THE BULLSHEET A JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY STUDENT ASSOCIATION PUBLICATION
Rainbow Lounge
Meet the Councillors
The True Heir
Student News p.5
JCUSA p.3
Novel Extract p.7
FEBUARY 2022
Contents
The Bullsheet
01 05
From the President Thomas Sherrington
Rainbow Lounge: Beginings of a Club
12
02 07
From the Editor Karla Destéfani
The True Heir Joshua Smith-Monaghan
03 09
Meet the Counsilors JCUSA
Ammonote Daze Tiani Dun
13 Pastel Skies Tiani Dun
Publisher
Thomas Sherrington
Editor & Design Karla Destéfani
2022 SP1 O week Highlights
Cairns Towsnville P (07) 4232 1160 P (07) 4781 4400 E studentassociation@jcu.edu.au E studentassociation@jcu.edu.au Freecall 1800 330 021 Freecall 1800 330 021 PO BOX 6811 PO BOX 1 James Cook University James Cook University Cairns QLD 4870 Townsville QLD 4811
From the President Students of JCU, Welcome to 2022! For new students, welcome to JCU I hope you enjoy your time here. For everyone else, welcome back to another year at James Cook. My name is Thomas Sherrington, and I am the 2022 Student Association President. I am into my fourth year of university now, studying a Bachelor of Business and Law. Some of you may already know me or have heard of me through my time in 2021 as JCUSA VP, my three years spent as a resident of Saints Catholic College or other means. For those who don’t know me, I grew up one hour down the road in the town of Ayr and have been here in Townsville since 2019. When the pandemic hit, it changed everyone’s life. However, the most significant change it had on my life was that I became heavily engaged in what was going wrong in the student experience at JCU. That’s when I decided at the end of 2020 to put my hand up for running as the next Vice President of the Student Association, and I haven’t looked back since. One of my goals this year is to have students who have no interest in the Student Association whatsoever to be engaged in student issues, particularly those affecting the student. The Student Association is always there to help students with their issues. We’ve already done it a handful of times this year, and it is only Week 1 at the time of writing this. JCUSA Vice-President Dillon Weightman and I have already featured on ABC NQ Drivetime, 7news Townsville and the Townsville Bulletin, advocating for student issues like a Queer Space and the mess that is the construction of Burralga Yumba. What I want this year is a productive year of change at JCU. I want students to be heard and their voices to drive change at this university. This needs to happen for the university to survive. It has been losing enrolments consistently since 2016. Sandra Harding has now finished up as Vice-Chancellor. In her place is Simon Biggs from the University of Western Australia. With a fresh face in place, students as a whole have to make it known to Mr. Biggs what they want for their university. The Student Association hopes to be there every stage of the way. Just a few tips for students this year – try to get involved in interfacility and social sport and if you live on a residential college; get involved in College Sport. They’re all great experiences. If you are a member of a club and society, make sure to get involved in their events this year. If you’re not a member of any club, join one and get involved!
Thomas Sherrington President E: jcusa.president@my.jcu.edu.au
From the Editor Welcome new and returning students! My name is Karla and I am an Arts student completing an Honours thesis. I’m grateful and excited to be your editor for 2022. Last year was a great learning experience, and I enjoyed working with students across all year levels and degrees. I believe we have sucessfully increased the amount of creative works in the past year. Many great drawings, poems and creative prose have graced our pages and website. I look forward to seeing many more throughout 2022. We welcome works of all styles surrounding your opinions, aspirations, experiences and emotions about university life and all that impacts it. Our prices vary depending on length and medium. If you have any projects that do not fall into any of the catagories listed, send me an email. Fiction: $0.04 per word, paid up to maximum 1000 words = $40 Non fiction: $0.04 per word, paid to a maximum of 1000 words = $40 Poetry: $1.00 per line up to a maximum of 20 lines = $20 Photography: $5.00 low resolution / $10.00 high resolution Meme: $5.00 Drawing: $30.00 Comic: $30.00 Without further ado, the first edition of The Bullsheet 2022 is filled with poetry, photography, and fiction - Happy reading!
Karla Ana-Lía Destéfani Editor E: karla.destefani@my.jcu.edu.au
Get to Know Your Councilors
Councilor Question: What is something people may not initially expect about you? Have a question you want answered?
Thomas Sherrington President Answer: Something people might not expect at first glance about me is that I’m actually quite shy.
Dillon Weightman Vice President
I did not get the chance to answer but I look forward to assisting the student body and student clubs however I can!
Brooke Shannon Townsville Campus Officer Answer: One thing people may not know about me is that I am quite musically inclined, and I took guitar lessons for a number of years.
Manisha Udani Kulasinghe Equity and Diversity Answer: At first glance people may not expect, I toured the West Coast of America for AFL at 15 years old.
Catherine Colgan Postgraduate Officer
Answer: I think that something people don’t know is that I’m pretty awkward around new people and until I sense that they’re used to me I Iive in a social shell.
Tien Thanh Ta International Officer I didn’t get to answer. Nonetheless, I look forward to meeting you and supporting international students!
Garrett Swearingen Cairns Campus Officer Answer: People are often surprised to know I’m originally from Sydney, having moved here for uni.
PAGE 05
Rainbow Lounge The Beginings of a Club Student News
A new group of students aims to develop an LGBTQIA club on campus. The group of students has been working hard since July 2021 to organise the foundations of the club-to-be. This Monday they held their first event - a picnic at central plaza! They experienced an amazing turnout. Snacking on grapes and giant donut pretzles members of the group chatted for two hours inbetween the class breaks on their first day of university this year. The club-to-be aims to provide a safe space for those out and those who are not, promote LGBTQIA+ education to JCU, become a fun social club with pinics and café meetups, and act as activists at JCU and in the local community. They are taking precautions to ensure those who cannot be on camera are respected. Thus images provided don’t show all who attended the picnic. If you are interested in following their journey go to: https://linktr.ee/LGBTAlliance.JCU
Become a JCUSA member! Sign up online at our new portal
PAGE 07
The True Heir Joshua Smith-Monaghan
The following is a segment of Josh’s novel, The True Heir, which he has been working on throughout his degree. II.
Elayna
My horse lessons were usually behind the palace, in one of the horse paddocks away from the gardens. Today, however, I am meeting mistress Estelle near the front gates. There are many Kingsguard there, all armed with muskets and rapiers (though a few held spears). Estelle Horumakavas towers over them all, her bright red hair afire in the sunlight and she is dressed in her usual riding clothes: brown pants, a loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirt open at the neck and thigh-high leather riding boots. Strapped to her left side is her clan longsword. As I approached, I could see her violet eyes locked onto mine. I walk over to the group and curtsy to my teacher who bows back in the orcish style, from the waist, her right arm over her left crossed on her chest. Signifying no threat to the other party. ‘Greetings, Elayna chief-daughter, Estelle wishes to take you to the open country to teach you canterat-speed.’ I can barely contain the excitement. I’d waited months for today, and even better, Lucas wasn’t around to constantly remind me how good he was at riding just by his maddening ability to look good doing anything. ‘It will be my honour, Estelle-teacher, I have been looking forward to this.’ Her toothy grin fills me with joy. A smile is rare for her and I lap up any honour she bestows on me. ‘FORM UP!’ The Kingsguard snap to attention immediately and formed a square around us as we mounted up. Estelle’s desert pony is almost as large as my horse, but then, it needs to be to support her. Orcs tend towards being larger and broader than humans, and the majority have tusks, though Estelle’s are much smaller than the larger tusks found on her male counterparts. ‘Estelle noticed you are particularly happy today, chief-daughter, is it a riding lesson? Or “riding” lesson?’ ‘Estelle!’ I gasp and almost fall flat on my face. Several of the nearby soldiers, of whom some are women, struggle to hide their laughter behind fake coughs, smile and elbow each other while nodding in my direction. Shame blossoms to my cheeks and my face flushes with heat. I leap up into the saddle. ‘Oh-ho! Estelle is impressed chief-daughter Elayna can jump so high.’ Estelle lets out a bark of laughter that is more infectious than I like and before I know it, I am chuckling myself too.
Read the first part of the story by scanning the QR code!
PAGE 08
Leaving the front gates in such a way makes many people turn their heads to watch me in awe. Unfortunately, my gallop for freedom is not as I hope, for the Rue du Palais is thronged with Third-day afternoon market and thousands of people. Reigning Shasta in, she slowed to a trot, stopping completely before I bowl over a young man and his family. ‘Thank’ee milady! Sorry for halting your mad rush, milady!’ the father says, bowing repeatedly. ‘It is of no consequence,’ I reply, cursing my lack of foresight, ‘Though do be careful, next time I might not be able to stop.’ ‘Of course, milady, thank’ee milady.’ I watch their retreating backs in silence as they hurry into the crowd, the children smiling and waving at me. Hearing a shout from behind, I turn, ‘Make way for the princess! Make way for princess Elayna!’ The crowd parts immediately. Estelle reigns in beside me, several moments before the sprinting Kingsguard catch up to reform around us, some struggling to keep their breath. ‘Quite the chase you gave them, chief-daughter. Estelle would have thought you gone by now.’ ‘Naturally, I had to wait for my guards to catch up, these soldiers train all the time to be useful, and I have to leave them behind to have any fun around here.’ Estelle is the only one who reacts, laughing with her great, loud laugh that tends to cause people to look over in alarm. ‘Elayna chief-daughter has sense of humour! How fortuitous.’ I narrow my gaze at Estelle. There are times where I know she is playing, but for the life of me I couldn’t tell. I take a gamble. ‘Well, Estelle-teacher, when one has to deal with you, one learns.’ I smile and she laughs again, causing several passing commoners to glance up at my fearsome horse-master. Good, so she is in that kind of mood today. Our guardians easily part the crowd for us, but it is a long time before we reach Main Street and I take the time to observe the kind of people who live in Remora, capital of the Kingdom of Rem. Around us, people of nearly every race converse in loud, raucous discourse. Large, burly, grey-skinned orcs brush up against short-but no less burly-dwarves while tall, bronzed elves and the Drau, their paler, dark haired cousins, haggle over clothes, jewels, and food. Humans, by far the majority, move about in brightly coloured clothes. At many stalls in the markets, short, weedy, green-skinned goblins with high pitched nasally voices ply their wares and screech at passers-by. Several large, scaly trolls wander around speaking slowly and carefully. The trolls have many different shades of scale colour combined with a large forehead, long nose, and overly long arms that make them the subject of many terror stories. Continue Reading on Page 11
PAGE 09
Ammonote Daze Filming An Independent Music Video Tiani Dun
“Let’s film a music video!” My housemate, Lawrence said one day. Lawrence knows I’m always up for anything. “Alright,” I answered, “this could be fun.” The two brothers I was living with, Lawrence and Oliver Scheele have recently begun an electronic duo. They call themselves ‘Ammonite Daze,’ after the ancient cephalopods which died out around 66 million years ago. ‘Ammonite Daze’ represents their connection to the natural world. It’s no surprise that ammonites, with their spiral shapes, are symbols of positive movement and transformation.
The duo’s philosophy is to bring people back to the place within themselves –to reconnect them with their true nature. Lawrence explains, “We want to create music that invokes the beauty and connectedness of nature, that allows people to reflect on their own lives.”
Brothers Lawrence (left) and Oliver Scheele (Right). Like all great and noble things, it all started after a near death experience. Lawrence was knocked unconscious by a falling coconut while gardening in his backyard. The day after he returned from the hospital, he wrote the ‘Starry Night’ demo while recovering in bed. “I sent it to Oli, my brother, and was like, what do you think? He added his input which created an ethereal vibe that we rolled with.”
The song is chilled yet energetic, it almost feels like you are drifting through the cosmos or dancing on the beach at night. All of this inspired the making of Ammonite Daze’s very first music video, which was only just released on February 16th, 2022! (And on the Leo full moon, of course).
Lawrence, Oliver, myself and co-director Kaspa Blewett all lived together on Magnetic Island. This made planning our debut videoshoot a very smooth and cohesive task. Lawrence’s vision was to film the video on a secret beach, under the stars and the full moon. It would be a late night of “work,” so naturally, some camping, a bunch of friends and many snacks would be required. We decided to film the music video on one of the most isolated spots we knew. Impossible to get to by road, our old mate Fred agreed to taxi us over on his boat. The camera crew went over by sea, while the others hiked over the hill to meet us later on.
It’s times like these that remind us to live deeply in the present. If we trust in the process, everything will eventually work out. Like how their name, ‘Ammonite Daze’ refers to the duality of night and day, Lawrence and Oliver hope to convey this same idea that past and future don’t exist. We only have what’s here and now, so we need to relish in each moment. Doubling as a local photographer, Lawrence wanted to also showcase the wonders of the natural marine life of his island home. Naturally, of the locals, the turtle ‘Shelly’ makes a guest appearance in the music video.
Being on student budgets means that we didn’t have any expensive camera equipment. In fact, we used our dive torches as lights, and found a nice pair of Kaspa’s shorts to hold in front of them to create an amber tone. (Sadly, the shorts were a casualty of the night and caught on fire during the filming processes. Luckily, a bright pink Napisan scoop did the same job for more filming at a later date).
Shelly cruising along to her favourite electronic beats.
We borrowed a fire twirling stick from some neighbours, and I brought a pair of party glasses which made for a fantastic lens effect.
“The island’s marine life is awe inspiring. The inshore reefs create such biodiverse habitats that are often overlooked.” The band’s album cover features a Bigfin Reef Squid. The squid, captured on one of Lawrence’s (many) night snorkels last year, represents our young artist’s connection to the island. The video can be found by searching ‘Starry Night’ on Youtube. The journey of these creative students can be followed through Triple J Unearthed, Spotify and Instagram.
Tiani dancing in the extremely high-tech effects from party glasses. “It was pretty experimental, and it all just happened. Nothing was staged, nothing planned, and it all just flowed naturally,” Lawrence says, “Everyone helped to create it and spontaneously had ideas to contribute. It was a collaborative effort.” It’s true. Half of the cast didn’t even know they would be in a music video until they arrived. We just turned the song on repeat and danced!
PAGE 11
I search diligently, however, I can only see a few of the brown-skinned hobgoblins; larger, more militaristic, disciplined cousins of the goblin race, and two of them are in my retinue of guards. ‘Estelle-teacher, my father says that before my great-grandmother’s reign, her brother, King Arremande, believed that only humans should live in the kingdom. Is that true? I couldn’t imagine the kind of place he wanted to live in now.’ ‘Estelle not so sure about that time, was very long ago, Elayna chief-daughter. Perhaps best to ask court shaman Pharagood about such time. Estelle hears many rumours that the human shaman live back then.’ ‘Really? I knew Philius was old but I never thought he was that old.’ I try to remember what the ancient wizard looks like now and can dimly recall a beard, long robes, and dark eyes. Nothing concrete unfortunately. That could be almost any of the wizards at the Wizard-Geld. ‘Enough of that anyway, time to learn to gallop horses.’ Estelle kicks her desert pony onto Main street away from the crowds to pick up the pace. I urge Shasta into a canter, and we make good time through the brightly coloured crowd who quickly step to the sides of the wide, cobbled street to the shouts of: ‘Make way! Royal procession coming through!’ Our trip down Main Street is uneventful, and we pass through the Merchant Gate and into the Merchant Quarter. There the crowds thin considerably as it is the morning and many Remorans are either working or preparing to start work. Leaving the city via the East-Gate, we emerge into the countryside to a brilliant blue sky and a horizon of green grass surrounding large farming estates. ‘Come chief-daughter, show Estelle how you ride!’ my teacher shouts, kicking her pony into a gallop. I follow by digging my heels into Shasta and she explodes down the compacted dirt road. I cannot help but laugh as I overtake her when Shasta picks up her paces and flies toward the horizon. My dark hair streams out behind me and my blue dress, the colour of the sky, whips around as she picks up speed. I hold onto the saddle with my legs and stand up, feeling the wind on my skin. The air surging past, goosebumps shivering all over.
Keep up to date as the story continues by checking our online website.
PAGE 12
Pastel Skies Tiani Dun
From my balcony on Magnetic Island, I could see the harbour and hear the ferries come in. During the day, with no air conditioning available, it was usually hot, but the afternoon was magic. In this Haiku series, I describe one particular evening when we had friends over and ate dinner outside. We watched a purple sky and enjoyed the stillness before we embarked on an epic night snorkel.
The arrow points up From yellow to purple grey A pastel painting The wind plays the palms Like a shadow piano Strings moving in tone A sunbird nest hangs From a low-lying treetop Where bats land to rest Warm noodles outside Smoke surrounding the chatter Brewing sunken life
PAGE 13
O’Week SP 1, 2022 JCU Student Association would like to thank everyone who participated in the events for O’Week SP1! The week was a great success filled with lots of events, including Market Day, Touring Townsville & Cairns, Trivia Night, Gym Open Day, Come & Try Sports, Scavenger Hunt and Toga Party. Check out some photos from the week on the Townsville and Cairns campus!
Want to see your work here? THE BULLSHEET Print Edition is a collection of the best work from our online website. We showcase all forms of student work including (but not limited to) paintings, photography, politics, science, poetry, memes, fiction and non-fiction. We believe in paying our contributors for their work. Payment prices are listed on our website. If you are interested in being a contributor go to: thebullsheet.com.au