SRC President's Report

It’s estimated that up to 2/3 of Australian university students experience food insecurity in some form - whether it’s skipping meals to save a buck, living on a diet of two minute noodles because veggies and meat are too expensive, or being unable to access culturally appropriate food.

A Breakfast Club program was created in 2014 as a collaboration between the SRC and Student Care in response to high levels of student poverty and similar food security statistics. If this was the response to student poverty then, why are we not doing more now? In a time where the cost of living is skyrocketing and students face more and more barriers to balancing their university studies, why aren’t our university and student union doing anything?

We’ve seen the General close down, limiting students access to essentials on campus, with no increase to other student supports or services.

During O’Week, a student expressed disappointment to us that the Breakfast Club doesn’t operate during trimester periods. They detailed how this service really helps take the pressure off them, and there are other trimester students who feel the same.

From this single conversation, the SRC has gotten to work. We passed a motion supporting the program’s expansion unanimously through the SRC, had discussions with the University about its operations, and then submitted this expansion proposal to the YouX Board. We are advocating for an increase from four days of operation to five days, the operation of the program during trimesters, and an evaluation of the mobile breakfast club services at Waite and Roseworthy Campuses. Student Care has prioritised Education and Welfare Officer dedicated days at Roseworthy (with free food offering available) instead of a Breakfast Club offering in recent years. At Waite a ‘Brunchfast’ was last held on 30 March 2023 and was advertised to students via Waite campus digital screens and an email sent to enrolled Waite students.

At the last YouX Board meeting we disappointingly could not receive a commitment to expand the service. We are re-submitting this motion to the April Board meeting for further consideration and discussion and the SRC are committed to seeing this expansion happen. Students always deserve a better deal. With tens of thousands of dollars in your SSAF and membership fees being paid to YouX, the least you deserve is a little yoghurt and cereal on the balcony of old Unibar.

It’s in endeavours like these that we see the SRC’s power as a body on campus - one small conversation or a passing comment about something that could be better on campus can lead to change for students.

We are the intermediary between the maze of university administration and students. This is where the SRC can work for you. Just like Breakfast Club, if there is something on campus that isn’t operating how it should, let us know. We will go in to bat for you against the red tape of administration and boards. One of our biggest priorities is looking into how we can help alleviate cost of living pressures on the campus level. First step - expanding the Breakfast Club program to serve more students more often. Next step - a food bank on campus to help students facing food insecurity.

Student poverty isn’t disappearing, it’s rising at alarming levels. Our university and student union exist to serve us as students, and students need support from them now more than ever. The SRC will always work to put the needs of students above corporate interests and we don’t intend to be complicit in these organisations not using student money for student services.

Please reach out with feedback and issues. We will advocate for you.

God, I love bad movies. They warm my heart, and make my skin crawl. I only want to watch movies that make film students’ want to projectile vomit in disgust. My favourite of all time is Blade, a terribly-shot vampire movie featuring a bloodrain disco, and a 90’s supervillain that looks like he would’ve bullied me in high school. The CGI is awful, but the blood-rain still manages to look ridiculously hot. Maybe it's the retrospective campiness that has me in a choke-hold, or maybe it’s the vampire canon that I can’t get enough of — either way, I’m in. I wasn’t even a Twilight kid!! This film just does things to me. It was very hard to pick, but in the end, I decided that the entire Barbie franchise is NOT an example of good-bad; they’re just fucking good, plain and simple. Bibble4eva.

Alright guys, I know this is the Editors’ Picks, but I’m going against the grain a bit here today to talk about a bad movie that I am still angry about watching - I’m pretty sure I’ve been holding this anger in for at least 10 years. This goes back to when Blockbusters were starting to decline: a decline in patronage resulted in a decline in movie quality and I had some fun watching C-grade movies. I remember seeing the trailer for the movie BoxBoarders on one of these DVDs and it sold the premise to me. Sold it so well that I decided to break my no weed rule and watch this obviously stoner movie stoned. I have never been so unamused while high as I was watching this movie. Couldn’t even watch it to the end. I was somehow sold on the idea of men riding down hills on boxes attached to skateboards, and ended up feeling extremely cheated. I even got high to watch this, but it could not be saved. Please friends, please family, please even my most mortal and natural enemy: do NOT watch this film.