Debate | Issue 8 | Ignorance Is Never Bliss

DEBATE Issue 8 | July 2018

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Contents

Recycling the Human Race :: Page 20

History of Words Page 14

Earth Week Page 24

Waste: Our Stinking Mess Page 26

Savoury Bread Pudding Page 32

C OV E R I L L U S T R AT I O N BY H O P E M C C O N N E L L

EDITOR Julie Cleaver debate@aut.ac.nz DESIGNER Ramina Rai rrai@aut.ac.nz ADVERTISING Jesse Jones jesse.jones@aut.ac.nz

CONTRIBUTORS Brittany Little, David Evans Bailey, Grace Davies, Grace Ellis, Imogen Wells, Jean Bell, Kelly Enright, Kurt Taonui Schmidt, Lachlan Waugh, Mackenzie Valgre, Mary Delaney, Melissa Koh, Mya Cole, Sarah Pollok, Vanessa Arapko

PRINTER Nicholson Print Solutions DISCLAIMER

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

Debate is a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA).

This publication is entitled to the full protection given by the Copyright Act 1994 (“the Act”) to the holders of the copyright, being AUT STUDENT ASSOCIATION (“AUTSA”). Reproduction, storage or display of any part of this publication by any process, electronic or otherwise (except for the educational purposes specified in the Act) without express permission is a break of the copyright of the publisher and will be prosecuted accordingly. Inquiries seeking permission to reproduce should be addressed to AUTSA.

PUBLISHED BY

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Heavy, I know, but I wholeheartedly believe that education, empowerment and action are the only things that can make us all truly blissful – not ignorance.

That’s why in this issue we’ll be covering all sorts of stuff you need to know to be blissful. We’ll be looking at sustainability and more excitingly AUTSA’s week-long event ‘Earth Week’, where you can get inspired by TED-esque talks, cafés and activities, and learn a thing or two in the process.

We’re also talking about a few things we should all know about, such as Mya Cole’s piece on the history of contentious words; the problems with Auckland Uni (something I could talk all day about); an in-depth investigation about how AUT is dealing with China's new policy on recycling; a brutally honest open letter to a particular iwi; and even some crazy stuff, like whether humans can be uploaded to computers and live forever.

Editor’s Letter Welcome to Issue 8!

As you can probably tell, this issue is based around the theme ‘Ignorance is Never Bliss’. And to be honest, I used to think ignorance was the ultimate form of happiness. Before I knew about climate change, genocides, hatred and every other yucky thing humans do, I must have been happier. Right? Well, maybe.

But the people who my ignorance affected weren’t. That’s what made me realise: ignorance is never bliss. Ignorance led us to a polluted planet. Ignorance led us to extreme poverty all over the world. And ignorance led my relatives to concentration camps in Nazi Germany.

But don’t worry, not everything in this mag is going to make you feel like you’ve just watched an episode of Black Mirror. We’ve also got a ruthless and amazing blind date review, a delicious recipe, puzzles and heaps more.

Grab a copy or seven and enjoy the ride.

See you in two weeks, Julie

Can't get enough of Debate? Check out our website, like or follow us on social media, or email the editor to get involved. www.debatemag.com

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What's On?

Cheap, free and koha events around town

Google Presentation

Volunteering Expo

Law Fair

Where: WA224, AUT City Campus When: Monday 13 August, 1-2pm What: Google’s new NZ Strategic Partner Development manager Amanda Jordan – an AUT alumni – talks of her career journey within Google and offers hot tips on what Google looks for in young talent.

How much: Free

Where: WG306 foyer opp Newsfeed, AUT City Campus When: Tuesday 14 August, 11am-1pm What: Meet a range of incredible charities looking for volunteers. Register online: www.elab.aut.ac.nz.

How much: Free

Where: Conference Centre WA224, AUT City Campus When: Thursday 16 August, 11am-1pm What: Meet major employers, explore career opportunities and find out how you can gain a competitive edge when you enter the market. Register online: www.elab.aut.ac.nz.

How much: Free

(HTECA) Careers Fair Where: Conference Centre WA224, AUT City Campus When: Wednesday 15 August, 11am-1pm What: A great line up of employers from the hospitality, tourism, events and culinary arts industries seeking talent to employ. Register online: www.elab.aut. ac.nz.

How much: Free

(HTECA) lunchtime series Where: E Lab, WA202, AUT City Campus When: 18 July-8 August What: Gain insights into the industry and employment from Fullers Group, Heritage Hotel Group, Jet Park Hotel and Hipgroup.

Register online: www.elab.aut.ac.nz.

How much: Free

Earth Week Where: Various locations on AUT’s three campuses When: Monday 30 July-Friday 3 August What: Earth Week is a series of talks, gigs, workshops and stalls showcasing our role in shaping the future.

How much: Free

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news

Windows at AUT’s award-winning building have been shattering. Photo: Grace Ellis.

Windows spontaneously shattering at AUT due to faulty glass

By Grace Ellis The cause of glass windows spontaneously shattering at Auckland University of Technology's Sir Paul Reeves building (WG) has been identified as a flaw in the glass manufacturing process.

Since the award-winning building opened in 2013, glass windows have shattered on numerous occasions, with seven windows currently broken.

The manufacturing flaw starts off as an undetectable nickel-sulphide stone which can occur in tempered glass and develops into what is known as 'nickel sulphide inclusion'.

This defect results in the expansion and contraction of glass during weather changes which cause further stresses and fractures.

Matthew Taplin, Estates operations manager at AUT, says the flaw is becoming more of a common occurrence in Auckland high rise buildings.

All glass installed in the university building is a specially manufactured safety glass from Singapore, unlikely to fall out of its frame if it shatters.

Mr Taplin says the glass poses little threat to staff and students but a minor safety issue still exists if people do not take care around the broken glass before it is secured with a security film.

Former AUT student Melanie Dooley says she noticed a shattered window in the Media Centre of the Sir Paul Reeves building last year and assumed another student had done something to break it.

"I had no idea what happened, but I never thought it would be the glass itself that caused it to break.

"It didn't really seem unsafe to me‌ I don't see why someone would feel the need to go and touch it,� says Ms Dooley.

Lara Posa, AUT Estates communications manager, says the Estates team is now enforcing stricter levels of quality guarantee from companies involved in manufacturing and installing glass windows.

Ms Posa says the safety of staff and students is a major priority.

However, replacing the broken glass is costly for AUT. "The safe removal of the broken glass, reinstatement of new glass, cost of materials and all work undertaken out of operational hours to remove the safety risk, will cost in the thousands," says Mr Taplin.

He says it is a lengthy process to schedule glass replacements but it is of the utmost priority to secure it and make it safe for students.

Currently with no known technology to completely eliminate formations of nickel-sulphide stones Mr Taplin says it is impossible to predict whether more breakages will occur in the future.

The new fees-free scheme has already cost $260 million and led to scholarships being cut. Photo: Imogen Wells.

Fees-free cut government scholarships

By Imogen Wells and Lachlan Waugh This year a number of government scholarships have been cut, including the ‘First in Family’ scholarship for those who are first in their family to attend university.

These cuts are a result of polytechnics and universities receiving no increase in funding in this year’s 2018 Budget.

“I don’t think the universities need any more funding. I hope that all the money students are paying to go to university is actually going towards the university," says second-year communications student Moira Murphy.

Ms Murphy says she would like to see more investment into the mental-health sector.

It is said that Labour's fees-free scheme prevented the Government from spending more on tertiary institutions because the first year of the policy has already cost $260 million.

“I hope mental health facilities, especially for young people, would get more money out of that because we do have the biggest youth-suicide rate in the First World. It’s pretty hard for people to get appointments and the health they need.”

Despite missing out on a mention in the budget, students at AUT say they had no expectations of the budget so were not concerned with the outcome.

Students say increases in student living costs at the beginning of this year were enough for them, but that a review of the

student allowance system is well overdue because it is based on how much parents earn.

“My parents earn too much for me to get the allowance but I actually don’t get supported by them,” says Ms Murphy.

The lack of concern found across AUT is not mirrored by the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations, which says there are still issues students face that need to be addressed.

Jonathan Gee, national president of the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA), says the tertiary education sector is well overdue for a funding boost and all eyes should now be on next year’s budget.

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Hikuwai Sounds: Was it worth our student fees?

Words and photo by Sarah Pollok Let me begin with a disclaimer: I have never been to a uni event.

Three years in and not a single bar crawl, foam party, Re-O’ Week or Vesbar bender has been attended. This isn’t to say I don’t go out; there’s nothing better than throwing it down at REC or 1885 after a couple of drinks. But the whole university event thing has never really appealed to me and I could never understand why people thought the first week of the semester was a good time to get trolleyed. On irony alone, the idea of covering AUT’s Hikuwai Sounds gig was entertaining enough for me to give it a shot.

7.30pm

Serious regrets. If it wasn’t for my journalistic integrity, I would stay exactly where I am (sprawled across my couch with the newest season of Suits and last night’s leftover dumplings) and fake a review. Integrity wins out and I grab my free ticket, ID and a healthy dose of cynicism before setting off into town.

8pm

You could sense the event before you could see it. I walked down St Pauls Street, as the muffled pounding music beat through the concrete. A couple of girls walking past question where it’s coming from, “I think it’s that bar, Vespa or something.” Clearly, they didn’t see the countless poster advertisements that are tacked up all through the CBD.

8.30pm

The music grows louder and you can see shards of light escaping through the gaps in the buildings. I turn the corner and brace myself for a mass of giddy students, ready to make some regrettable decisions under the influence. I’m instead met with a painfully empty plaza. Kids are scattered around the edges like they’re at a year eight social, except with alcohol. Confused, I pull my phone out and double check the start time of 7.30pm and remember that nothing actually ever starts until two hours past the event time. I notice that the AUT library is still open and fight the urge to seek refuge there until it closes at 10pm. “Dance ‘til you’re dead”: Heads Will Roll pounds through the speakers, seeming to emphasize the fact that the only thing dead here is the dance floor.

9pm

Scrolling through Instagram at a Vesbar table I hear the music cut out as a voice comes over the loudspeaker. “Don’t be lamos, come up to the front and DANCE!” a voice yells out. A young student, clearly the emcee of tonight, hollers into the microphone, “Move your butts,” she yells, “let me fucking hear ya!” A lone ‘woohoo’ echoes around the plaza in response. Four or five people tentatively wander toward the stage as the emcee continues her hype speech, “This is Jess fucking B! She’s amazing,” her voice beginning to go hoarse, “she’s great, she’s cooler than all of us combined!” Although I cringe for this girl, it seems to be paying off as more people gather in the centre.

9.30pm

Finally, JessB comes on and people start to groove; an involuntary toe tap here, a gentle sway there. The alcohol clearly hits some of the party-goers who have spread too hard and are throwing down moves like nobody’s business. Not a rap fan myself, I do appreciate that with Kendrick Lamar performing tonight at Spark Arena, it’s a tough night to be a hip-hop act. However, three songs in and JessB has got people yelling back lyrics and forming dance circles.

10pm

“No one looks like they’re having fun,” remark a couple as they loiter at the edge of the event entrance. Turning around, they head back towards Queens Street in search of more promising dance floors.

They’re brutal words but not totally wrong. After JessB worked hard

to amp up the crowd there is an awkward 30-minute interlude between acts when people are expected to grab a drink and food, but instead choose to head into town. Meanwhile, over a dozen security guards patrol the event, decked out in Hi-Vis vests and walkie-talkies, as if a crazed riot could erupt at any moment. At this point, it seems unlikely.

10.30pm

The second act graces the stage and soon Theia’s dreamy vocals fills the plaza. A slightly more chill vibe than JessB and I can’t say I’m not a little relieved. Nursing a third (or fourth) drink, I zone out to the ethereal pop singer’s latest album and start to wonder just how much this entire event costs and how much of it my student loan is paying for. While the music is arguably decent, there’s no question that if I was making the effort to come out, I’d rather spend the Friday night at a club packed with people, dancing to some classic top 40.

11pm

Finally, the headline act is here and you can tell this is what the hundred or so people have been waiting for. Kingdon Te Itinga Chapple-Wilson is familiar with the number one slot in New Zealand charts under his performance name Kings and is here to get the party started. In a flash of blue and purple, the artist jumps straight into a solid set list that gets people onto the dance floor and grooving.

11.30pm

With the plaza finally resembling something of a party, I’m almost disappointed to get a text from my ride home saying that they’re waiting. Almost. Jumping into the car, I debrief the night to them as we both lament of the lack of college culture in Auckland. You don’t want to shit on AUTSA (they’re clearly desperate to imitate the famed party-vibe of Otago and Wellington) but when events start to cost tens of thousands of dollars, and it’s coming out of student fees, you start to wonder when they’ll just call it quits. As someone who isn’t sold on party culture anyway, there’s a chance I’m a biased buzzkill, but I’m sure there are others who would rather the budget for AUT’s ‘Biggest Event of the Year’ get put towards discounted coffee at Newsfeed or an extra $100 in their pocket each year.

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Earth Week 2018 programme city campus monday 30 july

tuesday 31 july

wednesday 1 august

thursday 2 august

Big Living Market

Big Living Market

Ask Me Anything Cafe

Ask Me Anything Cafe

WG Level 2, 12-3pm • Stalls, live music & more!

EarthTalks

WG Level 1, 3-5pm • Future of Environment

Workshop

Vesbar, 3-5pm • Kaitiakitanga the missing link

WG Level 2, 12-3pm • Stalls, live music & more!

EarthTalks

WG Level 1, 3-5pm • Vision 2030

Workshop

Vesbar, 3-5pm • Conscious Action

south campus tuesday 7th august Big Living Market

MH Level 1, 12-3pm • Stalls, live music & more!

EarthTalks

MH Level 1, 3-5pm • Vision 2030

WG Level 2, 12-3pm • Q&A and coffee

EarthTalks

WG Level 1, 3-5pm • Future of Tech & Science

WG Level 2, 12-3pm • Q&A and coffee

EarthTalks

WG Level 1, 3-5pm • Future of Equality

Workshop

Vesbar, 3-5pm • Wellbeing for Social Impact

Workshop

Vesbar, 3-5pm • Find your why

north campus 8th august 2 august wednesday 1wednesday august thursday Big Living Market

AF Level 1, 3-5pm live music & more!

• Stalls,

EarthTalks

AF Level 1, 5:30-8pm • Vision 2030

Sustainability Roadmap Where will AUT in be 5, 10, 15 years time?

Infographic by Grace Davies

A regular presentation and webinar series to be held at AUT

Introduce a student and staff volunteer programme

Ban single-use plastics

20% of food offered on campus to be plant based

25% of food to be grown on campus

Reduce waste by 2kg per person

Build first living building

Net zero carbon emissions

Zero waste

The Sustainability Roadmap was created in 2012 by the Sustainability Task Force at AUT. It outlines the goals the University has to becoming a more sustainable organisation. The graphic shown above includes some of the big changes that are going to happen in the next 30 years at AUT. Although this is a staff-led initiative, students can do their part as well.

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An open letter to Ngāti Maniapoto

By Kurt Taonui Schmidt When people hear that I’m part Māori and that I’m studying engineering and achieving As, the first thing they think is, “Shit it must be nice having no student loan!” I then continue that it is. However, before assumptions are made, I normally have to clarify that out of the five Māori scholarships I’ve applied for, I was awarded exactly zero of them. The scholarships I’ve had were in fact achieved entirely for academic excellence, and I further ensured this by listing my ethnicity as simply ‘Homo Sapiens’.

Interestingly, a few weeks back I found out about a $250 scholarship that was being offered by my tribe for completing a grant form and I thought, “Yes! Here’s my chance to get involved in this apparent free money all Māoris should be getting.” Except, there was a catch.

Written in bold words at the top of the page was a question: “What is one thing you are proud of about your tribe?” The following shows the honest answer I gave and why I didn’t receive $250.

-----------------------------------------------

I’m not proud of our tribe. I believe our tribe is failing to shape a unique future identity and culture. There has been no challenge presented to the way things have been done in the past. Currently there is a great focus on preserving our past ideologies, traditions, language and culture but no approach to collectively creating a unique future identity.

I’ve been known in my circle to think long term. Most people plan 5-10 years ahead; I like to consider 100.

When I look 100 years ahead, I have a serious concern for Maniapoto. This concern is that in a 100 years time if we fail to innovate and adapt to the world, we will still just be another Māori tribe fighting to preserve a dying language and culture, and blaming past atrocities as the reason why we fail to stand out as real contributors to humanity.

Our tribe is not focused on having a real contribution to society as a whole; we don’t care about world issues, and we don’t appear to care about anything apart from our own selfish viewpoints of wanting society to accept us as amazing and better than all other ethnicities.

We label ourselves with terms like ‘holistic’, ‘in touch with nature’ and ‘learning socially’ in an attempt to avoid the real world, real work and real learning. Unfortunately for us, reality shows that you can’t just want to be admired, you actually have to do stuff or produce things that people actually need. We don’t have a greater humanitarian aim. We focus largely on our past traditions and culture and in doing so I believe we have in fact forgotten who our ancestors really were.

The Māori people sailed the South Pacific sea, navigating using celestial bodies, sea creatures and hints taken from careful observations. The vessels were large enough to house enough people and food so that it was possible to start a new country.

This was no small task. These people were driven to create a new future, to learn the greatest techniques and skills available and to innovate wherever possible. These people were by all means the technologists, entrepreneurs and innovators of their day. The way in which they optimised the use of stone, wood and animal products is proof of this.

We no longer demonstrate this same level of innovation. We adopt modern technology but we’re not creating modern technologies, at least not to the same degree as our ancestors did.

These ancestors created sea vessels, tools, farming techniques, food storage techniques and other technologies for solving essential human needs and they did so using only their collective minds, careful observations and repeated experiments. Our tribe rarely exhibits this scientific way of looking

at the world and in some cases even shrugs it off as a Western viewpoint.

ingenuity and the ability to solve humanity's problems and needs.

My great grandmother, Dame Rangimārie Hetet, showed through her weaving designs that our people used very acute mathematical abilities and resourcefulness in the production of textiles. She resurrected the dying tradition by giving a modern insight into our ancestors’ abilities. For our ancestors, the flax clothing were products that our people needed. It had great value. I think the emphasis should be put on the word ‘had’, though.

I can’t say with certainty but I can speculate that the Māori language we speak today is not the language which those who first arrived here spoke.

Languages are always evolving and changing; just read any Shakespeare play and you’ll realise even a written language changes. This is why I find it interesting that we are fighting to preserve the Māori language. We’re spending so much money and time on it when it has little to no practical use. Language is only a means of transferring information between people, and it's very pretentious to think of it as anything more.

If we were really embracing our ancestors’ ways of thinking, adapting and innovating, then instead of teaching Māori we would be teaching whatever language allowed one to communicate with as many things as possible. For today’s environment that would be Java, Python, C, C#, PHP (these allow one to communicate to one billion active computers) and English (which is spoken by 20

We adopt modern technology but we’re not creating modern technologies, at least not to the same degree as our ancestors did.

It’s very important that we continue this ancient mindset of creating things people need, but not to confuse this with the ancient products themselves.

We must celebrate and cherish the mindset that allowed flax clothing to be invented – the mindset of solving a need – but take great caution not to celebrate the flax clothing itself.

It’s important to be practical, realistic and objective. Today with advanced materials like Gore-Tex it’s easy to see that the world doesn’t need flax clothing anymore. However, what it still needs, as it always has, is human

percent of the world’s population, not to mention those computer languages are written in English).

These languages get results and solve real human needs, so shouldn’t we be embracing them and focusing our funding, time and effort here?

We must ask ourselves: are we preserving and passing on our ancestors thought processes (the will to innovate and solve problems)?

Or only our ancestors products: flax clothing, culture and language?

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A short history of a few words to treat with mindfulness

By Mya Cole Words are an integral part of human interaction and different words hold varying meanings and sentiments to groups of people, cultures and individuals.

They carry memories of the past and their origins are rich and varied. Words also evolve over time, their meanings changing. This can happen for a myriad of reasons, often beginning with an insidious agenda followed by a cultural shift which can come in the form of a reclamation of certain words by a group of people. Words are tools, and knowing how to use them can bring one great power. So in saying that it is important to know the histories of where they come from and realise the connotations you may be inadvertently

invoking when using them. To quote Emma Ng, author of Old Asian, New Asian, "As long as we are allowed to forget, we will find ourselves returning to fight the same battles." Below is a short list of words to be mindful of.

Cunt The word ‘cunt’ is widely known as a ‘taboo’ word. I distinctly remember hearing the word used in a film as a preteen and my cousin telling me in a very serious tone that I was never to use it, as it was apparently “the most offensive word in the English language”.

Despite its apparently offensive nature, its use is steadily increasing. The word’s origin stems from a place of describing the feminine in an empowering way; it’s

found in Sanskrit and Ancient Egyptian language to describe the female sexuality and genitalia. The negative use of ‘cunt’ is common, misguided and new; in the more recent past (medieval England) it was merely used as a descriptor for female genitals. The shifting of this word into a negative context is baffling; why take a word to describe female genitalia, or the power of the feminine, and turn it into an insult? Patriarchal insecurities? Despite this, ‘cunt’ is being reclaimed by women in a significant way. It is used by women for female empowerment, in the sense of a reclamation of the original definition of the word. It is a powerful and evocative word when said aloud and it is up to us how it is used: let’s use it right and with respect to its origins.

The ‘N’ word It may seem like a fun word for white people and P.O.C to use, but that does not change the fact that it is still a slur, one used against a very specific group of people: black people. Yet when it comes to singing along to their favourite rap song, people tend to conveniently forget this, dropping the ‘N’ word like it’s the late 80s and they’re trying to be in N.W.A. The word stems from the Latin word ‘niger’, which means black. In the centuries before American slavery became a racist institution, the word was neutral, simply describing the skin colour of dark individuals. However to use the word now as a W.P or a P.O.C is to revive its racist origins.

As Andrew Barksdale said on Vice’s ‘Who is Allowed to Say the N Word?’: “I don’t want people to ever forget that, that was the last word that some black men or women would have heard before they were killed, before they were raped, before they were assaulted.”

Gay The word ‘gay’ has lived many lives since its humble beginnings in the 12th century, when it simply meant joyful or carefree. Its first foray into sexual discourse began in the 17th century where it was mainly used to describe the more ‘unconstrained’ heterosexual lifestyles. For example, a ‘gay’ woman would have meant a prostitute and a ‘gay’ man a womanizer. It could also be used to describe a young person soliciting sex to older clients of the same gender: ‘gay boy’ or ‘gay girl’.

It wasn’t until the 1920s that it began to be used by the homosexual community to describe themselves and was popularised more widely in the 1950s when it appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary as slang for ‘homosexual’. Words can be powerful

terms of oppression so as a backlash against homosexuality young people in the 80s and 90s used the word ‘gay’ as a general term of disparagement. Nowadays it is still used by some people in a negative way and this either reveals a total lack of understanding of what it means to identify as gay or a more insidious microaggression against the queer community.

Coconut ‘Coconut’ is a word used to describe the fruit which is commonly found on Pacific Islands.

However in the 1970s it was coined as a term to describe the people from the Pacific Islands. The mid 1970s marked the beginning of what is called the ‘Dawn Raids’, a series of events which affected individuals and their families in a government attempt to ‘crack down on overstayers’. Although comprising only one third of overstayers in Aotearoa (the majority coming from Australia, Britain and South Africa), Pacific Islanders made up 86 percent of those prosecuted and arrested for overstaying. This was arguably due to racial biases New Zealand held against people of the Pacific. Therefore ‘coconut’ became a derogatory term used for Pacific Island peoples during the Dawn Raids. It was a way of lumping all Pacific Islanders under the same umbrella of ‘brown people’, a racial slur connoting bad, lazy and ultimately less than white people. Still used today, most commonly in the sports industry, the word coconut continues to be used as a racist term and a way of disenfranchising Pacific Island peoples.

Chink An ethnic slur usually used to describe a person of Chinese ethnicity, however also used as an homogenous descriptor

for people of East Asian descent. When looked up in the dictionary the definition for chink reads ‘a narrow opening or slit’, so when used in a derogatory way it is an obvious reference to the eyes of East Asian people. ‘Chink’ also refers to the sounds of hammers clanking against steel, as the hands of Chinese immigrants built the Transcontinental Railway in 19th century America. This word is yet another example of a racial grouping of people using derogatory slang to demean them. Modern day New Zealand can be notoriously racist against Chinese immigrants and it is nothing new.

Between 1879 and World War II, Chinese in New Zealand were the victims of 55 racebased amendments, this included a tax which charged Chinese immigrants the equivalent of what would now be $20,000 to merely enter the country. So when this word is still used today I am not surprised, but still disgusted, as it is an unveiled attempt at belittling an entire race of people, whilst also lumping them in with vastly different races from the same East Asia region.

I’m not telling you that you can’t use these words, that is of course up to your own personal discretion. and I understand that using these words may gain you a certain amount of ‘social capital’ with different groups of people. However, I do wish to point out that the use of these words if you are not from the particular group that they were originally targeted at is dated and essentially built on oppression and systematic degradation. We are living in an age where everything you say will be scrutinised, so leave these words alone if they are not yours to be reclaimed.

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Accessing AUT Kelly Enright finds out how accessible AUT is for students who use wheelchairs.

As an AUT student, I’m pretty proud. I happily rate our university highly to anybody that asks, and I always find while walking around our neighbouring uni that things look a little beige compared to over here. But why do I feel like this place stands out next to the others?

AUT has always identified itself as an institution that caters to the needs of each individual student and produces great graduates, an institution that delivers education and knowledge in a way that each student can fairly receive it, and one that breaks down barriers that might stop success.

A facet of this is the access or impairment barriers that may stop some students from being able to easily reach their classes or progressing in their studies. This has been a point of contention before. Last year AUT was painted negatively in the media as a university that was discriminatory in its ability to cater to a student that used a wheelchair.

A staff member with AUT’s disability support department, Anna Nelson, says that although there are services the University can and will provide, sometimes they need plenty of time to identify and provide these. For example, if a lower workbench or an extra support person is necessary, then the department needs to be well aware of this prior to the commencement of study.

“AUT and Disability Student Support at AUT are all about creating great graduates. So we really don’t want to allow barriers to prevent successful study. We all need to be reasonable and realistic – including students,” she says.

She adds that AUT must help students live to their full potential, something she is helping to make happen. “Students with impairments can and do go on to do great things once they graduate like starting their own business, becoming a lawyer, working in government. And it’s important that we are enabling them to gain the skills and independence while they are studying to be able to be great graduates.”

It’s all well and good for me to say I’m a proud AUT student, but on this topic, I am truly ignorant. So I talked to a current student who uses a wheelchair about how she thought AUT was rating on the accessibility scale. (This student chose not to be named.)

She told me about how a meeting was held before she started the semester called a ‘transition meeting’ to discuss how best her specific individual requirements could be met by the university. In her experience, AUT have been pretty great at helping her to be an independent and successful student thus far. She added that although the university is in large part built for the majority of able-bodied students, meaning there will always be some

inaccessible elements, she feels that for the most part her needs have been addressed.

In some instances, AUT also supports students by funding additional technology on top of the Microsoft 365 that all students have access to.

They then also look at the option of human support, such as a notetaker in class, or a writer for tests and examinations. You may have seen some of these services around uni: sign language interpreting, loop systems, digital recorders, SmartPens, assistive technology, magnifiers and specialised software. As you most likely know, it is not uncommon for AUT to provide extra time or specialised enlarged printed papers in exams for students that genuinely need it.

Again, I feel I should stress, I have been largely ignorant to the support that AUT offers. I also think I should stress this – from what I can tell they seem to be doing a pretty nice job of it. So if you feel in any way you are in need of extra assistance or support, or there is a barrier that is hindering your success, then you should definitely go and chat to the people upstairs (probably being the aforementioned Anna Nelson).

If our uni is going to claim that they are the best on the accessibility block, we as students have every right to make sure they live up to that promise.

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giveaways

Giveaways To win any of the prizes below, head over to Debate’s Facebook page (/autsadebate) and fill out the competition survey pinned to the top of our timeline called ‘GIVEAWAYS – ISSUE 8’ using the key word ‘IGNORAMUS’. Make sure you like our page to be in to win!

Say “oui” to Ethique You know when you’re in the shower and you read the soap label out of boredom and you see around 50 chemicals, so you suddenly wish you hadn’t? Well, if you win this pack, you won’t have that problem anymore. Ethique is a Kiwi-goneinternational brand started in 2012 and its products are vegan, ethically sourced, plastic-free and every other sort of ethical thing you could want (hence the name). And in this issue, we’re giving away one Ethique shampoo, deodorant and body wash bar, valued collectively at $55.50. Sweet deal! To win the lot, read the instructions at the top of the page.

Blissful BurgerFuel

Adventure Time

You know how I know ignorance is never bliss? Because ignorance means never trying a BurgerFuel burger, and BurgerFuel burgers are bliss. (Try saying that 10 times!) If you want to alleviate yourself or your mate from this painful state of ignorance, make sure you enter the draw to win one of eight ‘Shout Your Mate’ a burger vouchers, which entitles you to a free burger at the Queen Street venue after you’ve bought one already. To win a voucher, read the instructions at the top of the page!

Want to go on a date that doesn’t involve sitting in silence in a movie theatre? Or do you just want to take your nana on a fun day out? Well, granny, you’re in luck! The Silverdale Adventure Park is giving away two tickets to one lucky student – yay! Fully equipped with a vertical bungee, dual zipline, downhill luge and more, the Park is guaranteed to be a super fun day out. To win, read the instructions at the top of the page.

Makeup brush kit Have you ever thought about what material makeup brushes are made out of? Someone once told me they’re made from animal hairs, which creeped me out. But don’t worry, Designer Brands’ ‘Day Dreamer 10 Piece Brush Set’ is vegan and not tested on animals (though I’m not sure why you would need to test makeup brushes on animals). Regardless, if you win this gorgeous kit you can relax and know you’re not wiping animal fur on your face! To win, read the instructions at the top of the page.

Lush

Muse for the soul

We love Lush. We love Lush because it’s ethical, because it’s beautiful and because it makes everything seem that little bit better. If you want to get your grubby mits on a divine-smelling Lush kit (including four bath bombs and four solid perfumes – yes, Lush perfumes!) make sure you go for this sweet, sweet prize. To win, read the instructions at the top of the page.

Bands like Muse take away our ignorance and replace it with deep, ponderous thoughts about the world. Especially the album Drones, which is famous for its fascinating themes about state control and the idea that people are ‘puppets’. As well as doing all this, the album’s also full of solid tunes that will have your head banging as hard as your heart. To win, read the instructions at the top of the page.

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feature

recycling the human race

By David Evans Bailey | Illustration by Mary Delaney

However humans may have evolved, at the moment we can all agree we are running around as bodies made of flesh and blood. We hurt. We bleed. We experience a whole range of emotions. And then we die. But what if we didn’t? What if instead we could become a digital version of ourselves?

Whilst this sounds like an adventure into The Matrix, it might be surprising to know that there are actually people who believe this can be done. There are also people actively working towards accomplishing it. A movement known as ‘Transhumanism’, for one, believes that humans can be digitised, as in they could be completely uploaded to a computer, mind and all. If that appears to be a stunningly far-fetched idea, then you would be right. It is.

But only in the sense that nobody has yet accomplished it, and still, there are those who think it’s possible.

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Are humans sentient?

Slice me up and digitise me

Do you think humans have a soul? If you do, you may subscribe to the idea that consciousness is a separate entity from the body, and you may think it’s pretty unlikely that you can upload your brain to a computer. People who subscribe to this belief may also argue that since consciousness is an intangible, virtual thing in itself, it may not be possible to capture and put into bits and bytes. Makes sense.

On the other side of the fence are neurosurgeons and other more physically-oriented, sciency-people who believe there is no human ‘soul’ and the physical brain contains everything: experience, memory, the lot. So on this team you can see how copying the brain or digitising it would allow the entire individual to be uploaded into the digital realm. If the individual is simply matter brought to life, then computers can bring matter to life… perhaps. There is some interesting rationale in this school of thought, and I am sure as many people subscribe to this theory as to the other.

There is, however, a catch if you are on Team Body, and that is the proposed method of getting the brain into digital form. The method suggested is quite simple in concept: the brain is frozen just after death or just before and thinly sliced into thousands of waferthin segments. These slices are then scanned and digitised and reassembled as digital neurocircuits. Having done all of that and knitted it all together with computer code, hey presto! There you are once again alive as your digital self – a real-life version of the movie Tron.

The issue for some people revolves around dying and then having your brain destroyed in order to be brought back to life as a virtual being. Who is going to be the first person to try, and risk ending up being actually dead in the process? It is also contingent on having an actual brain slicing machine that exists and is able to scan the slices. Many designs have been done for these but none that have actually been made or even tested.

The method suggested is quite simple in concept: the brain is frozen just after death or just before and thinly sliced into thousands of wafer-thin segments. These slices are then scanned and digitised and reassembled as digital neurocircuits.

There are naturally plans to test the slicing method on something like a mouse’s brain somewhere in the future, but as one might imagine, a mouse is far removed from a human being. Even if that was successful, the transition of equipment into something that can cope with a human brain is somewhat exponential. However, that being said, many believe that this ‘experiment’ and even its ultimate success lies only 15 to 20 years away. Perhaps at that time another method of uploading will come to light. But if slicing it were to be proven possible, then instead of preparing for death, we could choose our digital future and become a virtual persona who lives forever, or at least as long as the hardware that you are inside continues to function and be switched on.

Virtual heaven or hell?

And there is always a snag or at least a set of logistical problems posed by the accomplishment of any such endeavour. On the plus side, we could have eternal life, endless possibilities of being anything we want, assuming any form we want, pursuing any future we want forever more. Lifetime after digital lifetime of simulated heaven. But, as a digital entity, how would your whole idea of identity change? That’s an issue to keep the theorists going for years.

You could literally be anything: any ethnicity, gender, height - whatever. And you could change from one day to the next.

You could have a virtual house, car, job or jobs. The Sims would have nothing on this virtual haven; it wouldn’t even begin to compare.

You would also become completely reliant on hardware for life, as well as the software and the people who program it. The computer power needed would be vast and it would

need to be maintained. We all know how computer software gets bugs. Well, this time they might be real, big giant enormous virtual bugs, roaming around your computer haven.

Imagine having the entire human race contained in a digital realm and then all somebody has to do is hit the delete button. Now there’s a thought.

Criminals and questions Of course, I am playing devil’s advocate here, because what could possibly go wrong? Well, probably just about everything. Systems of checks and balances are required but of potentially a higher order than we already have. A virtual justice system would play by a whole new set of rules. How do you deal with crimes such as virtual murder? Like if someone hacks the system and deletes your code. How about hacking your digital entity and changing something in your memory, or personality? A virtual police force would probably be working overtime along with a virtual justice system.

What would be the penalty? Isolation for so many decades in a digital cell? Deletion?

Or how would you replace the idea of taste, eating, mundane things like that? Sex? A whole new ballgame for virtual people I suspect. And what would count as infidelity in a virtual existence? Would people even get married, have children? And how?

These and many more questions have no answers, nor will they if and when somebody does finally achieve digital nirvana. Instead, the likelihood is that we will simply car crash into the new existence like everything else the human race has done already. Then after a period of, let us call it ‘adjustment’, when everything that could possibly go wrong has, things will finally settle down. Some people will choose to be virtual and others will insist on remaining physical, and so it will go on. In our unique way, the human race will muddle through. Wisdom usually arrives after all the stupid things we’ve done. Many of us may be long gone before any of this has a chance to become a reality. In the end, time and technology will tell if recycling humanity ever becomes the answer to all our prayers or the beginning of all of our nightmares.

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Welcome to Earth Week!

By Brittany Little | Illustration by Ramina Rai What is Earth Week?

How can we create a more beautiful world?

What if doing more of what we love means our world can thrive? Earth Week is a series of talks, live music, interactive workshops and stalls across all three AUT campuses showcasing our role in shaping the future on our terms as young people.

We’re talking future trends unplugged with rad, down to earth humans who will share their learnings on what it means to live a life that follows their dreams, oozes authenticity and does something positive for this place we all call home.

Whether you check out the live music and stalls at our ‘Big Living Market’, hit a workshop over a drink in Vesbar, or cosy in for an EarthTalk, there’s going to be something for everyone.

What’s on?

• Big Living Market: Stalls, live music and more.

• Ask Me Anything Cafe: Intimate chats with the coolest collection of humans for a Q&A session like no other about the future.

• EarthTalks (daily) on the future of our environment, equality, tech and science.

• Vision 2030: Auckland’s top speakers who give a shit about the world are coming to share their views, ideas and stories with you. From SPLORE Festival’s Founder, leading AI Tech for Good experts, to innovators in Green Energy – this is one TED Talk-like session not to be missed.

Why does it exist?

Earth Week was created by AUTSA and the Future Proofers Club at AUT, which is a community of students from faculties such as Science, Design, Communications and Business who want to make AUT more awesome. The Future Proofers Club wanted to see an event series that unpacked this crazy world we live in, in our language and from epic humans that inspire us and who dream big. This is an event run by students for students.

More about the Future Proofers AUT We are a co-creating group who host events, projects, workshops and other cool initiatives we want to see happen at AUT. Basically, we’re just here future proofing things to make our lives and AUT more awesome. Get in touch!

We’d love to hear from you. We’re here to help you find your passions, start something, or just hang out with some like-minded people. Email: futureproofersaut@gmail.com.

Why you should go It can be awkward, uncomfortable and disheartening to talk about the future of our planet, but it doesn’t have to be. And this week will give you the perfect opportunity to get pumped about the future and how you can be part of making it rad. It’s your one-stop-shop for inspiration this year, and it’ll be a great way to meet other like-minded individuals both at AUT and beyond. Come grab a beer, have a chat and get woke while doing it.

For the full programme skip to page 10.

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feature

Waste

Our big stinking mess

By Jean Bell | Illustration by Hope McConnell During the month of May, something crazy happened: China announced it would no longer take 24 types of material into the country. Currently we sell our trash and recycling to China, and they make shitty plastic goods out of it that they then sell back to us. But China will no longer take any plastics labelled 6 and 7, among other materials.

Cue madness and horrified newspaper articles featuring pictures and videos of piles and piles of plastic somewhere in Huntly. Now that our trash isn’t being promptly shipped off overseas, it’s become our problem to deal with. So, how did we get here? And what’s the situation at AUT like right now? These are the questions I had in mind when I set out to uncover what the haps is.

What happens to our rubbish at AUT? Know the red bins around campus? That’s your landfill, and Lindsey du Preez, our sustainability advisor at AUT, knows all about it. Unsurprisingly, the waste that goes into the trash bin ends up in landfill. According to Lindsey, some of this heads either to Puwera, which is north of Auckland, or she thinks it heads south to Hampton Downs.

The yellow bins are for recycling and this gets taken to VISY recycling centre in Onehunga. It then gets sorted and markets are found for it, which might be in New Zealand or overseas. (As in, we sell our recycling to people.) Then, it’s the same dealio for paper and cardboard from the blue bins and cardboard stackers popped next to most printers. When asked how much rubbish disposal costs students, AUT didn’t

know the answer. “Good question but unfortunately, I don’t have this information on hand,” Lindsey says.

The down-low on AUT’s waste policy AUT seems to be pretty progressive with its policies.

Among other things, the AUT Sustainability Roadmap policy outlines the university’s targets relating to waste disposal.

The targets include zero waste by 2030; reduce waste per person by 2kg by 2020; and ban single-use plastics on campus by June 2019. So far, so good. But what do AUT and the experts reckon?

Meet emeritus professor and chair on the Vice Chancellor’s taskforce for sustainability, Thomas Neitzert. Thomas reckons the targets are reasonable and he’d like to achieve them ahead of time. However, it might prove to be tricky as sussing this kind of thing in such a big organisation can “sometimes feel like driving a big ocean liner”. On the other hand, Lindsey says we’ve got to think big to make any serious change. “I think ambitious targets are important to challenge the status quo and to inspire new and better ways of doing things,” she reckons.

Marty Hoffart from Zero Waste Network Aotearoa knows his stuff when it comes to waste disposal and kindly gave his two cents on AUT’s policy. Referring to AUT’s target of having zero waste by 2030, Marty says it’s essential to have a target date to work towards. “They’d be in the minority of organisations or businesses that actually have a zero waste target,” he says.

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However, it’d be a good idea to move the target a little closer. “I’d like to see them shorter, so that they are done in someone’s life time,” Marty says. “A problem with zero waste targets is that if you put them too far out people don’t start working on them quickly enough.”

In regards to aiming to reduce waste by 2kg per person by 2020, Marty again says targets are good and that a lot of councils do a similar thing. And finally, when it comes to banning single-use plastics on campus by June 2019, Marty is 100 percent supportive. “Getting rid of singleuse plastics by a certain date would be great,” Marty says. He also reckons that even if we don’t get all the way there, any progress is good progress. “Even if you phase out 90 percent of single-use plastics and don’t hit the target, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed. You just need to deal with that last 10 percent.”

China says no more!

To go back to China no longer taking all of our recycling, Marty says China was the recycler for the world and most of the world was sending recycling their way because China had such a demand for it.

But now, things have changed and they’re in a different stage of development. “China has had a huge stage of development over the last 20 years and they don’t need those raw materials as much anymore,” says Marty. “If China wants to stop importing the whole world's plastic then they certainly have the right to do that,

they probably have enough of their own to deal with from their own growing middle class.”

AUT is trying to manage the issue by having the cleaning contractors sort the recycling bins so that all bins are clean.

While it might have caused a bit of trouble for us in the short term, Professor Neitzert reckons we’ll be grateful in the long run. He calls it a welcomed wake-up call and believes shipping our rubbish across kilometres of ocean is wrong for many reasons. As aside from carting the stuff around the globe contributing to the CO₂ in our atmosphere, it burdens other people with our rubbish and undermines the formation of local recycling centres in our own country. This means we miss out on cashing in on possible gains and means we sure weren’t prepared for China to shut up shop. “Some of the plastics with symbols 3 to 7 are actually valuable commodities,” he says. “Since we were able to ship all this to China, local recycling plants or product developments from recycled materials have not been

attempted. Existing start-up operations were even closed down, because it was easier to ship to China.”

Lindsey sees the change as a chance for New Zealand to have a look at the way we handle and approach our waste.

“It is an opportunity to re-examine our throwaway culture and find better ways of using our resources,” she says. From here, we can look to encourage the public to examine their use of single-use plastics and move to cut them out completely. It also means we can support government world initiatives that seek to increase the cost of sending waste to landfill, creating an economic incentive not to create waste.

“Money from the landfill levy can then be invested in better ways of managing our waste,” Lindsey reckons.

Contamination station Know it or not, it’s not enough to chuck your recycling in the right container and pat yourself on the back for being an environmental warrior. Putting bottles and other recycling stuff in the wrong bin is rife at AUT and a pretty serious issue, according to Lindsey. Basically, at AUT, plastics with the symbol 1 or 2 can be recycled, but any plastics with the symbol 3 to 7 are no good and need to be chucked in the red landfill bins. If plastics numbered 3 to 7 are put in the recycling, the whole bin is contaminated.

According to Lindsey, when a wheelie bin is contaminated the recycling contractors employed by AUT fine the university $20

per contaminated bin. AUT is trying to manage the issue by having the cleaning contractors sort the recycling bins so that all bins are clean. They are also attempting to educate staff and students. “We are using this opportunity to identify problem areas and target our education accordingly,” she says. “We are in the process of relabelling every recycling bin across the three campuses with clear pictorial posters.”

Behold! The future of waste Okay, so we’ve got a fair idea of what the problem is. But how can we fix this and head along the path to a cleaner and greener future? Marty from Zero Waste recommends having the government introduce deposit schemes on recyclable beverage containers, which means that you can get a small refund when you recycle a bottle. “Get the government to do what other governments around the world do,” Marty recommends, pointing to Canada, Japan, South Korea and Germany as examples. “They’ve all got regulations in place so that there are deposits on beverage containers.” This means that the public has an incentive to pick up containers. “The reason that there’s bottles and cans sitting around on the street, and plastic in the ocean is because we’ve made the containers worthless – it’s bad policy.”

Further to that, a study done by social purpose business Envision with the help of Auckland Council found that 83 percent of Kiwis support the establishment of a container deposit scheme, and the

government could save up to $645 million dollars over a 10-year period.

Professor Neitzert believes that the backlog of materials that are currently stockpiled due to China’s ban will lead to new opportunities for recycling. “There will certainly be more product and process developments locally and AUT should work with these initiatives,” he predicts. “There will also be the opportunity for staff and student research projects to figure things out.”

Just because China is no longer accepting some types of recyclables, that doesn’t mean they are worthless, either. “It’s still cheaper to make plastic out of recycled plastic,” says Marty. “There are always clean markets for those materials because it’s cheaper to use recycled stock resin than virgin plastic to make products. The problem is right now, until those markets develop and grow, there’s a bit of a waiting game.”

But what can we do?

It’s pretty simple – avoid creating waste, sort the unavoidable waste properly, and spread awareness. “Now is the time to think about our processes and make changes about the packaging we buy involuntarily and the waste we produce,” says Professor Neitzert.

“If we can’t avoid waste, we should sort it better. We have to rethink the collection systems on campus to create ‘cleaner’ rubbish, which is less contaminated and more suited for recycling.”

A bit of awareness could also go a long way and it’s key that all of us students get our head in the game when it comes to dunking our trash in the right bin. Lindsey reckons that greater awareness is going to be a critical part of managing the problem properly, and this will cover a wide range of areas. “In what they buy, in how they sort their waste, providing suggestions for improvements, getting involved in finding solutions,” says Lindsey.

If you’re after specific things you can do to help, Professor Neitzert takes it back a notch and goes to the basics that we all know: bring your own containers for food and drinks on campus and help avoid contamination by putting your rubbish in the right bin. He’s also a supporter of making AUT paperless – that means no hard copy hand-ins – can I get a hell yeah? “You are all quite internet savvy and you can push AUT to a paperless university,” he says.

So there’s the run down on AUT’s rubbish dilemma. Ultimately, despite all the chaos, it appears a little effort can collectively go a long way when it comes to protecting this paradise we live in.

If you have any questions, concerns, or want to tackle a sustainability project, the university would love to hear from you.

Flick ‘em an email at sustainability@aut. ac.nz. Or, if you want to join a student club involved in AUT’s sustainability policies, email futureproofersaut@gmail.com.

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A New University

By Mackenzie Valgre and Vanessa Arapko The fight across the road is about more than just the closures of the libraries. It’s more than an attack on the Arts. It is resistance against the repeated attacks on education from both the university administration and the government. Six years ago, hundreds of students and unionists blockaded Symonds Street in response to a budget that cut student financial support. On budget day this year, thousands of students did it again to demonstrate that things are not getting any better. The recently established organisation ‘A New University’ formed a five-hour blockade from Wellesley Street to Waterloo Crescent.

“For several weeks we have been calling for the university to respect students, staff and community voices in relation to the proposed library closures. We have pleaded, we have petitioned, we have occupied, and we have been ignored.” A New University is fighting the starving of educational institutions which has resulted from a model that is based on the return of profits. In turn, they are demanding: democratic student and staff control over how the university is run, the sacking of Stuart McCutchen (the Vice-Chancellor of UoA), increased government funding to education, and terminating the closure of the libraries.

“Under nine years of a National Government there were sustained attacks on students and universities,” says Nathalie Jaques, from

A New University, “with some of the lowest funding per student in the OECD, exorbitant loan repayment rates well below the poverty line, painfully restricted access to student allowances, and increasing numbers of students living in desperate conditions in unaffordable cities.”

Whilst the current Government has introduced minor reforms to address the severe underfunding of tertiary education, such as first year fee-free study, as well as increasing student allowance and living costs, these are insufficient to support students and staff.

As the Tertiary Education Union estimates a $3.7 billion funding hole in the sector, this year’s budget has failed to increase government subsidies enough to alleviate the funding deficit. “But, we don’t have enough money,” the government cries. To that, A New University responds, “Ditch the Budget Responsibility Rules!” These self-imposed rules stipulate that the government must keep spending below 30 percent of GDP (the total monetary value of all goods and services produced in New Zealand); deliver an operating surplus (money left over in the bank at the end of the financial year); and keep debt under 20 percent. This severely prevents investment in public services.

The government hides behind the Budget Responsibility Rules, and it is time to tear

them down.

Universities should be controlled from the bottom up, not the other way around. The blockade stood for all students and staff across the nation. This is not confined to the University of Auckland. Otago University is also resisting such an educational model. Following the censorship of a student magazine Critic by the university administration, Student Voice Otago organised a 170-strong rally. In an open letter prior to the protest, they acknowledged how this silencing is part of a wider problem, that is the undemocratic function of universities and immense education cuts.

Last month was the 50th anniversary of May 1968, where students throughout France occupied campuses and organised daily marches against capitalism. Their efforts sparked the world’s first wildcat strike (organised outside of the union) where 11 million workers led France’s economy to a halt. It is important to remember that all our struggles are connected. In this sense, the blockade was not just for all students. It was for everyone who has fallen victim to a state sector starved of funding.

Interested in joining the fight? Email a.new. university@gmail.com or message the FB page @anewuniversitynz.

Every issue, we bribe singletons with free food and bevvies to go on a blind date, organised by us. The only catch – they have to write about it after. Cheers BurgerFuel Queen Street!

“It’s not you, it’s me.”

I believe I have a good intuition – not enough to cross a road blindfolded – but I would say I’m pretty good at predicting what’s about to happen. Coincidentally, the blind date was scheduled after some cheeky work drinks. Coincidentally, there was a bar tab. Coincidentally, yo’ girl got drunk. Perhaps it was my intuition that lead me to downing those drinks, or maybe I’m just stupid.

As I make my way to BurgerFuel I give myself a pep talk. “He won’t know you’re drunk, just keep your eyes focused, drink some water and the burger will sober you up. DO NOT fall off the chair.” I walk in and I see a shadow approaching me from behind. “Are you looking for someone?” I turn around and I am instantly grateful that I’m absolutely smashed.

He was serving some lumberjack goingto-court realness with his ginger beard snatched into place and a dapper blue button-down shirt. I wasn’t sure if I was on a date or going to get a loan from the bank.

We order our food and quickly take a seat.

Now the most important part of the date was about to begin, the conversation. He was nice.

Don’t get me wrong, being nice is great! I just need some banter. It was lovely to talk about your hopes and dreams but I wanna know if you believe 9/11 was an inside job. But then again, I’m probably psycho.

I text my mates if they’re still at the bar. They are and I ask if my new man would like to join for some drinks (mostly out of politeness, I would rather him stay at BurgerFuel).

He accepts the offer, classic stitch-up. We sit down with my friends and being the alcoholic that I am, I get another drink. After a while, he gets the message and makes a quick exit.

My dear blind date, you are a lovely man.

Those 30 minutes showed me you’re kind, intelligent and sweet. All that’s left to say is, “It’s not you, it’s me.”

9/10 Blind date huh? Most people would give it a pass. Put in a situation where you have no idea who you are about to date, thoughts go through your head like ‘What if the date is horrible!?’. However, I am currently on a quest to find my best friend, some would say

‘soul mate’. I look at life as a rollercoaster of experiences, good or bad; in the end you find yourself searching for love.

I’ve been on my fair share of dates but none of them could’ve prepared me for the experience I had blind dating. So, there I was: nervously waiting at the venue for this beautiful dark-haired woman whose name started with ‘M’. The search was on! Suddenly, I saw a woman. Dark hair? Check. Beautiful?

Check! She was standing anxiously at the entrance. I had to see if it was her, I approached her with a question. She smiled and answered back confirming she was the mysterious ‘M’ I had been searching for.

The date began with questions that you usually wouldn’t ask in a date, because you are usually well acquainted by this stage.

Mind you, these days that is not always the case. However, the blind date went fantastic, it was a fun experience meeting someone who was also searching for love and was willing to meet a person they have never met.

I personally enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to anyone searching for love or who just wants to have a fun experience. 9/10.

To get involved, email us with your name, age and sexual preference: debate@aut.ac.nz 31

recipe

Reviving Stale Bread Bread is one of the world’s most wasted foods. I am sure many of us can relate to buying a loaf of bread and not being able to finish it before it goes past its prime. Throwing food away does not only undermine your financial wellbeing, it also involves a complex web of environmental and social issues. There are numerous ways to utilise leftover bread or revive stale bread before it goes bad. For instance, you can make your own breadcrumbs and croutons using leftover bread – they can keep for weeks! A savoury bread pudding proves to be another great way to use up leftover bread, as well as off-cuts of meats and vegetables. Food waste is avoidable!

Savoury bread pudding recipe Ingredients

Method

• 1 tbsp butter at room temperature for

1) Grease baking dish with butter to prevent sticking. I used a 20cm baking dish and 5 mini tart tins for this recipe. You can adjust the recipe proportion to fit your baking dish.

greasing baking dish • 1 tbsp butter for sautéing ingredients

2) Start by sautéing bacon bits in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. You don’t need more than a 1/4 teaspoon of oil as the bacon will release fat when cooked. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes before the bacon turns brown. Be careful not to burn them.

• 1/4 tsp cooking oil • 1 tsp garlic powder • 1 tsp sugar • 1 small onion, sliced

3) Remove browned bacon bits from pan and set aside, leaving the oil behind.

• 2 slices of bacon, chopped into small pieces • 1 small carrot, cut into thin strips • 7-8 fresh white button mushrooms, sliced • 1/2 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped • 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (I am using Dairyworks’ Smokey Joe, a mix of grated Parmesan, Colby & Cheddar) • 6 pieces of bread (I am using the $1 whole-wheat loaf) • 3 large eggs • 1 cup milk • 1/2 cup cream • Salt • Pepper

4) Using the same pan, sauté sliced onion over medium-low heat for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add carrot strips and continue sautéing for another minute.

5) In the same pan, add 1 tbsp of butter, then add sliced mushrooms. Season with 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp sugar, a pinch of salt and pepper. Continue sautéing for 2 minutes.

6) Cut each slice of bread into 9 small pieces (3 by 3). In a large mixing bowl, toss bread pieces, grated cheese, bacon bits, chopped coriander, and the sautéed mix together.

7) In another mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk, cream, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.

8) Using a tong or clean hands, fill baking dish with bread mixture in baking dish to the top. Ladle egg mixture over it till the baking dish is almost full. Do not fill baking dish to the brim as it will expand a little when baking.

9) Cover and let the baking dish sit for at least an hour before baking to allow the bread to soak up the liquid and for the flavours to infuse.

10) Pre-heat oven to 180°C. 11) Baking time differs according to the size of the baking dish. The 20cm baking dish takes 30 minutes, while the mini version takes just 15 minutes.

Melissa Koh is a third year BA student double majoring in Culinary Arts and English & New Media. Follow her dining and cooking adventures on Instagram: @melicacy.

33

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