they can become one of the best countries in the world.

Overall, Brexit has some good and some bad aspects and it depends on a person’s perception about the economy that will help them decide whether they are in favour of Brexit or not.

The United Kingdom immediately entered into a transition period for 11 months, this means that the European Union trading rules are still going to exist until this period expires. New agreements can be introduced during this transition period that might be beneficial for the United Kingdom. A free trade agreement being a major topic that is

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2020 at Roseworthy – What’s happened so far and what we’re hoping for Words by Rory Spiers

2020 hasn’t been the best year to be a student (or anything really, unless you’ve got money invested in Zoom) and no matter who you are, what you study or where you study, this year will have affected you in some way. Roseworthy students were no exception. This year at Roseworthy started strong and full of promise, with students keen to launch into classes, and fresh, energised clubs keen and raring to get the campus’ social calendar pumping with new and exciting events. 2020 at Roseworthy was shaping up to be an awesome year. We all know what happened next.

Firstly, to keep students safe the University announced they would move to wholly online teaching, with no face-to-face teaching to go ahead whatsoever. While a necessary precaution, this event had massive repercussions at Roseworthy as it resulted in the postponing of all practicals, where students in all year levels of all degrees at the campus learn critically important skills needed for their future careers.

Where possible, practicals were altered to suit online teaching,

however this was not possible for any class where animal handling is a necessity. Those classes with a heavy animal handling component have been required to hold make-up practicals during the mid-year break, however some classes are having to perform their make-up practicals later in the year. Many students had also incorporated overseas travel into parts of their courses.

The closure of international borders put a swift halt to these plans, with students having to do some lastminute reshuffling of their electives if they wanted to complete their degrees when they were hoping to.

Students hoping to undertake postgraduate research have also been affected this year, with a number of honours and PhD projects having to either be modified or postponed.

Alternative exam arrangements had varying degrees of impact from course to course at Roseworthy.

Some subjects made the transition to online exams smoothly and were well-received, however in others the transition was not as seamless.

Other courses postponed their exams entirely, whether it be due to

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Another impactful occurrence was the halt of in-person events.

Roseworthy-based clubs had been putting in the hard yards over the summer break planning events, securing sponsorships, and generally laying the foundation for a successful year. All of this hard work seemed to be for nought, with clubs having to either modify events to an online format, create new events, or cancel events entirely.

With face-to-face teaching put on hold, and in-person events cancelled, many students who were living on campus made the call to move back home for the duration, with a number of those going back home interstate. This left the campus a ghost-town for those who had to remain living at Roseworthy.

Relatively sudden announcements surrounding border closures made for many frantic rushes back to South Australia to ensure that students would be back in the state and out of quarantine prior to the start of semester 2 teaching.

Now that semester one is over (with the exception of a few classes to be made-up) and restrictions are starting to ease, Roseworthy is

hopeful for a return to something resembling normality as second semester progresses. That will start with the return of some face-toface teaching. While lectures and most tutorials will remain online, socially distanced practicals will start running again this semester, meaning students will be able to get hands on again, handling animals and performing dissections. The second step is the return of events on campus. As people filter back to Roseworthy and begin to settle back in, clubs and committees have started to plan events which abide by state government and university restrictions. As South Australia continues to handle the current situation, the outlook at Roseworthy is bright, and students are optimistic about what the incoming semester brings.

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dependency on knowledge taught in practicals, or examiners wishing to invigilate students, with these assessments to be completed early this semester.

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international international student student news news It’s not enough to bring our students back: A critique on recent international students policies Words by Ngoc Lan Tran

While the grip of the COVID-19 panic is loosening in South Australia, the government is bringing forth policies and decisions to attract international students back to the country. There has been planning for international repatriation projects, where small groups of students will return to the country and resume their studies, either on campus, or online in Australia, rather than in their home countries. The SA government also recently relaxed the previously strict and heftily fined visa extensions for students, all in the hope that international students will remain or come back to the alluring promises of Australian education and successful careers.

But are these implements enough to bring back students? Now is the time for us to critically think about whether repatriation projects and visa extensions are sufficient to attract international students in the times of COVID-19. This means looking beyond those alluring promises of an Australian life, and reflecting upon what is happening on the ground. Perhaps you will be able to look beyond the success and popularity of multiple international student support packages throughout the country, the state of SA and at the University of Adelaide. Support packages

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are truly a comforting sign of solidarity in the face of adversity and hardship, but they speak to a sad truth, that at these times, students are ever more reliant on the support of the community, which makes them even more at risk if and when these support packages conclude.

One of the crucial aspects that these policy changes have yet to tackle are the working conditions of international students. Decent job positions that do not subject students to wage theft can be a substantial self-reliant social safety net. The challenge is that this global economic recession is seeing tens of thousands of casual positions being made redundant in Australia. Plus being subjected to multiple visa conditions to work in Australia, such as only being able to work 40 hours per fortnight, international students are bearing the brunt of this recession. This alludes to another pointless and frankly misguiding change of policy made by the Australian government earlier this year, when Alan Tudge MP informed us that international students can now prematurely withdraw from their shockingly scarce superannuation reserves to help them sustain themselves through a global pandemic.

Free visa extensions would allow students to live in Australia for a few years longer, but would those years be worth the risk of being stranded overseas and potentially be a victim of racial discrimination?

When it comes to the best interests of students, the state and federal governments should perhaps try considering a more holistic and structured social policy. This in itself is an infinitely complex task, but perhaps one can start by implementing a more secure wage recovery system, encouraging assistance seeking with problems at work, and making the knowledge of work rights and tax obligations ubiquitous for students.

One might even dare to advocate and fight for a multicultural society, one that not only exists on paper and is propagandised by politicians left and right, but a society where its people truly respect and welcome racial and cultural differences, building upon a culture of learning and patience towards its newcomers, and flourishing on a tender embrace of the treasure of diversity. In the end, what truly welcomes students back to Australia is not a mere convenience around visa restrictions, but the formation of belonging.

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There is another aspect that we need to address, one that concerns the climate to which the Australian government and educational providers are calling international students to return to. We need to urgently reflect upon what is perhaps one of the most uncertain times in Australian and global history, and this requires acknowledgment of the increasing racism and discrimination towards Asians and Asian-Australians in the last few months.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has recently received a surge in racial discrimination cases due to COVID-19, all too well reported by the media: two international students attacked going home after shopping in Melbourne, and an innocent working student abused in Chinatown at the heart of Adelaide. These stories might not always make headlines, especially when COVID-19 and politics are overwhelming and monopolising our scarce attention. But this does not make racial discrimination any less grim. Sometimes, the media could not report what goes unsaid, a paralysing underlying fear scattering throughout the international student community, the irrational, but all too

common, thought that one day one might be getting on a bus, buying groceries, taking a walk, ordering take-out, and it can be the day they return home a victim of hate crime.

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COVID-19 has fundamentally changed how international students can afford international education. International repatriation projects and free visa extensions have yet to account for the distressingly worsening price of living in Australia. It has become increasingly harder to ignore that the ever attractive idea of pursuing a degree and career in Australia would not help acquire a sustainable income, and in reality their parents are also struggling to send money offshore, as their jobs and businesses are on the edge.

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University fee increases: An attack on students Words by Billy Zimmermann

WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE As many of us were waking up on the morning of Friday the 19th of June, the sickening news came on breakfast TV, alerts on our phones, and in worried group chats asking what this all means. The news was that the government is radically shaking up the fees that students pay. The cost for subjects in the humanities will more than double, law students will be paying 28% more, as will economics students. If these changes were to be implemented straight away, more than 40% of the student body will have increased fees. Mentioning this drastic increase in fees, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the fees for science, engineering, and maths (part of the STEM suite of subjects) will be decreasing.

This is a Liberal Government attack on students. Plain and simple. We have seen it before; the Liberals want to make studying a debt sentence for students. Yes some students are going to be paying less, a change which I am happy about, but for thousands of students across the country this will mean a doubling of fees.

HISTORY OF LIBERAL GOVERNMENT’S EFFECTS ON STUDENTS With its constant changing of leaders, students could be forgiven for thinking that Australia has had multiple governments over the past seven years, but unfortunately the government that Scott Morrison leads is the same one that came to power under Tony Abbott seven years ago. In 2014, one year after Abbott was

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elected, the Liberals attempted to fully deregulate universities; proposing to cut all government contributions to students by 20% while allowing universities to charge what they liked. Experts agreed that this could see a 300% fee increase for students and lead to undergraduate degrees that cost $100, 000. This change was defeated by thousands of students demanding that the government stop its plans. This most recent announcement is just a step for a government whose goals have not changed significantly. Fee deregulation is still the priority for the government.

WHAT DOES EVERYONE THINK Within 12 hours of dawn breaking on yet more Liberal attacks on students, interest groups as well as representative groups all had their say on this policy agenda. Unsurprisingly, both the peak representative body for domestic students, the National Union of Students (NUS), and the peak representative body for international students, the Council of International Students Australia (CISA), both came out against these fee increases. As a surprise to some, especially considering that engineering students will be better off under this plan, Engineers Australia made a strong statement against this policy.

This fee increase is not as contentious as a peruse of Overheard would make it seem, organisations and even universities themselves are condemning the almost doubling of fees for such a large proportion of students.

WHY THIS APPROACH IS DUMB The government’s stated reasons for these changes are to provide a price signal as to flow students into the ‘STEM’ subjects by making them cheaper while supposedly useless majors like philosophy and history are made more expensive. Not only is this an insult to Australia’s academic tradition, it is an approach that will not work. Engineers Australia believes that this approach will not effectively transition larger numbers of people into the engineering profession.

Not only that, but the government’s own report from the Department of Employment found that the skills most in sought after in Australia are precisely those found taught in the School of Humanities; critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence and originality are all in demand by employers across the nation.

Additionally, any domestic student is well versed in the HECS system. Yes degrees cost different amounts, but in the end all of us are able to leave it to another day when we earn 17% above minimum wage.

As a person who came out of high school fairly recently and who has friends across multiple faculties, I have never met anyone who chose a degree based on how much it cost. In my experience people chose their degrees based on their passions and what job they wanted; I chose my current history major because I love studying history. Prospective Classics, Geography, and Anthropology students are still going to follow their passions even knowing that they will be burdened with a huge debt. Those people who want to study Agriculture to work on their family farm or study Engineering seeking the high salary and job availability, would have already chosen to go down those degree paths even at the high price. This is true if the government does not continue down their path of killing HECS by a thousand cuts.

The HECS system is one with many flaws, but fundamentally it is a good thing. It provides students with an opportunity to study now and only pay it back once they are feeling the benefits of their degree.

Under the current system, students are not thinking about the cost of their degree. But with the way government policy has been trending since they were elected in 2013, there might yet still be fear for students apathetic to their debts. Since the Coalition were elected in 2013, the threshold to pay back HECS has decreased from what was the median earnings for an individual of $55,000, to what is now only 16% above the annual minimum wage. This shows contempt for students and it is not in the spirit in which HECS was established; to ensure that people who got ahead in society because of their degrees paid it back.

WE NEED TO STAND UP Now for the simplest part of this spiel. The only way that the government are going to go back on their negative changes is for students to make their voices heard. In South Australia, we are incredibly lucky to have no COVID-19 community transmission anymore, so we are able to safely make our voices heard. Already more than 200 Adelaide Uni students have signed the petition against these fee hikes, across all faculties. This is an issue that unites all students. I urge you to make your voice heard too!

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THE HUMANITIES IN CRISIS: Thinking differently

$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$ It was Mark Twain who once said that you shouldn’t let schooling get in the way of your education. Obviously, he implied that they aren’t the same thing. A good schooling teaches you how to do something, and a good education gives you a reason to do it.

This seems to be the question on the government’s lips: is a university education, particularly one in the humanities, a lucrative investment for the next generation of school leavers? Especially after coronavirus has left millions out of work, in unstable employment, or relying on Centrelink to fill in the gaps?

There’s an old Serbian joke about the young village boy who returns to his backwoods town after graduating from university. He runs into an old friend tilling the fields, who asks him the simple question, “What do you do now?” “Well,” the graduate replies, “I’m a philosopher.” “A philosopher? Buddy, we’re all philosophers around here. But what do you do for a living?”

In my continuation of the joke, the graduate insists that he is going to work in the local shoe factory while he writes his breakthrough work on some obscure passage in Hegel that no one else has ever thought twice about. Meanwhile, his peer, an engineering graduate, is already running the factory. But which one is making a greater contribution to society?

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about higher education

Words by Ivan Bucalo

Well, if this headstrong youth ever writes that tome which will be the first domino to fall in the breakdown of exploitative capitalism, then the answer is fairly unequivocal. If not, then I’ll take the bloke who can guarantee I’ll have something to keep my feet warm. It is, however, not unthinkable that a society should value greatly someone who can give the people of that society those things which they know they need, more so than the person who may give them the things which they do not know they need.

What is facile is the appeal to higher education as good-in-itself and is generally a poor brand for the pro-humanities argument.

The idea that reading the same book in a classroom rather than at home, in your pyjamas, somehow increases the worth of having read it, is nonsensical. The manner in which the book is taught may be more elucidating, and the student may leave with a better understanding of it than after selfdirected study. But how much is this really worth in dollar terms? Would you say it’s about $6800 a year? What if the student is enrolled in a double-degree with something like law or science, so that a universitylevel humanities education alongside it would improve their moral reasoning or communication abilities?

There are many assumptions at play here, but the laziest one is that the average BA graduate is little more than a mouthpiece

for their Marxist lecturers, and that the Arts are a pyramid scheme to fund these Marxist professors. It’s a neat bowtie to the problem of Western civilization’s decline (if you believe in that), but too easy, and assumes that anything left of hot-blooded, unswerving faith in God and Country is, in fact, Marxism.

Maybe the disdain toward humanities graduates comes from the idea that it is a free ride on the backs of those who decided to pursue pragmatic study paths, that not everyone is pulling their weight. This, in turn, is a critique of the notion that you should study what you’re passionate about. Maybe the problem is that no one is passionate about doing something useful (I’m only halfsarcastic here).

of both social science courses and those with scientific or vocational applications? Perhaps two-thirds of your degree is dedicated to humanities disciplines, while the other third is devoted to the foundations of a particular trade or profession, like nursing?

This foundational component could be a pathway to fast-tracked future study if the job market needs more nurses, or in times of national emergency – as we have been experiencing in the last four months – can temporarily relieve unemployment rates. But this solution requires imagination – and if we go by Minister Dan Tehan’s education record, and draw conclusions about the imaginative ability of arts graduates, then the humanities are indeed in dire straits.

Say you decide to study agriculture, which along with nursing and mathematics, will receive a +50% cut in course fees from next year. Agriculture is not for everyone.

Nor is nursing for that matter. It’s mentally and physically demanding, and equal amounts dull and stressful. Some people will gravitate to it naturally. Maybe if a person is “pragmatically-minded” they may decide to reroute from an engineering degree into one of these fields. But do you really think someone who loves philosophy, or music, or history, and wants to spend every waking moment immersed in it, is going to be swayed by financial concerns? The corporatization of the university sector has had the effect of generating invisible debt in the form of HECS: no deposit required, no interest accrued, and no real consequence for taking it until it comes back to haunt you in deductions out of your pay packet. Who would blame someone for studying what they love when it’s so damn easy?

Even then, not everyone will like the sound of having to compromise with one-third of their allotted study credits. The question becomes more pointy: how do you get young people to want to do these difficult jobs? That’s a tougher nut to crack, because it basically amounts to an alternative form of civil service or conscription, which Australia did away with after Vietnam. Moreover, it’s a marketing question. How do you effectively associate one’s identity with a brand of collectivism that is holistic, sensible, and doesn’t amount to blind patriotism? I don’t know, but I’m sure it doesn’t begin with making Scotty from The Block your national trades ambassador.

As other commentators have pointed out in greater depth, the government’s game is simply to subsidise the increasing cost-oftuition of STEM subjects that universities are facing by allowing them to take advantage of those who have been erroneously told to study what they love. If the government really wants to prepare Australia’s future graduates, why not explore a dual-tiered tertiary education pathway which contains elements

So, the problem is not studying the humanities per se: it is that studying some branches of the humanities in a vacuum is not a great investment if, theoretically, the soft skills taught – like research and working in teams – can be acquired in many other branches of study. For tens of thousands of dollars, you’d like to get a little more bang for your buck. This isn’t a rib at the brilliant minds we have in our Arts Faculty either. The singlemajor degree pathway itself is an antiquated tradition because it assumes one must either be well-schooled or well-educated; one must be able either to do something or to question why it should be done at all. That assumption needs to change – not only so we can make better people out of our graduates, but better citizens too.

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Black Lives

Matter 28

Adelaide University students have passionately joined the fight and stood with the BLM movement in Adelaide

Photographs by SosblackAustralia SA Action Words by Vanessa Woode

“Look around, because our voices matter, our lives matter.”

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the news the news the news the news the news the

the news Words by Steven Morley On the 24th of June, the Australian Broadcast Corporation saw a further $84 million cut from their budget, bringing the total amount of defunding to $867 million since 2014. However, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher states that ‘there is no cut’ and that ‘funding is stable’.

“Agencies within a minister’s portfolio routinely put proposals.” Mr Fletcher said to ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

The host of Insider, David Speers, said he had acquired a letter from NSW nationals leader John Barilaro to the Prime Minister and the Deputy saying that ignoring this founding request for regional areas was “incomprehensible.”

year than the 2013/14 when the Tony Abbott led Coalition Government came to power.

Responding to Mr Fletcher’s comments, Labor’s communications spokeswoman said that his response on the ABC funding cuts was inconceivable and insulting to the ABC chair, the National Party, regional and remote Australia.

“Empty words and false assertions do nothing to address the crisis facing regional media, exacerbated by COVID-19 and the recession, and do nothing to ensure the safety of Australians in the face of natural disasters,” Ms Rowland said in a statement.

THE OPINION

“I would say two things. There is no cut...

Funding is stable.” responded Mr Fletcher.

“The second point… we’ve got the $50 million public interest news gathering program in regional Australia for television, radio and newspaper.”

The program, Public Interest News Gathering (PING), provides grants to newspapers businesses and commercial broadcasters across remote and regional Australia.

The ABC announced last week that 250 jobs would be lost due to funding being reduced by 10 percent less in the 2021/22

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The Liberal party claims that the ABC’s recent $84 million shortfall is not only “stable funding”, even going as far as state ‘there is no cut’ at all, is misleading and deceiving. The Australian public has become quite aware that this is a prolonged plan to defund the ABC to the point of nothing.

In a day and age where news media has become a 24 hour rotation, 7 days a week on practically any portable device, defunding the ABC doesn’t seem like an idea that benefits the Australian people. So who does it benefit?

s the news s the In 2017, the then Turnbull led Liberal government passed laws changing media ownership, with help from the Nick Xenophon Team and One Nation. These changes scrapped the former ‘2 out of 3’ rule. Formally, this meant companies could only own 2 of the 3 media outlets (Radio, Television and Newspaper).

With these media law changes, big news corporations such as 9News and CBS capitalised and quickly entered into merger and buyout talks with other companies.

9News merged with the print journalism company Fairfax (which has been hugely speculated as a buyout, and not a merger) and CBS acquired Network 10 for the amount of $123 million.

Now it should be said that Network 10 was in financial troubles in 2017. The efforts to gain a support loan to avoid receivership from its billionaire shareholders Lachlan Murdoch, James Packer and Bruce Gordon to the tune of $250 million was rejected.

Murdoch and Gordon also placed a separate joint bid for Network 10 but were subsequently denied by the creditors citing concerns of previous management of the business. Though Network 10 is now owned by a foreign organisation, the network and its employees continue to function in Australia and provide a difference of opinion to the public.

However, the merger between Fairfax Media and 9News is detrimental to the public in the lack of varying opinions. With the ‘2 out of 3’ rule thrown out, Murdoch family and News Corp were able to acquire a newspaper to add to their Television and Radio repertoire. Coupled with the 75% reach rule scrapped, media companies have more freedom to dominate the

market and create a higher concentration of owners and voices. Here’s an image with the ownership of media corporations from the 7th of December 2018, published by Australian Communications and Media Authority.

These recent cuts that the ABC has been put through is not new. As mentioned above the Liberal Government has repeatedly defunded ABC over the course of 6 years and there is likely more to come.

When considered along with changes to media laws and recent fee changes to humanity degrees, it’s not a far stretch to say that the Government is trying to quell dissenting voices.

With the concentration of owners becoming fewer through the Government’s actions, with funding for the ABC being reduced further each passing year, will Australia’s political opinion become warped to that of the current Government at the time?

Shortly, probably not. With the internet becoming a more commonly used tool and the ‘changing of the guard’ in terms of generations, we are seeing more political conversations than ever before with varying differences of opinion.

Having said that, news media and print journalism is looking bleak for the foreseeable future, especially the ABC.

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Words by Felix Eldridge Art by Isobel Moore

downgraded freedoms: troubling signs of australian authoritarianism

In December of 2019, Australia’s level of ‘democracy’ was downgraded from ‘open’ to ‘narrowed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. The CIVICUS Monitor is a monitor administered by various human rights organizations around the world to examine the level of democracy present in governments. The ratings include ‘closed’, ‘repressed’, ‘obstructed’, ‘narrowed’ and ‘open’.

This rating change was based upon: New anti-protest laws, increased prosecution of whistleblowers as well as raids upon journalists and media organizations.

However, there are also other more subtle changes that ought to contribute to a general lack of rights and freedoms in our democracy.

ANTI-PROTEST LAWS: Several jurisdictions around Australia, most notably the Federal and Queensland Governments, have passed or amended legislation to make it more difficult for organizations to protest. These changes include special penalties for significantly disruptive protests and more aggressive enforcement methods to control crowds.

While this might seem justifiable on paper, the methods by which these laws are being applied are not. While violent riots should be dealt with swiftly and with reasonable force if necessary, dealing with disruptive, yet peaceful, protests should not require special legislation and special provisions to enforce, nor should force be used in normal circumstances.

Passing these measures for non-violent protests sets the nation toward the slippery slope of authoritarianism, as the right to peacefully demonstrate is a fundamental strength of any healthy democracy.

MEDIA INDEPENDENCE: Equally disturbingly are the crackdowns upon media organizations in Australia.

In June 2019, the ABC headquarters were raided by the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The AFP were looking for information used in ABC articles about operations in Afghanistan. This raid took place the day after the AFP raided a News Corp journalist’s house in connection with an alleged ‘national security leak’.

These raids represent an intolerable intrusion upon the freedom of press on the part of the Liberal-National Coalition.

While the Media is by no means above the law, the fact that the raids could be justified upon such tenuous grounds, damages the perception of a strong independent media.

In response, many major media outlets came together to create the ‘Your Right to Know’ campaign. Among other things, this campaign called for the right to contest search warrants, exemptions from prosecution under some national security laws and protections for whistleblowers.

WHISTLEBLOWERS: Increased prosecution against whistleblowers, particular those not involved with national security issues, is also a blow to liberal democracy. A whistleblower in the Australian Taxation Office is facing life imprisonment for revealing information about Commonwealth debt-collection. While the leaking of information regarding national security should be treated with caution, a domestic matter regarding taxation laws that are in the public interest should not warrant such a steep penalty for publishing. The fact that even non-national security matters are being

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kept so far from the eyes of citizens is a steep challenge to freedom in this country.

GAG MOTIONS: Federal Parliament, presumably brought in from unwritten UK parliamentary conventions, has the power to move motions preventing members from speaking to a motion or bill. This motion, sometimes referred to as the ‘gag rule’, allows a parliamentary majority to quickly put matters to a vote by shutting down debate. It can also be used to prevent filibustering or other delaying tactics used by the Opposition to unnecessarily slow down the legislative process.

Unfortunately the Federal Government is abusing this mechanism to simply avoid discussion.

While allowed under Standing Orders, this tactic is being openly abused by the government to prevent Opposition MPs from speaking against bills. In particular, the Government used this to ram through the second iteration of the ‘Ensuring Integrity’ Bill without allowing a single opposition MP, even the Leader of the Opposition to say even one word against it. A democracy where elected members are not allowed to speak their mind is outrageous, but when the government silences every single dissenting voice in the chamber it becomes downright oppressive.

Minister’s most oft quoted responses to questions he does not wish to answer is ‘that’s a bubble question’, referring to the so-called ‘Canberra Bubble’ existing in Federal Parliament. This complete refusal to answer questions is further symptomatic of a loss of trustworthiness and accountability within the Federal Government.

Furthermore, continuous refusal to table documents to committees, provide accurate statements to Parliament, the many clear attempts to cover up scandals and the numerous attempts by the Government simply to cease calling Parliament into session altogether all increase the perception of a Government rotten to its core.

Collectively, these signs point to a weakening of the nation’s previously strong democracy. Accountability, transparency, exercises of citizens’ and organizations’ rights are being steadily eroded. While there isn’t a single solution available, it’s important to keep track of the failures of government to be accountable to its citizens. The one thing we can still count on is the democratic election process and if the current administration fails to improve Australia’s democracy, perhaps it’s time for the Australian people to find one that can.

Disclaimer: CULTURE OF UNACCOUNTABILITY: While it is common for Government Ministers to find creative ways of dodging awkward questions, under this term of government there appears to be an even greater focus on refusing to answer questions altogether. One of the Prime

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The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of On Dit.

Words by Larisa Forgac

You wanna?...

If you catch my drift

An honest review of sexual metaphors in songs

In the famous words of Salt-N-Pepa: let’s talk about sex, baby! When you’re down to clown, in a mood for a root, or getting jiggy with it, you always need a good song to get you in the right mindset. Let’s be honest, when you break it down to its bare essentials, sex is actually not all that appealing. But God does it sell like hotcakes, especially when you package it nicely in a couple of catchy lines. Now, I touch myself and My neck, my back may be cult classics in music, but they are hardly something you can play at a shopping centre for some light-hearted family enjoyment.

That’s where metaphors come in of course!

Want to write a song about your latest erotic escapades but still want that sweet radio licence cash influx? No problem: run those nasty words through several layers of obfuscation and call it a day. Unfortunately, sex themed songs are so abundant that as an artist you may struggle to find a well-crafted turn of phrase to describe the old hanky panky. I’m about to go through some examples of lyrics that hit the spot (if you know what I mean) and others that could use some polishing in this very important review of modern song writing, so buckle up and enjoy the ride ;)

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“I’ll take you to the candy shop I’ll let you lick the lollypop”

- Candy Shop, 50 Cent Verdict: 4/10 I am purposely leaving out the rest of the song because it utterly destroys any bit of nuance that this line offers. An inaccurate and misleading description of the taste and shape of male genitalia — likely to lead to disappointment for young people down the line. Overall, relatively safe metaphor. Expect your kids to sing this one around the house until realisation hits them in adulthood.

“Can you blow my whistle baby, whistle baby…

You just put your lips together And you come real close”

- Whistle, Flo Rida Verdict: -5/10 Probably rates 10/10 as an actual instruction manual on how to blow a whistle. Seems a bit desperate for some action but is at least polite enough to ask if the person can blow his whistle. If this was in a year 12 English essay, not only would the child’s parents get a call from the school, but the child would fail the assignment for using lazy metaphors. Really Flo Rida, you can’t just cross out the word ‘dick’ from a sentence and replace it with an inanimate object.

“It was the summer of ‘69”

-Summer of ’69, Bryan Adams Verdict: Nice, 69/69 I have only praise for this one. Hidden in plain sight and inconspicuous. Makes your parents say, “man the summer of ’69 really was great”. Asking your parents if they know the actual meaning of the song can backfire, as they might just say that they are perfectly aware and how are you meant to live with them and yourself after that?

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“Yeah I bloom, I bloom just for you I bloom, just for you”

-Bloom, Troye Sivan Verdict: 9/10 Songs that make you go “Ah” upon closer inspection.

Beautiful, vivid imagery throughout the song. If you can make anal sex sound pretty, you are doing something right. Bonus points for this line being a popular, but oh-so misunderstood, feature of a lot of Insta girl’s bios. No Kayla, he is not talking about flowers.

“Let’s have some fun this beat is sick I wanna take a ride on your disco stick”

-LoveGame, Lady Gaga Verdict: 2/10 Horny on main; very upfront and doesn’t beat around the bush. This gets a two because Lady Gaga made a metaphor out of an object that doesn’t exist. What is a disco stick?

No one knows, but now you know it at least must be some phallic shaped apparatus. This would definitely prompt questions from children. “What’s a disco stick mummy?” “I don’t know Tommy, mummy doesn’t go to disco, oh look ice cream!”

“You don’t gotta go to work, work, work…

We can work from home, oh, oh, oh, oh”

-Work From Home, Fifth Harmony Verdict: 8/10 I can’t pass up such a good double entendre. This song really got second wind when we went into lockdown, so now you can both work and “work” from home — but make sure you keep that healthy work/life balance. Very well done, serves both as a great representation of how much effort goes into sex, and offers genuine advice for pandemic safety. The only downside is that this might be used by “hip” and “with it” work bosses as a Facebook meme.

So there you have it. If you are a true lyrical connoisseur, I hope this review rubbed you the right way. And don’t forget, next time you get together with your friends, and excellent ice breaker is always: “You know which song is actually about sex?”

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Words by Ivan Bucalo

Review: Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways “Today and tomorrow, and yesterday too / The flowers are dying like all things do.” …So doth quote rock music’s own oracle of Delphi, Bob Dylan, at the very beginning of his latest album Rough and Rowdy Ways.

In the past, Dylan been less blatant about that magical quality of his lyricism: the suspicion that if you sat him down nicely, he could tell you anything you wanted to know about the world, as well as things you didn’t even know you wanted to know. But in the autobiographical, introspective suite of lyrics found on this album, Dylan is terribly conscious that this might be his last chance to settle the score about who he really is.

So, when he says, “I ain’t no false prophet, I just said what I said / I’m just here to bring vengeance on somebody’s head”, you best believe that whatever cultural capital he acquired as a hero of the 60s was, at least for the most part, circumstantial. Frankly, Dylan, the philosopher-poet, is more interesting than Dylan, the hippie icon. I recall seeing him live in 2018, cigarette-singed vocals and all, seated in front of some older gentlemen each wearing these ponchos that must have

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lived at the back of their wardrobes for half a century. It took a burly, unfriendly-looking bloke’s indiscrete words to get them to stop asking Dylan to play ‘Maggie’s Farm’ for the umpteenth time – I believe the words he used were, “can’t you just enjoy the fucking music?” If there were anyone else in the world who I’d be confident has the universe figured out besides Dylan, it would be that bloke.

I mention this to illustrate that Dylan has one of the most important virtues as an artist: to stay one step ahead of what his listeners expect. How many artists would even think to reference Liberace and St. John the Apostle in the same line, or Indiana Jones and Anne Frank? If this sort of irreverence doesn’t sit right with some, let them not point the finger at Dylan. Let them realize that the twentieth century is largely a history of irreverence, not only toward the parochial wisdom of our elders, but as a matter of principle, and Dylan, for better or worse, paints the landscape before him with vivid colours. The exchange

of high and low culture – an aesthetic practice which Dylan probably got from T.S. Eliot – makes no pretence of being clean-cut and uniform. If Eliot aims for a synthesis, Dylan’s approach is that of a curator of stories, ideas, and cultural artefacts, and if you couldn’t tell in the past whether he wrote the lyrics first or the music, the answer now is unequivocal, for we are firmly in the territory of spoken-word poetry on this album.

Even the slower-tempo, patient delivery found here is a new direction for Dylan. He’s now unafraid to think of himself as a rank and file poet after being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. A lesser writer would have accepted it like a gold watch, but not Dylan. At seventy-nine, he attempts to revive something like the practice of the Ancient Greek rhapsodos, “singers of the woven word”, who recited the epics of Homer with musical accompaniment. But is this really Dylan’s Odyssey, his magnum opus? Put it another way: do we want to accept that Dylan took the roundabout way of realizing the answer to life is just plain, old piety? Can we take him seriously when he proscribes “the Gospel of love”, councils us to “let all your earthly thoughts be of prayer”, or when he sings, “I feel the Holy Spirit inside, see the light that freedom gives / I believe it’s in the reach of every man who lives”? He wouldn’t be the first person who was moved to faith by the fear of mortality, but I refute this unimaginative proposition for two reasons.

One, his 80s Gospel rock period was too commercially unlucrative to be disingenuous.

Secondly, the choice to close the album with “Murder Most Foul” assures us that Dylan’s religion is not used as an opiate.

That track, a seventeen-minute dirge about the assassination of President John F Kennedy, is an epic for the age of mass distrust in the government. This isn’t a protest song; it’s tantamount to a book of biblical apocrypha, an esoteric journey into the heart of a spectacular act of violence. Dylan only flirts with the idea of co-conspirators, coming to collect “unpaid debts” of some description, for what is most striking anyway

is the image of JFK as a “sacrificial lamb”, a creature unaware of the price for which its life was taken. Not even the oracle himself can quite crack this nut, however certain he seems that within it is the heart of darkness itself. As he loses himself in a forest of mismatched, strewn-about memories of the artists whom inspired him, and whom, conversely, he himself inspired, we feel a longing for a simpler time, a refuge from the sort of banal evil one sees played out on a disproportionately large stage. And yet, like the rest of this album’s lyrics, these allusions to Christianity, rock and roll, and the hey-day of Americana, seem more nostalgic than they do virtuoso, like in his rollicking, psychedelic masterpieces of yore.

The answer to that question – Who really is this guy? – may be no different than for any other one of us. He is a product of his time and the strange cultural epoch out of which he emerged. He is also someone who, I presume, has seen a whole lot of bullshit in his many years, and this pretty-well summarizes his attitude to it all: “What is the truth and where did it go / Ask Oswald and Ruby – they oughta know / Shut your mouth, says the wise old owl / Business is business and it’s murder most foul.”

This is the greatest lesson a student of Dylan’s music can take away with them. It’s not about who’s right or who’s wrong. It’s about who has power and how they’re willing to use it. So long as power exists, so must it be scrutinised. So long as it exists, one must be careful that whoever wields is not taking one for a ride. But no one can ever take Dylan for a ride, because he is, before anything else, a musician, and the Muse sings so sweetly to him, through his own songs and those of his contemporaries, whom he celebrates through the whole album, that no one could ever convince him the greatest satisfaction in life is not to be found in that rich tapestry of memory and sound intertwined. Consider Rough and Rowdy Ways the final word to this lesson.

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CUT AND RUN On June 29th, the Marshall Liberal Government announced the largest ever attack on our state’s public transport network. The government hailed the policy as a once-in-ageneration shake-up to how public transport would be delivered, and that this policy would be a simplification of the current network, which was apparently not doing its job efficiently.

This announcement – that our system was broken and needed radical change – was news to students and commentators alike. Not one student that I spoke to thought the existing bus network was perfect, but they stressed the importance of the current timetable to their lives and especially their education. For Mitch, like many other students, “The bus is my main form of transport to and from uni. Driving can be too hectic with traffic, and parking is expensive.”

This simplification was code for reducing services and wiping stops off the map completely. The removal of some services and over 1,000 bus stops would make our public transport network inaccessible for the thousands 44

Words by Connor Watson

who rely on it every day, especially students like ourselves.

Whether you reside in the North, South, West, or East, you would have found it harder to get to the city with many direct routes being cut, forcing passengers to transfer to another service to complete their journey.

Especially hard-hit were residents of Aberfoyle Park and Flagstaff Hill, as well as those in Elizabeth who would have had to travel to a hub and transfer instead of travelling directly to the city.

The changes would have also taken a toll on students’ wallets, especially those who occasionally enjoy a night out. All students like to let their hair down from time to time, and our current bus network has night services which allow them to return home safely for a fraction of the cost of a cab. According to Darcy, if his route was cut, he would have to take an Uber back home which would cost “10x more than my bus.”

The cutting of these night services also posed a serious risk for vulnerable members of our community, as explained by Annie: “The bus cuts

would have meant time spent waiting for a service is doubled. Now, during the day that’s not too much of a problem. Nighttime is a different story.

As a young woman, spending almost an hour waiting for a bus at night is the last thing I want to do. Public transport isn’t just about convenience, it’s about safety and security.”

Two weeks after this announcement, Steven Marshall sensationally backflipped and canned the whole policy after “community consultation”.

He was forced to admit that this policy was toxic and would have left thousands of South Australians stranded by a government that was putting profit before people.

Rage was evident across the board. The Liberals could only last two weeks of criticism from people like Hannah, who said, “Cutting transport lines doesn’t help any one of Adelaide’s citizens.

Instead it makes it more difficult for all us dependent or reliant on public transport to go about our everyday lives.”

Some would argue this is a government that is listening to the people, but ultimately, it is simply one that is covering it’s derriere. One must ask how it could be so out of touch as to believe 1,000 bus stops being wiped off the map would be welcomed by any part of the community. The Liberals realized these cuts were political poison, and that South Australians would not have a bar of it at the next election.

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Spin A yarn

Spin A yarn On Dit brings you the winners of the AUU Spin A Yarn competition - a collaborative short story writing experience. The challenge before the competitors was to write a short story by writing only 120-150 words and passing it onto the next person in line to continue. The end result were 7 stories with unique and unexpected twists and creative plots.

We hope you enjoy reading the Critic’s Choice and People’s Choice winners!

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SUSPENSE ON MANDELL ST CRITIC’S CHOICE SUSPENSE/THRILLER

It was Christmas eve and Angelina sat sipping her hot coffee. Out the window she saw her new neighbour Robert dragging a bag. She hadn’t seen him for almost two weeks and was expecting to meet him at the neighbourhood Christmas party. Angelina waved at him but he seemed too anxious to notice her. It was unusual but she didn’t bother about it as she was too busy packing gifts for her grandkids.

Later that afternoon, Angelina saw a few police officers in the neighbourhood interrogating people. Angelina, wondering what had happened, decided to wake her husband. He was sleeping more and more since his dementia diagnosis. Together they went into the worried crowd on the street.

A police officer informed them that a 5-year old child had been missing in the neighbourhood since morning.

The officers did not find any signs of struggle at the child’s abode, so their current working hypothesis was that the girl had gone to a friend’s house.

“What do you think happened hubby?”

Angelina asked her husband.

“Are the officers coming for tea?” her husband replied, clearly in a daze. He had always been an empathic man; if anything the dementia seemed to have

brought that quality out of him even further.

“Where’s Rupert? He might want some coffee too wouldn’t he?” Angelina’s husband suddenly added. She was sure he meant Robert, their new neighbour, as her husband was one of the only people to have talked to him for any significant length of time. Angelina looked around Come to think of it, Robert was absent in the crowd. Should she note his absence to the officers?

Better not, she thought. Robert was known to work night shifts and often slept through the day. “Perhaps I’ll just go around and knock on the door” she said absently.

Angelina went up the front steps of her neighbour’s house and knocked.

No response. She peered through the windows. All was dark inside. She put her hand on the door-knob. The door was unlocked.

“Robert?” she called. Angelina entered the house quietly. “Robert”. Nothing.

Suddenly a hand was over her mouth.

“Listen very carefully.” it said. “You’re going to come with me through the back and get in the car” Angelina did as she was told.

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“Do not make a sound or I’ll shoot,” the man said. Angelina nodded, as she felt a metal tip digging into her clothes, pushing her along. Dreadful sensations coursed through Angelina’s body like a disease. She could feel her blood pounding in her ears, and she felt sick in her mouth. A million thoughts ran through her mind. Who is this? What does he want? She lived in a small town where everyone knew each other, yet this was not a voice she recognised.

Suddenly, a sweet scent surrounded her and the last thing she saw before drifting off was the opened trunk of a black car, with a large bag already sitting in it. ---

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have time for any last wishes crap.” The red-haired gangster cocked his gun.

Angelina’s heart felt like a train pounding down the tracks.

In a moving car, Angelina was woken up by the sound of a man shouting, “You should have locked that damn door!

What are we going to do with her now?”

Bam!! The bullet pierced her skull.

Darkness engulfed her.

Angelina blinked groggily, barely able to make out the inside of the car. Robert, her neighbour, was on the passenger side, looking quite pale. The other man, she couldn’t see and she dared not move.

Strands of greasy red hair peaked over his headrest, and he said “You’re a fool Rob!” Robert was starting to look a little green.

“I...I just wanted to make him pay! He stole from me and I wanted to hurt him back! It’s not my fault she came in.”

“I dont give a crap about your stupid revenge quest Rob! What are we going to do with the hag?”

The child, Angelina thought. Slowly, she creept her hand out toward the bag dumped beside. Her heart fluttered as her fingers met with soft warmth - an enveloping small finger bone. Warmth.

Life.

Silence broke her trance and she jolted back as a gun was held to her face.

The next thing Angelina knew she was sitting in her house, sipping her hot coffee on Christmas eve. Zapped. She swore what happened wasn’t a dream. To make sure, she looked out of the window to see Robert dragging a bag. It certainly wasn’t.“What just happened? Did she….? Was she…? Should she…?”

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“Thanks for inviting me to dinner last Sunday but I just thought I should inform you that the food was a little salty.” Robert muttered. “Now, do we have to kill her?”

“She’s seen too much. She knows too much!” His fingers seem ready to pull the trigger.

“I’ve seen nothing. I know nothing!”

Angelina cried for help.

---

Robert got to his car and opened the door. Angelina snapped out of her thought bubble back to the present. She had to do something, now.

She ran through the hall and out the front door, slowing her pace as she walked to the mailbox.

“Hi, Robert!” she called, “How’s your morning been?”

“Yep. Ok. Yep.” Robert said, looking like he clearly wanted to escape.

“Are you alright with that heavy bag?”

Angelina inquired innocently, walking towards him as if to help.

“Fine thanks!” Robert replied quickly, his voice breaking. He roughly hauled the bag up and slung it into the backseat.

Yikes, Angelina thought. Maybe I’m just making this worse.

But she wasn’t going to let this go. She had to help that little girl. Could she call the police now or was that premature?

“Rob? It’s freezing out there. Come in for tea.” Her husband’s characteristic drawl resonated through the patio.

Robert reluctantly smiled and slammed the car door shut.

Once his back was turned, Angelina darted to the car and yanked at the handle. Staring at the bag, she tried to make out the form of a child but instead found the name “Rupert Hansson” emblazoned in gold. She drew a sharp breath and froze momentarily.

Returning to confront her husband, Angelina was startled by the sight of Robert reclined in an armchair, tranquil and relaxed - seemingly asleep.

“Don’t worry honey. It’s time I returned the favour. The tea won’t last that long - keys are by the mantelpiece.” her husband said.

As she unzipped the bag, she felt a warm hand and let out an audible sigh.

Gently resting the child on the couch, she noticed the sweet scent of a freshly bloomed Datura flower.

Words by: The Punisher Saphira Harper Iyuser Atalanta Baarn95 Alanna Kenneth

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Henderson park people’S CHOICE crime/mystery

It was a cold night, and the only sounds that could be heard were of owls hooting.

Robert was about to drive back home, but within a few kilometres his car broke down. Robert didn’t have the slightest patience at times like this. He was agitated and irritated, that’s when his phone began to ring. He picked up the call but couldn’t get proper reception from where he was now. It was his wife, who thinks he works at the International Bank on Walker’s street. Actually, Robert was busy closing up a case that he had recently solved. Hence the delay to get back home.

“Why today?” Robert mumbled to himself.

His life was a complete mystery to his neighbours. He seemed like a sociopath to the public which always made things complicated.

And right now, he had no choice but to walk through the trail near Henderson park.

As he walked, Robert kept trying to ring his wife back. She would be worried that he wasn’t home yet, even if she had no idea what his real job was. However, there was still no reception and Robert felt as if he was walking further and further away from civilisation. Henderson Park was dark and empty even though it was early in the night. No one wanted to be here after dark. But Robert wasn’t afraid, just distracted, his mind flicking back and forth from work to home.

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He almost didn’t see it, the lost shoe lying by the edge of the path. It seemed odd that a grown woman could lose a shoe without noticing. But as he peered into the darkness under the trees, he saw the woman – wait, women, three of them, lying dead in a pile.

Though the scene was unsettling and unexpected, it wasn’t one bit grisly.

“There’s no blood”, he murmured. How could three women, uniformly dressed in black crop tanks, teeny tiny checked skirts, fishnet stockings, and sparkling peep toe mesh stiletto heels, be found dead and bloodless?

The quiet eerie moment was suddenly broken by Robert’s blaring cell phone.

His wife managed to get through him, courtesy of one bar reception.

“Where are you honey?”, she remarked lovingly but panicky. “The downtown club we went to last weekend has reported three service girls missing since two days.”

He plummeted on one knee astonished at what he had encountered. “I’ll call you back sweetheart, keep the doors locked”, he asserted.

Robert was convinced that this was his case to solve, and he so hoped he would stumble across a clue that would lead him to find the elusive perpetrator.

As he went ahead to investigate, it hit him... how could he take the case when he was fired from ‘The Organisation’. The

crooks of their forearms. “Huh,” he raised an eyebrow. He continued his search, mentally apologising to his wife, but before he could find anything else interesting, a loud bark cut through the crisp night air. Robert froze in his tracks. complete scene of what had happened earlier that day flashed in front of him.

Jack and Olly had betrayed him and plotted a scenario which portrayed him as ‘the villain’. “Bloody scoundrels!”, said Robert under his breath thinking about how he had taught and trained them the ways of ‘The Organisation’. He couldn’t come to terms with the fact that his boss with whom he had worked for over 15 years could believe that Robert would do anything to harm the reputation of ‘The Organisation’. The night sky was covered with thick grey clouds making for an eerie sight. Robert decided to go and check on the bodies nonetheless - his conscience wouldn’t let him just walk away.

Despite the trees above, the area was clear of plant debris. Sidestepping some torn strips of fabric and puddles of strange fluids, he got up close to the bodies. Haphazardly splayed across one another, it was hard to discern anything.

He hesitated, “I can’t leave fingerprints… and it’s not like you can feel it anyway.”

He unceremoniously kicked the bodies off each other. “Sorry,” he said awkwardly. Now separated, he caught sight of something odd. Each woman had hands pressed together, as if they were praying. Looking closer, he saw remnants of glue between fingers. Following on, he observed faint track marks in the

The bark cut through the silence like a foghorn. The LEDs of a torch blinded Robert as he turned around slowly to get a look at what he hoped would be someone friendly. “Look at what the old bat has dragged in.”

It’s that voice. Croaky from years of cigars, but always speaking down to you like you were an idiot.

“Jack. What are you doing here?”

“Finding the killer revisiting the scene of a crime, obviously.”

It’s happening again. Robert took a closer look at Jack, making sure to focus on the details this time.

Sweat pasted the hair to the face, hands were shaky, and that look in his eyes.

Crazed, like he was simultaneously a thousand miles away with tunnel vision. In the other hand, a syringe.

“You’re right in one regard Jack. The killer is revisiting the crime scene.”

A warped smile twisted at the corners of Jack’s mouth and he laughed coldly.

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“You think you’re so smart, don’t you Robert? All that snooping around behind backs. Years of service to a company the government refuses to believe exists.

You think you’re god-damned king of the world. And yet, I’ve outsmarted you.”

The pair had begun to circle each other, Robert’s eyes trained on the syringe in Jack’s hand, Jack’s manic gaze flicking between his opposition and the corpses before him. Robert knew he was cornered. The likelihood of making it out alive and well was looking grimmer by the second.

Until a thought struck Robert and he allowed himself an inward smile. Jack may have the cunning and ruthlessness to pull off a stunt like this, but he had one major flaw. A flaw that would inevitably give Robert the upper hand. Jack hadn’t met Robert’s wife.

Suddenly, in came Robert’s wife. The car blazed through the park, only allowing Jack mere moments to swivel back his head and face his doom. The car skidded, ripping up dirt as Jack’s body went flying off into the darkness.

The only evidence of the collision left behind was Jack’s lifeless arm and syringe barely illuminated by his torch now laying in the grass. The car’s driver door swung open and Robert’s beloved artificial intelligence beamed to life, “I came as soon as I received an alert that your personal vehicle broke down.”

“Found the bodies— and Jack, who in truth found me first,” Robert managed to croak out as his adrenaline pumped.

“There is no time, honey. You need to get in. They are looking for you now,” explained his wife, concern nearly overpowering her voice. Robert always knew there would be advantages to

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being married to the job.

Words by: Allan Alanna Saphira Siddhartha Yoshi Jo Sue Donym Lazaras

Clubs Anonymous: A story for those who can’t kick the club habit Words by Felix Eldridge

Adelaide University has a fantastic club culture. Clubs are a place to make friends, ignore upcoming assignment deadlines, have fun and enjoy a more well rounded university experience. But . . . there is also a dark underbelly of club life and this is a story about that: club culture that’s gone too far.

“Hi everyone, my name is Arthur and I’m a clubaholic.”

“Hi Arthur” said the group in unison.

“So, this has been an issue that has bugged me for some time now: I’m a member of too many clubs and they’re consuming me. It’s like there’s a stray dog that’s following me around, and not the other stray dog that’s been following me around since that ‘Pet the Animals’ event last week.”

for spots on their committees and my grades started slipping and I’ve tried to quit but I just can’t bring myself to do it and then one time I tried so hard to quit so I resigned from one club’s committee, but when I woke up the next day I had already applied to fill the vacancy that I created for that club. And then, I was at President’s dinner the other day and I had to stand up 17 times for the different club certificates I was due to get as President of those clubs. I get these reoccurring nightmares of club events that go wrong and I’ve considered doing postgrad so I can stay on these committees for longer.

I’m a member of 52 clubs now and I just need help to quit.”

“Oh, that’s so sad to hear. But why come here?” asked the chairperson.

“To get help. Aren’t you ‘Clubs Anonymous’?” asked Arthur.

Arthur paused before continuing.

“I first came to Adelaide Uni in 2018 and I remember my first experience with clubs vividly. I saw all the flashy signs and happy people during O’Week and just felt so connected, so I signed up to about 18 that week and I went along to as many events as I could go to. Mind you, it started off really well. But then I just couldn’t stop. Soon, I joined more and more clubs and I started running

The chairperson laughed. “Oh, no, that’s across the hall. You’re actually at the IGM of the Balkan Society and Culture Club. And, because you signed the sign in sheet at the door, now you’re also a founding member. I guess you really do have a problem. Anyway, we don’t have a Treasurer yet. You interested?”

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Artist spotlight: Alissar aleid Interview by Larisa Forgac Words and art by Alissar Aleid Instagram: @alissarartgallery

Tell us a bit about your art journey. Why have you started making art and where does your passion come from?

I’ve been into art since I was a child. My father, uncle, and many members of my family are good at drawing and painting; so I guess it’s in my genes. I remember competing with my cousin on who can make the best drawing and then forcing the whole family to vote for the best drawing. I always won.

Around four years ago, I bought my first canvas and painted a picture of fireworks. I wasn’t very happy with how it turned out, but that pushed me to keep trying. I find great pleasure in painting. It helps me think and express my thoughts and feelings. I also feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment whenever I create a good piece of art.

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What ideas and themes do you like to express through your art? What influences do you take from the world around you?

I like to portray beauty and love in every painting I make. Whether it is a landscape, an animal, or a person, I want people to see it and remember something they love. I see art as an everlasting source of happiness, for the artist as well as the viewer.

Everything around me influences how and what I paint. Sometimes a social media post or an idea from a friend inspires me to make a particular painting. My dreams and memories also make their way into my paintings at times.

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I have noticed that a lot of your work features landscapes, particularly those of cities and urban areas – why do you focus on landscapes rather than portraits or abstract art?

I love cities and architecture. What humans have built through the years amazes me and I like to reflect that through my artworks. I have been dreaming of visiting Europe, but with the current pandemic, it became impossible. Therefore, I made an escape out of art. When I painted Venice and was listening to beautiful Italian music while doing so, I almost felt like I was there. And so, I am currently creating a collection of the cities that I want to visit one day.

What is your preferred medium?

What do you like about it?

Although I find acrylic paints to be more practical, I prefer oil paints.

The rich pigmentation of colours and smoothness of texture of oil paints are beautiful. I also like how it smells. In addition, I love painting on wood. I have made several paintings on wood slices before, and it was fantastic.

The texture of the wood adds a lovely sense to the artwork.

Who are some of your role models in art?

I honestly did not study much about art and artists, so I won’t give a typical answer like Pablo Picasso or Vincent van Gogh. Rather, I look up to different artists on social media.

The internet allowed me to discover amazing artists from all over the world. Some of those artists are Feliks K, David Brian Smith, and Yilmaz Güneş.

What is your favourite project you have worked on so far? Do you have any future plans as an artist?

I painted four commissioned artworks for a café a while ago, and I enjoyed that a lot. I was asked to paint the city of Istanbul and things it’s popular for.

I felt a connection with my Middle Eastern roots while working on this project, which made it a really good experience.

In the future, hopefully by the time COVID-19 is dealt with, I am planning to have my first independent exhibition. I am looking forward to this experience! In addition, I want to create a website to make my artworks available for sale to anyone around the world.

You do a lot of time-lapse and progress videos of your painting process. What is your favourite stage of creating an artwork?

All stages of the painting process are very delightful. However, I’d say that my favourite part/stage is the very beginning. Although I usually have an idea of what I am about to paint, it sometimes changes into something completely different. Therefore, the anticipation and excitement of not knowing how the painting will turn out makes this stage my favourite.

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/politics

words by joe mccicerathy

wedge

don’t legitimise extremists in a democracy

The legitimisation of political extremism is an issue that continues to plague contemporary democracies. You might think extremism needs a national or international audience, think of the KKK’s endorsement of Donald Trump or the rise of the far-right in Europe, but unfortunately it’s present almost everywhere, even here at the University of Adelaide. The favourite tool in the belt of the modern-day extremist is the practice of ‘wedge politics.’ This is a strategy that involves finding divisive issues and splitting your opposition by ‘wedging’ them between two unpalatable options, usually by falsely framing it as an either/or decision.

Socialist Alternative (SAlt) is a master of this strategy. It is a far-left revolutionary Marxist organisation that operates nationwide, including on this campus.

Its statement of principles calls for the ‘overthrow of capitalism’, the dismantling of key institutions such as ‘parliaments, courts, the armed forces and the police’ and preaches that ‘socialism cannot be won by reform of the existing system’ (in other words, at the ballot box).

While most extremist organisations, such as cults, try to hide their beliefs behind tradition or scripture, SAlt

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make no attempt to do so and publicly champion their overtly anti-democratic aims. However, for various reasons, people take them seriously and this is the problem.

Why does SAlt continue to exist?

Extremists they may be, SAlt happen to support several popular movements and they manipulate this support very effectively. Their primary tactic is to burrow so deeply into the substructure of a movement that they cannot be removed. When people then attempt to attack SAlt, or even draw a nuanced view that is broadly supportive of the movement’s aims but that doesn’t align exactly with SAlt’s view, then they will paint you as hostile to the entire issue.

This is typical of Lenin’s brutally simple, unimaginative philosophy: ‘You’re either with us or against us.’

Supporting the LGBTI community, supporting women’s rights, supporting refugees, or supporting effective climate action does not mean that you have to support the fringe groups that latch onto them parasitically. Just because two organisations or people happen to share one policy does not mean that they share common values elsewhere. Sometimes they may even

hold diametrically opposite views for most issues. For instance, if you support strong action on climate change, would you be prepared to stand toe-to-toe with a group called ‘misogynists for climate action’? If you support the fight against racism in all its forms, would you stand alongside ‘homophobes for racial equality’? Logically, the answer would be yes, because you believe in the underlying cause. But is this a good answer considering the big picture is far more nuanced? Well, no, not really.

So, here’s where the wedge comes in. Because you cannot in good conscience support the organisation, even if you share some values with it, the organisation will demonise you, in this example, as a climate change denier and a racist. And if you agree to support them, then society might brand you a sexist and a homophobe. You just can’t win either way. And they know this. By wedging people between two unpalatable options, they create a toxic environment where people are forced to either disengage entirely with the issue or side with the extremists.

Then comes the legitimisation. As soon as they attract crowds, community stakeholders and even politicians, extremist groups gain a shred of credibility that should not be afforded to them. Every time we stand with these extremists at protests and rallies, we legitimise and humanise what we should fear and loathe. You might want ‘more jobs’; so did the Nazis. You might want ‘peace’; so did the Bolsheviks.

You might want ‘liberty’; so did the Jacobins. Extremists have long associated themselves with popular movements and have used them to gain just enough legitimacy for people to take them seriously.

So where does that leave us? Does this mean that we can’t support any causes just because an extremist group does?

Absolutely not! If you genuinely believe in something, then by all means participate, but notice who is organising the protest, or where your signature for a petition will finally end up, because you can still support causes in ways that don’t help extremism proliferate.

There is such a thing as strength in numbers, but it’s not to be found in the cunning of Socialist Alternative. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the left, the right or in the centre. Extremism has no place in a healthy democracy and extremists should be called out for what they are: parasites.

For instance, I proudly voted ‘yes’ in the same sex marriage plebiscite, and I didn’t need SAlt’s ‘Big Brother’ hand to guide my pen as I did it. But if I were to ridicule the organisation, I would undoubtedly be portrayed as a homophobic, sexist, racist, climate sceptic, jingoistic, right-wing, bootlicking, corporate sell-out.

So, the next time you’re invited to a rally for a good cause, consider who it is you’re really supporting before you make your decision.

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I dare you to enjoy your PhD Words by Robbi Davidson I’m 21, I graduated from my bachelor’s degree last year. High School 3 years before that. In Australia, that makes me as young as it is possible to be at the beginning of a PhD without being one of those child geniuses that finishes high school at age 10.

(presuming it was intact in the first place), and of course since its 2020 - discrimination proportional to the number of minority groups I fit into.

I made the decision to do a PhD kind of on a whim and at the last minute.

I knew it would be hard, but I also knew I didn’t want to not do it. I didn’t know anyone else who was doing what I was. So I joined some online communities, to tune into the discussion of other grad students and academics around the world. A few subreddits and Facebook pages, and as any baby scientist is told, I joined Twitter. In the weeks before my start date, I kept up with these pages to see what I was in for.

Brace. For. Impact.

The discussion in these online communities suggested a myriad of things I was to expect. These include an overwhelming and stressful 3+ years study, low pay, beaten down self-esteem, shitty supervisors, shitty faculty support, the notorious imposter syndrome, the inevitable break down of my mental health 60

Basically, as I read all this, I deduced one very chilling message:

Now, not to brag, but I am a person of at least some substance, so I didn’t let this get to me and ruin my excitement.

But I kept it in the back of my mind, I thought it would be interesting to see how my own experience shaped up.

Maybe this would all come true, or maybe it wouldn’t?

So here’s what happened. I started my program and met my research group. They’re fantastic people. My supervisors are some of the most kind and genuine people I’ve ever worked with. Everyone wants each other to succeed. It feels like being part of a huge family with all the quirky characters, wisdom and knowledge being passed down from the older researchers to the youngest students.

No, this is not some kind of workplace utopia, and I’m not wrong, it is far

from perfect but there is a strong and ubiquitous care for each other.

of this” or “I don’t want to do X task, it sucks”.

Three weeks later the pandemic lockdown forced everybody to work from home indefinitely with a spattering of zoom meetings here and there. I had barely begun to make friends and suddenly was wrenched away from the community I was just starting to settle into.

But we don’t need to be this pessimistic, and I think we can all do better.

That was five months ago. If ever there was a time where it would make sense to crash, lose motivation and descend into an unhealthy mental state, this would be it. But I’m here, I’m glad I started my PhD, and despite the mayhem of 2020, I still think this year has been a net positive for me.

Please don’t get me wrong, this is not an “I’m doing great, what’s wrong with you?” essay. I’m aware of the vulnerability to that interpretation, but it is not what I’m pushing. Mental health is serious, it is real, and people deserve help, patience and love when it strikes. I long ago lost count of the number of people I love who have been affected or lost their lives to it.

No, my target here, is the saturation of unnecessarily pessimistic attitudes toward higher degrees in research.

In the last five months I have noticed the same pessimism I saw online permeating conversations among students and to be honest I have been guilty of it myself. It’s easy to slip into conversational autopilot and parrot something like “Ugh I’m just so tired

Let’s stop over complaining about the negatives of PhD life. Stop the spread of propaganda on how I should feel negatively toward my own PhD, so that, dare I actually enjoy it, you’ll resent me because you couldn’t bear to let yourself enjoy it too.

Feeling depressed and feeling anxious are human emotions, they happen sometimes, it’s actually how you know you’re healthy. But complaining shouldn’t be your main means of communication and you shouldn’t allow the negativity to spread to other people like a pathogen.

So I dare you to love your PhD. Love as many of the parts of it as you can.

I dare you to be more friendly with your colleagues. I dare you to ask presenters one extra question than you normally would. I dare you to be proud of what you do. I dare you to be proud of your progress, at every step in the road. I dare you to become the person you’re jealous of. The one who’s a bit more friendly to everyone, a bit more outgoing, a bit more confident, a bit more productive, a bit more open minded, a bit more fun to be around.

I dare you… to enjoy this.

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How Resident Evil turned into my very own Karen’s ziti on the sopranos, resident evil 4, and getting over someone Apologies for the title.

I realise I am making this piece appealing to very few people, with a 2000s game and TV show reference rolled into one. So, it’s perfectly fine if you’re asking yourself who Karen is and what her ziti has to do with a video game released over a decade ago. Karen’s ziti is one of the most touching symbols I have ever seen on television. It is something you cannot let go of, long after Karen is gone.

Karen’s ziti is something you keep in the refrigerator, the last vestige of a person whose memory is already fading despite your best efforts. Karen’s ziti is one of the last things left that remind you of what you had, and once it is gone, what is to stop you from forgetting her altogether?

The thought of a loved one not being in your life anymore is a dread-inducing one. I vividly remember the morning in June when I got the text. The coffee turned to lead in my stomach and weighed me down. I was suddenly aware of a foul taste in my mouth as I read the words over and over.

“I think it’s best we break up.”

My mind ran haphazardly in all directions, desperately searching for a tell-tale wisp of smoke to put out the fire before it engulfed everything. Of course, in that moment, I had no idea what was coming in the next hour. My ex was coming out as a trans male. The cocktail of emotions I experienced pride, happiness (and guilt every time I messed up the new pronouns), and a longing for days gone – never in all my life had I imagined that one day I’d be feeling all of these at the same time.

62

Words by Soham S

Something we had always enjoyed doing together was streaming a game.

Instinctively, we knew this was going to be our last one together. And what better choice than Resident Evil 4, one of his childhood favourites (he’s played it over 10 times). As is the case with so much in life, we barely got halfway through the game before he gave up on it. There was no big fight, no words said – one day he was asking if I’d be streaming the game, the next he wasn’t interested anymore. And right in that instant, Resident Evil 4 was thrust into gaming limbo. The idea of deleting it was too painful, and instantly discarded (“How could you even think that?! That’s the last game you were playing together.”) But then playing it right away was equally distressing. And so, the desktop shortcut was deleted, and the game shoved into the metaphorical freezer, any thought of finishing it only moving me to tears.

But you do. After many sleepless nights (and, in certain cases, eating nothing but takeout fries for 10 days straight) you are faced with a stark choice: moving on or staying comfortably nestled in a corner, sheltered from everyone. After all, you can never get hurt there, right? You can either let the ziti go bad in the fridge, or relish Karen’s cooking one last time and move on with the memories you’re lucky to have.

Now I could go off on a tangent here about how The Sopranos is one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen, but that’s for another time. There is a wonderful arc in the show with a dish symbolising one’s inability to move on (yes, this is where Karen and her ziti come in). The ziti is the last one Karen ever made, and the idea of either eating it or getting rid of it is unbearable. It was this symbol that made me relate to the show more than ever (after all, you can only relate to violent, philandering mobsters so much) and forced me to stop avoiding the game.

The answer was right there, it had always been.

So, thank you Resident Evil 4, for through you — in the end — I could let go.

Over the years I have associated countless emotions with video games: sadness, a sense of wonder, sheer joy. For the first time in my life I feel something different. Having finished the game, with the ending playing out before me, I could not be more at peace. In an inquisitive voice, Ashley asks Leon: “So who was that woman anyways?” To which he says, “She’s like a part of me I can’t let go. Let’s leave it at that.”

Change is never comfortable to experience, especially when it involves people leaving your life. In the moment, it feels like everything is coming to an end – how can you possibly keep going?

63

CHILD’S PLAY

by Emily Woodcock There is a man in an astronaut suit, upper torso swivelling as if confused, standing in the middle of a lush green park scattered ponds around. There are ducks and geese everywhere.

The man lifts the visor of his helmet up. You can see confusion and fear on his face.

A goose approaches.

He backs away from the goose, making devil warding hand signals.

More geese approach.

There is a loud honk.

More honking.

The noise of the honking is overwhelming and the astronaut collapses, hands scrambling at his helmet, trying to reach his ears to protect them.

The geese converge on his fallen figure.

He scuttles backwards on his back, desperately trying to get away from the geese. The honking slowly quiets.

There are ducks approaching from behind.

There is quacking.

There is a war between the honking and the quacking.

Slowly the noise dies down.

The ducks and geese are facing each other as if two armies locked in a pre-battle stare down.

The astronaut stands up and flees as fast as he can. It is made awkward by the suit. He lumbers.

“Lunch is ready!”

There are no warring ducks and geese. They are happily swimming and pecking through the grass.

A child stands where the astronaut once was.

64

RAINDROPS

by Amanda Turner Rain on me, wash away the fear Anxiety makes me shed too many tears The cold raindrops make me feel at ease As my body feels the chill of the breeze Let me be one with the rain The tension flows down the drain Mother nature sharing her gift Anxious to calm, I feel the shift Outside in the frosty air Dance in the rain, do I dare?

Want to have fun and to be calm Stop my body from the false alarm The anxiety visits me everyday Get out of my comfort zone, got to be brave I want the rain to cleanse my skin And the tense state that I am in Weather that I love and that I thrive The refreshing air makes me feel alive The creation of the water stream Mindful of calm, feels like a dream The dance in the rain feels my body with joy Like a child with their treasured toy My heart slows to a gentle beat I want this memory to be on repeat.

65

Pop quiz!

Which of these books was not shortlisted for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction?

A. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo B. The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel C. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett D. Weather by Jenny Offill Which of these flags does the colour yellow not feature on?

A. Wales B. Ukraine C. Romania D. Sweden Which of the following University positions exists?

A. Deputy Vice Chancellor B. Interim Chancellor C. Assistant Chancellor D. Pro Chancellor Who does not appear in the Netflix film ‘Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga’?

A. Demi Lovato B. Conchita Wurst C. Graham Norton D. Bonnie Tyler Which of the following rivers does not pass through France?

A. Rhine B. Rhone C. Rhu D. Rur Send an email with your answers to us at onditmag@gmail.com! If your answers are correct, you will be able to collect a prize at a later date.

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66

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