volume
issue
16
august
01
2011
The Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria University, Wellington
74
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salient.org.nz
Salient Vol. 74
The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive
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The Team
Editors: Uther Dean and Elle Hunt editor@salient.org.nz Designer: Dan Hutchinson designer@salient.org.nz News Editor: Stella Blake-Kelly news@salient.org.nz Chief Reporter: Natalie Powlesland natalie@salient.org.nz Feature Writer: Selina Powell selina@salient.org.nz Feature Writer: Zoe Reid zoe@salient.org.nz Chief Sub-Editor: Carlo Salizzo carlo@salient.org.nz Online Editor: James Hurndell james@salient.org.nz Arts Editor: Louise Burston arts@salient.org.nz
Contributors
Hayley Adams, Sally Anderson, Linda Beckett, Katie Bennett, Seamus Brady, David Burr, Harriet Campbell, Laurel Carmichael, Barney Chunn, Paul Comrie-Thomson, Thomas Coughlan, Constance Cravings, Martin Doyle, Harry Evans, Adam Goodall, Jason Govenlock, Harry Greenfield, Ally Garrett, William Guzzo, Russ Kale, Robyn Kenealy, Michael Kumove, Laff, Michael Langdon, Sarita Lewis, Renee Lyons, Bex Miller, Brendon Mackenzie, Kiran Matthews, Callum McDougal, Jono McLeod, Sam Northcott, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Conrad Reyners, Fairooz Samy, Geraint Scott, Auntie Sharon, Romany Tasker-Poland, Ta’ase Vaoga, Edward Warren, Mariana Whareaitu, Angus Winter, Nicola Wood, and Ben Wylie-van Eerd.
Contributor of the week:
Nicola Wood. Who’d stay in the office with us past 10pm? Nicola Would!
About Us
Salient is produced by independent student journalists, employed by, but editorially independent from, the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA). Salient is a member of, syndicated and supported by the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA). It is printed by APN Print of Tauranga. Opinions expressed are not necessarily representative of those of ASPA, VUWSA, Printcorp, or anyone who was surprised by River being Amy and Rory’s kid (that shit was fucking obvious since The Impossible Astronaut) but we of Salient are proud of our beliefs and take full responsibility for them.
Contact
VUWSA Student Media Centre Level 3, Student Union Building Victoria University PO Box 600, Wellington Phone: 04 463 6766 Email: editor@salient.org.nz
Advertising
Contact: Howard Pauling Phone: 04 463 6982 Email: sales@vuwsa.org.nz
Other
itter! on Tw e! We’re tmagazin n e li a @s
Like Sa li Facebo ent on o people k! 1753 can’t b wrong e !
Subscriptions: Too lazy to walk to uni to pick up a copy of your favourite mag? We can post them out to you for a nominal fee. $40 for Vic student, $55 for everyone else. Please send an email containing your contact details with ‘subscription’ in the subject line to editor@salient.org.nz This issue is dedicated to La Roux, the Far East Movement and Little Boots. Thanks for keeping the groove alive in the Salient office. Naturally, this issue is douchicated to Cameron Leslie.
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Issue 16 Justice
The Regular Bits Editorial 3 Ngāi Tauira 6 News 7 The Week That Wasn’t
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Overheard @ Vic
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editorial
Issue 16 Justice
Faces to Deface 23 Notices 43 Letters 44 Puzzles 46 Comics 47
The Features The Viability of Justice
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The Consumers Guarantees Act
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Revengeance! A Dish Best Served Bold
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Wrangling with the Law
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The Wellington Community Justice Project
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Karma Will Serve Them Right!
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The Right to Marry: Gay Rights in NZ
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The Columns VUWSA President 4 VUWSA Exec 5 Politics with Paul
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Laying Down the Law
15
Student Health Services
31
Animal of the Week
31
Failure to Communicate
32
The 7th Inning Stretch
32
Bent 33 Peas & Queues
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Ask Constance 34 I Am Offended Because...
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Beer Will Be Beer
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Lovin’ From The Oven
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The Arts Theatre 36 Visual Arts 37 Books 38 Games 39 Music 40 Film 41
The Justice Issue
Elle & Uther
As an idea, justice can seem so dauntingly hu ge that it almost withou exception eclipses its sm t aller, more subtle details . Justice is not about jus the big, binary opposites t —life or death, right or wrong, evil or good. It also about a lot of little is everythings. Justice is balance, in all things and in all ways. Justice is as much about being nice to people as it is about destroying their lives. not Which leads us to ‘new sincerity’—a new philos ophical movement bas around the rejection of ed irony and the embracin g of genuine enthusiasm New sincerity resides . within the idea that hon est y is the best policy, and that we should stop liv ing our lives in quotation marks. It validates joy and directness. It encour ages you to like things because you like them, because you like compla not ining about them, or bec ause they are a symbol how self-aware you are of . As the discursive post-m odern experience weigh ts more and more heavily on our lives, we interface more and mo re directly with the fict consume. The blurring ion we of the line between you as person and you as per is now standard-issue sona rather than occasional, and society cannot hel twist itself into a self-r p but eflexive knot. This is not the best way to live: Alw observing rather than ays participating. Always forcing a distance betwe yourself and whatever en could touch or affect you . New sincerity is a pro step towards the untyi per ng of that hipster knot.
That is a good thing.
But (why does there alw ays have to be a but? Th ey make life so uneasy) new sincerity has also validated the tactless. The kind of people wh themselves on being ‘blu o pride nt’, who claim to ‘just tell it like it is’, believe tha their ham-handed meann t ess falls in step with the optimism at the core of new sincerity. These bul lies basically think tha t anything other than the blank, bald, painful tru th is some rose-tinted dis traction. Not so. Although there will com e a time when every one of us will have to take on one of those big, bin ary opposites, every day , we have to do justice other people. And we can to do that by not being coc ks. Contrary to those wh believe in new sincerity o , it is not unjust or unbal anced to not directly sta the total and exact facts te of your opinion. It is not misleading to sugarcoat just a little bit—what you — perceive as being the tru th. The just thing to do not to hurt people. Anyth is ing else is just called bei ng a dick.
Do the right thing, Uther & Elle
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Salient Vol. 74
president@vuwsa.org.nz vuwsa.org.nz facebook.com/vuwsa
PREZ COL Seamus Brady
With a General Election looming VUWSA is organising a series of events to raise awareness around key issues on campus. To kick things off we are hosting “the Great MMP Debate”, featuring the Campaign for MMP and the Vote for Change. Chaired by Political Scientist and commentator Dr. Therese Arseneau, you can hear more about this important referendum and what each side is arguing for—Thursday 6PM, Clubs Lounge Student Union Building.
Democracy Galore! Annual General Meetings (AGMs) are the highest decisionmaking body of VUWSA. They are your opportunity to ask your reps questions about their work during the year and how they’ve dealt with certain issues—like the Review of Undergraduate Education. We’ll also be presenting our Half-Year Report and Statement of Accounts for adoption. This report is in addition to our (more often than not) fortnightly Executive Work Reports that can be found on our website. This year’s AGM is scheduled for Thursday August 11th at 1pm in the Clubs Lounge in the Student Union Building. A number of amendments to the VUWSA Constitution have been proposed to be voted on by students. One of the most significant is to move Student Representative Councils (SRCs) online. It’s hoped that by moving SRCs online more students will be able to engage with VUWSA and strengthen our democratic processes. SRCs at times have played a key role in VUWSA’s history providing directives and policy positions on various issues. Despite that, for much of the 1990s they were never utilised— and in recent years have often struggled for a variety of reasons, usually highlighted by them struggling to reach quorum (of only 50 students) and the subsequent (and often justified) criticism levelled at VUWSA for poor organisation. VUWSA must adapt to meet the needs of students and allow for greater opportunities to engage with their Association. A move to online meetings was supported across the board in our Student Survey of over 4000 students last year. This proposal is the beginning of that process. Under the proposed changes, all students will be able to vote on SRC motions online. A physical meeting of the Student Representative Council would be held prior to voting opening where motions will be moved and debated. The meeting would then resolve to put the motions to an online vote by all students, not just those present at that time and place.
Following a SRC meeting, students will receive an email that will provide you with a link to the voting page. It will contain the the footage from the meeting and any supporting documents that may help you when you cast your vote on each motion. For a motion to be adopted as VUWSA policy it will need to gain of quorum of 5% of the total student population (about 900), and from that, gain a simple majority of fifty per cent of the vote plus one. This move will strengthen VUWSA ability to effectively engage and allow VUWSA to gain a more representative sample of student opinion on issues. There are also some changes to Executive proposed. These include changing the Vice-President (Administration) back to a Treasurer, retitling the Vice-President (Education) to Vice-President (Academic), and merging the Activities Officer and Campaigns Officer into a new position of Vice-President (Engagement) who will be tasked with fostering engagement, activities and campaigns between VUWSA, students and the wider community. More information can be found on our website and I look forward to see you at the AGM!
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YOUR STUDENTS’
ASSOCIATION
6PM | THURSDAY 4 AUGUST The Clubs Lounge, Student Union Building
Featuring Dr. Sandra Grey, Campaign for MMP Jordan Williams, Vote For Change Dr. Therese Arseneau, Political Scientist and Commentator
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Issue 16 Justice
Welfare Officer Ta’ase Vaoga
Justice—it comes in many shapes and forms. It might be as simple as someone making something right with you after they’ve wronged you, it might be simply getting the mark you deserved in an assignment, or it might just simply be living a moral life, living out what you know to be right and true. No higglety-pigglety stuff. Whatever justice means for you, living out your everyday life without bringing harm to others is definitely a good way to live! As Welfare Officer at VUWSA, I believe that it’s my role to ensure that justice prevails. I know that sounds perhaps a little simple, and maybe even a little ambitious, but it is essentially what I am here to do.
I believe that part of my role at VUWSA is to encourage students’ to be socially responsible citizens. Too often students are labelled as lazy bludgers, who know nothing about the real world. But I know this is not true. Part of encouraging students to be socially responsible citizens is the role we can play in the wider community. VUWSA recently sent a group of students to Christchurch to help with the ongoing Earthquake recovery which was a hugely rewarding experience. Every day I see students acting out justice, whether it be by speaking out for those who don’t have a voice, handing in someone’s lost USB, or lending a helping hand to the person who is 20 cents short for the bus. Ultimately that is why VUWSA was set up—to lend a helping hand—after all, we are students serving students. There are so many services available at VUWSA which are there for a collective good. Even though you may not utilise the services in a tangible way, we are there in the background working to make University life better for you. There are also your fellow students who might use our services regularly like our Free Bread and Foodbank services—as a member of VUWSA you are helping them too! When justice prevails there is a shimmer of hope that all is well with the world. I hope that everything I do makes the world a better place – but I also know I am human, and can only do so much. I guess what I am saying is ‘keep on keeping on’ and everything will be OK. I think that people are inherently good and there are few who screw it up for the rest of us. Living a moral life, being true to yourself and believing in doing things for the greater good is a great place to start. So in your day, remember those who are less fortunate, think about your actions and how they effect others, and have fun doing it! It feels good to know you are doing good!
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Yours in Justice Ta’ase Vaoga welfare.officer@vuwsa.org.nz
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Salient Vol. 74
Ngāi Tauira
A Rant:
Thanks for the Justice New Zealand
Mariana Whareaitu
Justice. When I think about this word the first thing that comes to mind is a mechanism for law and order. It entails being just and fair, and it also means recognising a person’s rights and people’s rights. Then there’s the restorative side of justice; when these ideals are disregarded, then justice also calls for righting these wrongs. Interesting to think about this in light of what has been going on for years and what is still happening now. There’s been some stuff that has been brought out in the media in recent times to illustrate what ‘justice’ or ‘injustice’ there is when it comes to race relations in our country. Now the stats would say that Māori got the extremely short end of this stick, losing land through bad deals and confiscation; loss of language and culture that soon had the ball rolling on poor health and poverty and decline in population. Māori beliefs and knowledge took a big hit too with the introduction of Christian beliefs and a foreign education system implemented. It’s been a hard struggle coming back from the effects of the fallout from the Treaty. And where are we now? One hundred and fifty years of battles, loss of land, language, culture and lives; protests and court cases later and Ansell would say that we’ve “gone from the Stone Age to the space age”. And we’ve done this without expressing our gratitude. Yeah, ok, well for the record, thanks for that, thanks for treating our ancestors like crap so that we too can be Pākehā; so that I can lose what my ancestors would have
wanted for me, and so my identity can be traded for alcohol, guns, tobacco, cars, computers and iPods. And no worries that they had to be force-fed what was best for them. It would have been hell living on our own land in beautifully carved houses, speaking our own language and following our own cultural beliefs and systems. Pure hell. And now we have the gall to seek too many rights, to be over-privileged, and ungrateful for the opportunities that a history of colonisation and a future of globalisation is giving us. Truly, we really should embrace one law Now we have the and be one people and conform to the uniformity gall of seeking too many rights, of order. Yeah right, Tui advert of being overanyone? Not to mention, privileged, and bigoted much? What Māori have ungrateful for given up for law and order the opportunities is not justice. Attempts at that a history restorative justice have of colonisation some academics and experts giving conservaand a future of tive estimates of Treaty globalisation is settlements being less giving us than 1 per cent of their true value. Meanwhile the Crown is selling off assets such as minerals to the highest bidders from overseas. Where is the justice in this? Why is it that a young Maori man who stole a packet of Pineapple lumps (RRP $2.90) gets thrown in jail for two years, meanwhile a failed Pākehā owned finance company gets bailed out by the Government for more than a billion dollars? (Let’s not forget the combined treaty settlements thus far are less than a billion dollars.) For all of this, we’re meant to be grateful? Where is the justice in this?
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The News
Issue 16 Justice
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the news
Edited by Stella Blake-kelly
Crime (& Justice)
Many oppose the disestablishment of the CJRC due to the contribution it makes to New Zealand. The CJRC was created in 2002 and has produced research on issues such as restorative justice and victimisation. It is considered a leader in the field of youth justice. Tertiary Education Union Organiser for Victoria, Michael Gilchrist, believes closing the CJRC will have a serious impact.
Doesn’t Pay
“Disestablishing the CJRC would simply amount to academic vandalism. This centre has been a very important contributor of over 100 papers to Government and major positive influence on our criminal justice system,” he says.
NATALIE POWLESLAND
Roguski also believes the closure would hurt many at-risk groups in New Zealand.
A proposal from Victoria University could close down the Crime and Justice Research Centre (CJRC) on the grounds that it does not make enough money. The CJRC completes research projects for external organisations. The university claims that the CJRC has shown a downward trend in external revenue and is unlikely to receive a substantial increase in projects and funding. Because of this, the University is proposing the Centre be disestablished.
“It would be a particular tragedy for marginalised sectors of society (victims of domestic violence, women prisoners, at-risk youth) whose voice is so often represented in CJRC’s research,” he says. VUWSA are also disappointed with the proposed closure of the CJRC. “The closure of the CJRC would be a huge loss for the University. It would limit the opportunity for students further their education and be a part of the only research centre in the country dedicated to crime and its social responses,” says VUWSA President Seamus Brady.
Staff members within the CJRC believe the closure is misguided and the claims of declining revenue are inaccurate. The CJRC state that total income has exceeded total costs in the last four years, with the Centre consistently producing surpluses averaging $56,000 annually. “The Centre not only covers its costs, but also consistently generates surplus funds for the University,” says David Roguski, Director of the CJRC. Staff of the CJRC also dispute the calculations made in the proposal. They claim the forecasted figure for ‘total income’ in 2011 is the revenue it has earned so far—$190,000. Since these figures were calculated, CJRC has secured a further $184,000 which is not included in the calculations.
L Ross Jackson DENTAL SURGEON
Level 4 Baldwins Centre 342 Lambton Quay Wellington Phone/fax: 499-1769 Email: lrjackson@xtra.co.nz
salient.org.nz
The News
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Salient Vol. 74
Vic promises to Change Student body wary, have been hurt before NATALIE POWLESLAND
Students and staff at Victoria are rallying against proposed changes within university programmes which are argued to limit academic diversity and disregard university policy. The university has released three “Change Proposals” to the Faculty of Education, the Philosophy Programme and the Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) Programme.
Changes in the Philosophy programme suggest a strong focus on non-western philosophy with one staff member made redundant. The TEU is taking action against the proposed changes. It has written to the University as it believes the proposals breach the Education Act and the university’s Academic Board Statute because Faculties and the Academic Board have not been consulted. “It would help if management complied with the Education Act and the University's statute on Academic Board and consulted with Faculty and Academic Board on proposals for academic change,” says Gilchrist. But the university argues the changes do not need the Academic Board’s approval. “Academic Board is not an approving authority. It provides advice to the Vice-Chancellor and Council about academic matters, but not about the re-allocation of resources,” says a university The University spokesperson.
says concerned students should make submissions to be included in the decisionmaking process
VUWSA is also concerned about the potential by-passing of the Academic Board on the issue.
“Proposals for change are needed to ensure we meet the needs of students and our strategic direction. Like all organisations we also need to work within financial constraints,” says a University spokesperson.
“If TEU are correct and the said proposal was meant to go through Academic Board then we are very disappointed and the University should reconsider its process,” says VUWSA President Seamus Brady.
Within the Faculty of Education, the proposal would reduce the number of staff teaching Technology Education from two members to one due to low student demand.
The University says concerned students should make submissions to be included in the decision-making process.
The Faculty and the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) argue that because staff numbers were also cut in 2010 further cuts could mean the programme cannot meet student demand.
“Submissions from all parties are welcomed and all are considered by each decision panel,” a spokesperson says. But Gilchrist believes submissions will not change the outcome.
“Cutting another staff member will have a major flow-on effect as it will cut the 100-level courses available to students,” says organiser for the TEU, Michael Gilchrist.
“The normal process of making submissions is usually pointless - the decision panel just tries to think of ways of rebutting any objections to the proposals they receive,” he says.
Changes are also planned within the PSIR Programme, as a result of the integration of the Centre for Strategic Studies into the programme. The proposal suggests the disestablishment of four lectureships within International Relations. These lectureships will be replaced with Senior Lecturers with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region, particularly security issues. Staff in the programme believe this will undermine the programme and the narrower focus disregards student demand for a wide range of courses. “The changes proposed will significantly narrow student choice as they propose to sack two lecturers who help provide the full range of courses for students,” says Gilchrist.
Consequently, the TEU are encouraging those opposed to the proposals to sign petition on their website and take part in a protest planned on Thursday at 1.15pm outside the Hunter Building. “The theme for that protest will be ‘No voice, no choice’ - that is, no voice for academic staff and no choice for students,” says Gilchrist. VUWSA is currently discussing the proposals with class representatives and will take action if it is what students want. “VUWSA will be representing the voice of students in these programmes and looking to see what educational implications may flow from this,” says Brady.
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Come and talk to the University of Melbourne about our undergraduate study options and graduate programs in over 340 different areas at our annual information session for future students and their families.
Register online at www.futurestudents.unimelb.edu.au/newzealand
The News
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Salient Vol. 74
PRIDE WEEK. Dame Whetu Some people liked it. Mourned Some people thought it was shit. NICOLA WOOD
Students celebrated the queer community during Pride Week last week, with events drawing large crowds but also attracting criticism from prominent gay bloggers. The festival, co-ordinated by UniQ, included a film screening, a presentation on gender by New Zealand's first openly intersex person, games of “Bingay”, an open mic night, and a traffic light party. VUWSA's Queer Officer, Tom Reed, was impressed by the festivities. “It was great to see the attendance up from last year’s festival. UniQ have improved the quality of events and I am looking forward to attending many more UniQ events,” he said. Despite its popularity, the week's organisers received strong criticism from local bloggers Aaron and Andy. “We can only really describe UniQ Wellington’s move with Pride Week this year as a fuck-up,” they wrote on their blog, which is widely read by Wellington's queer community. The pair said the fact Pride Week was only promoted on the Monday it began was unacceptable.
Michael Kumove
New Zealand’s longest-serving female MP passed away last week. Dame Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan has been described by Labour’s Parekura Horomia as a “great Maori leader”, holding office as a Labour MP for 29 years, from 1967 to 1996. Dame Whetu was highly regarded for her contributions to Maori advancement and as a female role model. “She was a woman of firsts,” Horomia said. Among other things, she advocated for the teaching of Te Reo in schools, championed welfare reform, and helped to bridge the gap between Maori and Pakeha communities. Dame Whetu was also the first Maori woman to serve on the VUWSA executive. She was elected as Women’s Vice-President in 1960, and pushed for the teaching of Maori language at Victoria, as well as improved student health services. She also campaigned for New Zealand history to be taught at university, something not common at the time. New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations co-president David Do said that people like Dame Whetu are “the reason the students of today enjoy such a wide-ranging education and student experience”.
They also labelled the events “lazy”, suggesting they were organised by other groups and would have happened without Pride Week.
In Cabinet, she held Tourism, Social Welfare, and Environment portfolios, and was awarded the Order of New Zealand for helping to build a “harmonious relationship” between Maori and Pakeha.
In a response to the bloggers' criticism, UniQ Secretary Victoria Collerton-McKay accepted promotion had started too late.
“She will be sorely missed,” Horomia added. “Dame Whetu served with strength, mana and commitment.”
“This was a huge mistake and we accept full responsibility for it,” she said. However she rejected the suggestion that Pride Week had failed, saying students had a great time and the week was underpinned by a strong sense of community. Students who participated told Salient they felt Pride Week could have been better publicised, but was still fun. When asked about the bloggers' claims events were lackluster, an attendee of the popular traffic light party said they “don’t think the people having the orgy in the corner of Club Ivy would agree with them on that.” 1960-1961 VUWSA Executive with Dame Whetu Tirikatene second from the bottom left
The News
Issue 16 Justice
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VUWSA chooses to keep Pro-life club Nicola Wood
The latest club to be affiliated to VUWSA, LifeChoice Victoria, had an energetic start on Thursday when they were joined by feminist activists at an antiabortion presentation they hosted. Speaker Brendan Malone flew from Christchurch to offer a pro-life perspective on ethical debates about abortion. When asked about why he believes human life begins from conception, Malone argued that we cannot simply rely on biological evidence because the “essence” of human existence must be differentiated from that of animals. “Chickens don't have human rights. It's okay to have KFC as long as it's Kentucky Fried Chicken, not Kentucky Fried Children,” he explained. His presentation drew expressions of concern from the audience when he suggested survivors of rape can use pregnancy and childbirth as a “soothing healing process” rather than have abortions. Malone, who works at the John Paul II Centre for Life in Christchurch, said it was one piece of advice his organisation may give to women considering abortion. “However we would prefer that that sort of advice is given to them by the women who have had those experiences,” he told Salient. LifeChoice's President, Joshua Vergunst said one of the group's aims would be to offer
information about alternatives to abortion to women on campus in the form of pamphlets from organisations like Malone's. Vergunst also hoped to host more public events like Thursday's, but did not plan to campaign for law change. “University is a place for debate and we want to start discussions,” he said. As the group is now affiliated to VUWSA they will be eligible for funding from the students' association for their activities. Both were pleased with how the evening went. “Obviously it's an emotional issue with different points of view, but things remained civil,” Malone said. salient.org.nz
The News
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Salient Vol. 74
Proposed constitutional amendments include:
VUWSA
promises to change Student body wary, have been hurt before Stella Blake-Kelly
VUWSA President Seamus Brady has produced a set of constitutional amendments to be voted upon in August’s Annual General Meeting. The proposed changes would see a reshuffle of several Executive positions and the movement of voting on Student Represent Council (SRC) motions online. Notable amendments include a small reduction in the size of the Executive, with the merging of the Campaigns Officer and Activities Officer roles into a Vice-President (Engagement) position. Brady hopes this “will allow VUWSA to place greater emphasis on improving our level of engagement with students and with the wider community. It will also give the person in that role a clearer structure to work within.” Currently there is a constitutional requirement for at least two SRC meetings to be held during both trimesters one and two. This gives students the opportunity to debate pressing issues affecting them as well as wider society, and vote on motions which provide a (non-binding) direction to the Executive. However, VUWSA failed to hold any such meetings during trimester one, claiming no students came forward requesting to hold one. “Of course it was disappointing not having any SCRs in the first trimester. But the constitution allows for substantial compliance and will be rectified by holding more in the second trimester,” Brady said. Should Brady’s amendments be adopted, this constitutional requirement would be reduced to a minimum of only one SRC per trimester. “I am looking forward to the ones we have planned for this trimester and to their potential move online,” said Brady. “This will make them more relevant and worthwhile, as more students will be able to participate in them.” The first meeting was held on 29 July, after this magazine went to print, and put forward the motion that VUWSA support the ‘Right to Education’ campaign in the West Bank, Palestine. Its outcome, and further detail of the proposed constitutional amendments, will be covered in next week’s Salient.
• Renaming of Vice-President (Education) position to Vice-President (Academic) • Removing Vice-President (Administration) and replacing it with a new position of Treasurer • Removing Activities Officer and Campaigns Officer Executive positions and replacing them with the new position of Vice-President (Engagement) • Allowing for the voting option of “no confidence” when there are fewer than two candidates standing in the positions of Publications Committee Representative and Student Representative on the University Council • Moving SRC motion voting online
Vic playing hard to get with school leavers
School leavers wary, have been hurt before Natalie Powlesland Getting amongst the best is about to get harder as Victoria moves to raise the enrolment requirements for new students. At a Special Council Meeting last week it was decided that the Guaranteed Entry Score (GES) for 2012 enrolments would be raised from 120 to 150 points. The GES for the Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Building Science will be raised to 180. Some believe that this is an attempt to signal that Victoria provides the highest quality education. The GES for Auckland University is 140. But University Council Representative Conrad Reyners is concerned about the message this change is sending students. “We don’t know what the deterrent effect of this will be,” he says. “If you’re constantly changing this number then it will look bad if they put it back down. What signal does that send students?” This year, Victoria introduced a managed enrolment scheme in response to a funding cap. This saw Victoria introduce the Guaranteed Entry Score which assigns prospective students a score based on their NCEA grades.
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Issue 16 Justice
c
y
Bla Bla Bla
Victoria Students Very Clever, Ground-Breaking Win awards and stuff, very proud faculties Edward Warren Victoria law student Paul Bembrey has stunned legal experts around the world recently by poking holes in the nearly 80-yearold judgement from Donoghue v Stevenson delivered by Lord Atkin in 1932. The well-known case is a staple of law curriculums throughout the Commonwealth, forming the basis of the common law rule of negligence, and is studied by thousands of students every year. The rule from the case itself has been settled for over a half century but was fundamentally undermined by Bembrey’s inexperienced yet keen eye during the 8.30am Torts class last Thursday. “Well I know it was a House of Lords judgment, and it’s been studied and scrutinised and followed for years and shit, but I just looked at it and was like, oh hang on, isn’t it kind of bullshit that someone should be held liable for something they didn’t even, like, think would ever happen?” proposed Bembrey, who has since been awarded an honorary Bachelor of Laws by Victoria University. This groundbreaking discovery has proven divisive within the law faculty, with Dean Toby Schmidt siding with the student’s thesis, that the ‘neighbour principle’ is a “very rats” ruling, and imploring
the Supreme Court of New Zealand to take into consideration the possibility of changing the rule. Lecturers Goram Boston and Harry Firristir, however, think that Bembrey is a “super-rude dude who should keep his dang second year-ass shit out of the House of Lords’ junk.” In other Victoria University news, design student Sassi Baybe has won the National Canon Artistic Originality and Excellence Award with her photograph entitled ‘Girl In Graffitied Alleyway Wearing Summer Dress and Doc Martens Holds Balloon’. Baybe entered the competition on a whim, having recently purchased what she refers to as her “third arm”, a Canon DSLR camera, on Course-Related Costs. The camera itself bears no relevance to her course, an introductory graphic design paper, but Baybe says that she just “felt a yearning for the photographic arts. “Well, I’m a really creative person, so obviously I’m doing graphic design, but the camera is… more of a hobby I guess, I just thought that I needed more ways to express my creative juices.” The now nationally treasured Wunderkind continues, “with the combination of this award and my Tumblr, I’m finally getting the credit I deserve. The next big step is to get my clothing label Antecedent Sermon off the ground.”
Email snippets of life at Vic to overheard@salient.org.nz, or find Overheard @ Vic on Facebook
the week that wasn’t
LING 329 lecturer, explaining synonymous and homophonous morphs: “If you swallow this, you’ll swallow anything...” - Mae Lewis INTP 113 lecturer: “I bet Apple Macs make Apple Macs. Ahh! It’s gonna be like Terminator! Skynet! Skynet!” - Sophia Collinson Overheard on the overbridge: “Well, I’m a big fan of the war...” - Laurel Carmicheal MDIA 306 tutor: “Why did I draw this arrow? Well, I’ll just put a smiley face on the end → :)” - Kelz Mac MUSC 132 lecturer, talking about the string quartet: “...because, back then, it wasn’t right for a woman to have a big instrument between her legs...” - Kayne Bohanna BIOL 329 lecturer: “I’m just making this up as I go along.” - Austin Burgess Outside outside PHIL 208: “So it would be wrong to kill someone falling on top of you to save yourself, unless they were a reptile.” - Sophia Jeory Line from a film in FILM 101: “I spent the night tied up in the backseat of your car!” FILM 101 student: “We’ve all been there.” - Ellen Woods ENGL 114 lecturer: “Imagine you’re witnessing his emotional striptease...” - Ginny Pahuru Girl 1: “She does law, doesn’t she?” Girl 2: “Nah, she dropped out. She only got 90 per cent in her exam. She pretty much failde.” - Matty Munro
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Exploiting MMP Paul comrie-Thomson, that is
It seems ridiculous, but Paul Goldsmith—biographer for both Act Party leader Don Brash, and Act’s Epsom candidate, John Banks—has been announced as National’s candidate to run against Banks. Well, sort of. Rather than campaigning against Banks, Goldsmith has announced he will campaign for the ‘party vote’, while encouraging National-leaning voters to give their ‘electorate vote’ to Banks. It’s win-win for Goldsmith. He might have been convinced to fall on his sword in Epsom, but a predicted decent list placing means he will likely be returned to Parliament anyway, albeit through the ‘back door’. A cynic might see this horse-trading in Epsom as efforts by Brash and Key to undermine MMP by exploiting two of the system’s deficiencies—(1) the one-seat rule that allows a Party to gain proportional representation without reaching the five per cent threshold, and (2) the ability of candidates rejected by the electorate to utilise the ‘back-door’, entering Parliament via the list. The irony is, of course, that Brash’s preferred electoral method—Supplementary Member (SM)—would see the party he leads obliterated. To be sure, it wouldn’t be the first time suicidal tactics have been used against the country’s democratic institutions. In 1950, Sid Holland’s National Government abolished New Zealand’s upper house, the Legislative Council, by stacking it with National members—the so-called ‘suicide squad’—who immediately dissolved the body, voting themselves into unemployment. Of course the difference here is that if voters do opt for SM in two consecutive referendums, by the time a government
is elected by that system in 2017, Dear Old Don will no doubt be relaxing in retirement with all those other septuagenarian and octogenarian proponents of laissez-faire. The deal makes perfect sense from National’s point of view. Due to the aforementioned peculiarity in the current MMP system, if Act wins an electorate seat, the five per cent threshold is foregone, and in addition to the winning candidate, Act would be rewarded with seats in Parliament proportional to its share of the party vote. Even at their current abysmal polling levels, Act would pull in at least two or three candidates alongside Banks; not least of all Party leader Brash, dependant on entry via the list because of voters’ growing aversion to the ex-National leader. This compared to the one MP National would gain from winning the seat makes it a matter of simple arithmetic. There have been claims from Brash that Act won’t necessarily join a National-led coalition after November 26, potentially opting to support the Government from the cross-benches rather than take ministerial portfolios. But this defies logic; it is near impossible to believe Don Brash would settle for any less power than he could possibly achieve in any post-election deal. The case of Epsom doesn’t explain National’s decision to turn voters toward United Future leader Peter Dunne in Ohariu though. On the latest Fairfax Media-Research International poll,
United Future are heading toward the same result as 2008, meaning again, only Dunne would be represented in Parliament. At this point however, Dunne looks a surer bet than National candidate Katrina Shanks, and with reports of Party polling indicating strong support for Labour candidate Charles Chauvel, National have concluded that it’s safe to put their eggs in the Dunne basket, especially considering Dunne is renowned for towing whatever line will keep him in Government. In addition to speculation about Labour’s own deals being made with the Greens—particularly in Dunne’s Ohariu electorate with Gareth Hughes opting to focus on the party vote—there exists the potential for Labour to derail the National-Act agreement in Epsom. The New Zealand Herald’s Brian Rudman recalls how at the closing stages of the 2005 campaign, Helen Clark urged campaigners in Epsom to encourage voters to give their electorate vote to National to derail Act. Certainly, the same tactic in 2011 won’t exactly endear voters towards Labour, but in a true-Blue seat, the sinking of Banks and Act could be worth the minor damage. Of course, there are numerous deals being done, explanation of which would be beyond the space limited to this column, but rest assured, Ohariu and particularly Epsom, will be particularly interesting contests to watch as we gear up for November’s election.
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Columns
Issue 16 Justice
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Eyes wide shut Conrad Reyners
For years, law students have been obediently paying attention at law school. They’ve listened carefully to their lecturers, and they’ve studied hard for exams. But there is something law students don’t spend much time on—which is odd considering how important it is to the law itself. And that thing is justice. Throughout our legal educations we tip-toe around the concept, and we blithely accept that it’s important. But I can’t recall a single instance where the term was rigorously assessed. This is an interesting omission, given that the application, interpretation, and enactment of justice are embedded at the heart of the law. But we are still left with the question: what does justice actually mean? Perhaps it’s not surprising that this question is roundly ignored by legal courses. Such lofty enquiries are beyond the scope of legal education. Law school’s ‘core business’ is the training and education of lawyers-to-be. It doesn’t set out to create philosophical warrior monks (although for public law students sometimes that’s an unintended consequence). But even in light of that it still seems odd that justice receives such scant attention. One possible reason is that the term defies definition. Any assessment of justice will invariably be a contextual one; it is not something that you can easily put your finger on. What is just will be interpreted differently, by different people, at different times. Take for example the case of Cornelius Arie Smith-Voorkamp—the man with Asperger’s Syndrome who compulsively
Context matters and our view on what’s required to right a social wrong has fluctuated in response to social pressure collects light fixtures and who stole one from an abandoned house after the February earthquake. For many, Cornelius is nothing but a looter. He broke the law, and as a consequence any criminal sanction put on him will be a just one. In this way justice can be calculated; if you break the rules, then justice demands that you pay for your crimes whoever you are. And why not? Justice is blind. But many of us would find this too harsh. Cornelius had an unassailable mental compulsion to do what he did; his actions cannot be easily explained away. Because of this, our view of justice can also change. A mathematical calculation no longer seems appropriate. Context demands a difference in justice. It is this tension that has plagued our attempts at a finite conception of the term. Context matters and our view on what’s required to right a social wrong has fluctuated in response to social pressure— and will continue to do so. An eye for
an eye may once have been socially acceptable, but embrace it too much and the result is only blindness. But blaming the problems of justice purely on context seems a little too easy. It makes everything a little too abstract. Context is obviously important, but it must not be forgotten that the application and enforcement of justice has been shaped by the advancement (or regression) of the law. Any serious attempt to unpick the plexus of justice requires us to ask ourselves the question, “whose justice?” This again, is a subject that law students are not often presented with. We often forget how privileged we are—not in some kind of self-aggrandising way—but in a structural way. The values we infuse justice with are influenced by the books, precedents and cases we’ve read and the Lord Justices who wrote them. This is a privileged justice, it is a justice that reflects a legally predominant view, and it is a justice that may differ from what we expect others to accept. Despite the medieval proclamations of those banging the drums of crime, justice is not a fixed concept. Perhaps in order to give the concept any real meaning, we have to constantly deny it one.
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The Viability of Justice Selina Powell
Recent changes to the legal aid system involving the extension of the Public Defence Service and the implementation of the Legal Services Act have drawn a mixed response. Some have praised the measures as streamlining the system and reducing unnecessary costs while others believe the alterations could compromise fundamental aspects of the justice system. Salient feature writer, Selina Powell, investigates the history and implications of these reforms. The Legal Services Act and the Bazley Report At the second reading of the Legal Services Bill, Justice Minister, Simon Power, acknowledged the historical importance of legal aid within New Zealand, “Legal aid was first provided in New Zealand in 1912. It was based on the principles that legal assistance be provided to persons of insufficient means where that was desirable in the interests of justice. These principles remain features of this legislation, but the bill fundamentally reforms the legal aid system to ensure its viability for a second century of service.” Measures which have now been passed into law through the Legal Services Act to enhance the ‘viability’ of legal aid include disestablishing the Legal Services Authority, which administers legal aid, and transferring its functions to the Ministry of Justice. The Legal Aid Review Panel is replaced by a Tribunal which receives resources and administrative support from the Ministry of Justice. The Government also plans to expand the Public Defence Service, taking on up to 50 per cent of legal aid cases in some areas. Speaking at the Third Reading of the Bill, Power contended that the measures, “will help restore public confidence in the legal aid system, and will lead to better service for vulnerable people who rely on the legal aid system.” The changes come in the wake of a 2009 report by Dame Margaret Bazley, which was highly critical of the current legal aid system and the practice of some lawyers within it. Power believes that these reforms will address the flaws raised by that report. This is evident in the legislation, with all of the major changes aligning to recommendations made by Bazley.
The Bazley report is positive about the role that legal aid plays within the legal system. The report notes that legal aid is, “essential to the operation of the justice system: its effect extends far beyond the individual who is represented by a legal aid lawyer. By enabling people to access lawyers, the legal aid system keeps the wheels of justice turning and helps to maintain trust and confidence in the justice system.” However, Bazley also highlights some major areas for improvement including reducing the number of lawyers exploiting the legal aid system and acting improperly within it. As an example of the contentious claims made by the report, it is stated that up to 80 per cent of lawyers practising in the Manukau District Court If quality were ‘gaming’ the legal aid system. issues were In a recommendation not resolved that has been echoed by within this Power, Bazley proposed period, Bazley giving the legal profession a time limit within which suggested to improve their conduct. creating an issues were independent Ifnotquality resolved within this regulator of period, Bazley suggested creating an independent lawyers regulator of lawyers. The report emphasises the need to focus on the provision of legal aid for Maori and Pacific communities. Given the disproportionate representation of Maori as both victims and offenders within the justice system, Bazley believes that it is essential that the legal aid system is accessible to Maori. In a statement repeated by Hone Harawira, then a Maori Party MP, at the first reading of the Bill, Bazley notes, “If the legal system fails Maori, then it fails altogether”.
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The Greens expressed particular concern about the scrapping of the Legal Aid Review Panel. MP Gareth Hughes objected to this measure being implemented on the basis of a few “snide comments” in the Bazley report, without concrete evidence of the Panel’s poor performance. Hughes also took issue with the recommendation that the “new tribunal should have an explicit requirement to have regard to both access to justice considerations and responsible expenditure of public monies. To this end, the Chair of the new tribunal should not be a lawyer.” Hughes observed that this part of the report was indicative of the underlying tone of the review, “that lawyers cannot be trusted with public monies”.
Maintaining Independence A concern at the heart of the debate about legal aid changes is whether lawyers will retain their independence from government as employees of the enhanced Public Defence Service. A second key issue is whether independence will be maintained in legal aid decisions with the disestablishment of the Legal Services Agency. Legal Aid decisions will be made by the new Legal Services Commissioner, an independent statutory officer, who is an employee of the Secretary for Justice. The Public Defence Service employs lawyers to represent clients on legal aid matters. Some lawyers have questioned whether PDS lawyers will retain the same degree of independence as lawyers in private practice. Criminal Defence lawyer Noel Sainsbury has proposed the possibility of strike action in reaction to the extension of the Public Defence Service which he perceives as having the potential to undermine the justice system. Speaking to the Dominion Post, Southern Public Defender Sandy Baigent rejected the contention that PDS lawyers would be less independent that private legal aid lawyers. Baigent highlights the point that both private and public legal Some lawyers aid lawyers receive government funding, noting have questioned that “the only difference is we get a salary and they [private lawyers] get paid after putting in an invoice.” whether PDS While Baigent argues that the source of an lawyers will individual’s income does not affect their indepenretain the dence, there are those who disagree. Caroline Sawyer, same degree of Ethics Lecturer for the Victoria University Law Faculty, suggested that the view can be that, “if you independence have salaried staff, you can control them and there as lawyers in are people who take advantage of that.” Sawyer notes private practice that in practice the PDS system and lawyers may perform very well, but, “It’s not so much about what people do as about the frameworks that you set up, that invite, or allow, or don’t send a message that you prohibit, bad behaviour.” Evidence-Based Changes? To use an example of the sway of pay cheques in another context, legendary street style photographer, and Harvard The wisdom of using recommendations in the Bazley report drop-out, Bill Cunningham, has been known to refuse payment as a basis for legislative change has been criticised by several for his services on many occasions, explaining, “I never take commentators. The report itself concedes that its findings are their money, then they can tell you what to do.” The sprightly partly based on anecdotal evidence. In an article published in the 80-year-old, who travels by bike in a street sweeper’s jacket New Zealand Law Journal, Kim Economides from the University taking photographs amongst the wilderness of New York fashion of Otago characterised the report as offering “both diagnosis and observes, “Money is the cheapest thing, liberty, freedom, is the prescription for the ills afflicting the system based largely on most expensive thing.” anecdote and an experienced civil servant’s nose for reform”. Although questions have been raised about the indepenLabour MP Charles Chauvel argued at the Third Reading of dence of PDS lawyers, it should be noted that the government the Bill that it is “questionable whether an entire set of reforms, is not proposing a public monopoly on the provision of legal such as those we are seeing in this House today, can be grounded aid services. A spokesperson for the Justice Minister informed in the Bazley report, because of the anecdotal nature of the Salient that the government has no plans to increase the case findings, and because of some of the extreme language in that load of the PDS above 50 per cent of legal aid cases. report.” salient.org.nz
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“Private lawyers still form an integral part of the legal aid system and the success of the system is dependent on good-quality private lawyers.” Concerns have also been raised about the new office of Legal Services Commissioner. In its submission on the Legal Services Bill, the New Zealand Law Society contended that the Commissioner would have limited independence because the role would be subject to direction by the Ministry for Justice. However, the Departmental report on the Bill by the Ministry of Justice notes that while the Commissioner is an employee of the Secretary for Justice, the Commissioner can only be disciplined for employment matters and cannot be restricted in exercising his or her independent functions. A spokesperson for the Minister for Justice notes that these independent functions include the allocation of cases, oversight of the conduct of legal proceedings and the management of the performance of the Public Defence Service.
Maori Land considered in Legal Aid Applications While Bazley’s report encouraged changes that would benefit Maori within the legal aid system, the Maori party was one of two parties to oppose the Legal Services Bill, expressing concern over aspects of the changes. A key aspect of the Maori party’s opposition to the Legal Services Bill is that the legislation allows for income and equity of Maori land to be taken into account when calculating eligibility for legal aid. The policy assumes individual ownership of Maori Land which Te Ururoa Flavell, MP for the Maori party, notes is a non-Maori view of the relationship between people and land. Flavell spoke of this relationship in his speech at the Third Reading of the Bill, noting, “e kore ngā Māori e hoko i tēnei mea ko te whenua i te mea, ehara nōna tērā whenua, he whenua nō ngā mātua, nō ngā tūpuna”, (land is never sold by Māori people, because it does not belong to them, but rather to the elders and the ancestors). The effect of this provision is that fewer Maori will have access to legal aid, despite the disproportionate number of Maori within the justice system requiring this type of assistance.
Choice of Lawyer The Legal Services Agency recently removed the right of defendants in lower-level legal aid cases to choose their legal representation. A Spokesperson for the Justice Minister notes that this policy, “allows cases to be distributed across all legal aid providers equally (removing distortions in case loads) and contributes to greater efficiency in resolving cases, for both clients and the courts.” The Minister argued in favour of the policy in an interview with the Timaru Herald in April, “When you go to a hospital you don’t choose your doctor. When you go to school you don’t choose your teacher. If the state is paying for the lawyer, as long as they are of sufficient standard and quality, then they should be fine.” In contrast, Sawyer argues that a defendant should always have the right to choose their lawyer, even if not having that choice makes little difference in low-level cases.
Sawyer also contends that there is a distinction between the Government allocating the services of doctors and teachers and the government selecting an individual’s lawyer, “because law is so close to the operation of Government, in a way that doctors and teachers aren’t.” Sawyer notes that if a defendant does not have a choice about their lawyer, and feels that their lawyer is performing badly, this can undermine the confidence of the individual in the justice system. “If there is a spread of a belief that everything is stitched up against you, the spread of that belief is very corrosive generally. There is a great deal to be said for having a legal system that people have faith in. If they really seriously don’t trust the judicial system...it’s almost like losing the point of obeying the rules at all.”
A Fair Price A key theme of reform discussions relating to the legal aid sector is balancing the expenditure of public money with access to justice and the right of individuals to a fair trial. Legal aid ‘blowout’ is a phrase which frequently appears in the media. David Garrett, Act party MP, has gone as far as advocating for legal aid to be ‘rationed’. However, Sawyer is of the opinion that, “there are some things worth paying for, and the machinery of justice is one of them.”
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Issue 16 Justice
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The Consumer Guarantees Act:
an Act Guaranteed to Confuse you shiny new t a th t h g u o b story: you’ve a little bit s lu p , s g in n You know the r ur summer ea But after laptop with yo elated Costs. It’s the best. e-R of your Cours ides to break down. ec 13 months, it d
William Guzzo
You go back to the company and complain in the hope of obtaining some sort of repair or replacement. They don’t want to hear any of this, saying something along the lines of “I’m sorry, it’s out of warranty.” It seems slightly unfair, doesn’t it? Well, this being the Justice issue, it’s time to help you to use the full extent of the law to protect you and your rights. From talking to various students, it is evident that we’re often taken advantage of—and it shouldn’t be this way. The Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) is essentially a piece of law that states that the goods (or services) you purchased must be of an acceptable quality, and fit for the particular purpose that you would have purchased it for. The main bit that gets people excited is the part of the Act that states that a good must last for a ‘reasonable’ period—and of course what constitutes a ‘reasonable’ period is open to interpretation. A great way of finding out what might be considered ‘reasonable’ in your circumstances is going through previous cases and seeing what they have claimed for. I found one about a Dell computer where they ruled that five years was a reasonable period of time to expect a laptop to last. Another good way of finding out is to check the extended warranty: if there is an option to extend it to three years, than the company would at the very least regard a ‘reasonable’ time span for your product to be three years. Now we’ve sorted out what it actually means, let’s talk about how to put it into practice. The first thing to do is to go to the place you bought it from and calmly explain the situation, as well as quoting the CGA. This often has limited success, due to a number of excuses put forward by the company’s representative. The main one is that “it is the manufacturer’s responsibility, not ours”. This is utterly inaccurate and borderline illegal. It is the retailer’s legal responsibility to adhere to the Consumer Guarantees Act, and in no way can they ‘opt-out’, even if they put up a sign saying ‘no refunds’. If the above doesn’t work, kindly request to talk to the store manager—they sometimes know the law to a coherent level. If this doesn’t work, then you may have to write a letter to the head office of the company, or pursue tribunal action. This would
cost you around $40-$60 and takes around three months to go to court. However, if they’re being difficult, you can take the goods to be repaired by a technician, and try to claim back the repair costs in court. There are a few common questions that people ask about the CGA—firstly, if the CGA applies for services. The answer: yes. The conditions are similar as with goods, except there are provisions for time, as well as what constitutes a ‘reasonable’ cost if a precise sum had not been agreed on beforehand. The second question you might ask regards auctions, especially Trade Me. Auctions aren’t covered Auctions aren’t under the CGA, but because covered under the of the Consumer Guarantees CGA, but because Amendment Act 2010, Trade Me is now covered. of the Consumer Finally, you might wonder Guarantees if there is any point in buying Amendment Act an extended warranty. As the 2010, TradeMe is CGA doesn’t cover commercial use, fair wear and tear or now covered software issues, it can be a good idea. Sometimes warranties cover useful extra stuff, like automatic replacement/refund if found faulty (the CGA has a provision for this, but only if the fault is of a substantial nature), and/or free technical support. A few friends of mine have also bought them because they had been heavily discounted and they would rather pay a small amount then to go through the hassle of applying the CGA to manufacturers, retailers, etc. In the end, you have rights under the law for your goods and services, so go out there and use them with authority. Instead of crying over the laptop that has broken down outside of warranty, go out there and get justice—that’s what the law is for!
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If you need any further help on this issue, please do not hesitate to contact me at william.guzzo@futurecentric.co.nz. salient.org.nz
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Salient Vol. 74
Reven A Dish Best Served Bold? Carlo Salizzo
At this very moment, there’s something that’s got you a little bit irritated, isn’t there? Chances are, something has happened to you today that just won’t sit right. Maybe your lecturer sarcastically insulted you. Maybe your friend stood you up for lunch. Maybe you walked in on your flatmates making naked-love-noises in your bed. Whatever it was, you probably felt that all-too-familiar rising feeling in your chest and were ready to either drop through the floor—or drop the guilty party with your fists. Those are two incredibly different outcomes, and it stands to reason that they The greatest stories from will have different effects on how you feel about human history are based has happened. But primarily around revenge, or what is one response, fight or setting the score straight—I’m flight, better? Is taking big, talking of course about The capital-letter Revenge the Iliad, Hamlet, Moby Dick, The path to happiness, the path to the dark side, or simply a Count of Monte Cristo, and little bit immature? of course, the greatest story It makes perfect sense ever told: The Princess Bride to understand revenge as beginning in the early days of mankind, when we were threatened by competition. For a caveman, not fighting back when a rival tribe has stolen his food and woman would have meant a lonely death—and an evolutionary dead end. In that situation it goes against human survival instincts to simply give up. It’s hardly surprising that such a fundamental response, born of anger, survival instinct and pride, has stuck around all these years and is still making waves today.
Those waves continue to make headlines worldwide. When Osama bin Laden was uncovered as the “mastermind” of the September 11 attacks on the USA, a nation swore a collective oath of vengeance. That oath was fulfilled on May 2, when bin Laden was killed by a team of US Navy SEALs. This was an act of revenge, and elicited extreme reactions one way or another all over the world. Some were overjoyed and ecstatic, while others fumed at the vengeful actions that, in their view, overstepped boundaries of law and morality. Still more people were made uneasy by the excitement and happiness arising from death, and questioned the celebration of a man’s demise. Clearly, revenge is a divisive action. However, it is also exceptionally popular, and to say we don’t all enjoy a good story of some villain getting their comeuppance would be a lie. Some of the greatest stories from human history are based primarily around revenge, or setting the score straight—I’m talking of course about The Iliad, Hamlet, Moby Dick, The Count of Monte Cristo, and of course, the greatest story ever told: The Princess Bride. Try playing a role-playing video game without finding a quest based around revenge, go on, try. Or open up the Old Testament and see how far you get before coming across some vengeance. Revenge is clearly a fairly integral part of our literary tradition. More than that: it is a part of the history of all mankind. The concept of utu is an important aspect of Maori culture—a simple way of putting it would
Issue 16 Justice
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gEance! The Rules for Revenge
e Law 1: Don’t Break th the last laugh us. It’s hard to have This is fairly obvio utakas. from a cell in the Rim
ctive retribution. 2: Keep it in Penersedpe for disproportionate
be a formalised, restorative form of revenge and balance. However, for all its prevalence, the idea of paying Evil unto Evil rarely seems to turn out well for our fictional characters. Hamlet famously dies at the end, along with practically the entire cast, the Revenge of the Sith lasts less than a single generation, and even the successful ones such as Inigo Montoya are left to tend their wounds and ponder the employment—let alone dating— prospects of a man who has spent twenty years of his life doing nothing but practice his swordfighting. These literary examples are extremes, however, and it would be a bit of a mistake to draw too many parallels between Hamlet and spitting on your flatmate’s toothbrush for eating your last chocolate-chip muffin. Surely, if we don’t take it too far, it makes sense that revenge is a good way of doing away with all that toxic anger. However, don’t rush in just yet. Before you strike while the iron is hot—or make it hot by striking— take a moment to think about what you are doing. A recent study has shown that after receiving negative assessments, participants who had spent two minutes going toe-to-toe with a punching bag were actually more aggressive than those who had simply taken a minute to have a cup of tea and a lie down. Psychologist Dr Art Markman suggests the hardly unexpected notion that aggressive behaviours such as violent revenge make us more violent in nature, by associating memories of the events that have made us angry with our own acts of aggression. Important to consider, however, is the equally evident factor of catharsis. It feels good to express our feelings instead of bottling them up inside, and we all know
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7: Be Creative
ke for a better, Not only will it ma This is important. o help you in not als ll wi it story, but more entertaining with Rule #8. d guy. It also helps looking like the ba
8: Have Fun
al. Being funny seriously is not ide Taking revenge too gression ag an o turning you int about it will avoid tually tear ac to ing try t no bably machine. You’re pro y too will the y world, and someda down somebody’s see the funny side.
9: Move On
get it out taking revenge is to The whole point of Don’t let it en it’s over, it’s over. of your system. Wh st revenge is be the remember that consume you, and living well. salient.org.nz
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from experience that giving as good as you get can be damn satisfying. When someone shuts you down with some outrageous sass, there’s nothing better in the world than coming back with a sizzling zinger (or “sizzlinger,” if you will) to knock them down a couple of pegs. Without restraint, though, those things that make us feel good will often result in some fairly dire consequences. This is not hard to grasp: if Steve is so offended by Alice’s behaviour that he feels he must take revenge, then it makes sense for a reciprocal act to provoke just as much unhappiness in Alice. Much like a pendulum, revenge can swing back and forth in this way until everyone runs out of energy and gives up, or the whole thing builds up out of control and somebody loses an eye. There can be some pretty big consequences if you don’t take care. One high school student tried to take revenge on a bully by letting down the bully’s tyres, and narrowly avoided being run over when the bully happened to be in the car waiting for him. And it’s not like extreme physical injury is the worst Even fantasising thing that can happen about trashing your from a revenge plot philandering lover’s gone too far. You could car—or in the case of lose friends, love, one study, stabbing a your home—or even voodoo doll—can vent get in trouble with the law. Revenge as a those angry feelings defence isn’t exactly going to stand up in court, as one American woman found out the hard way. After her husband told her to lose weight and get plastic surgery so he wouldn’t cheat on her with his receptionist any more, she ran him over with his car—twice. At trial, members of the jury openly wept as they delivered a guilty verdict, and begged that the judge give her the most lenient sentence possible. Whether that is a just result is up to you. Clearly there are some pitfalls along the way, but don’t despair. It may not be the nicest way to go about your business, but in some cases revenge is a damn attractive choice when forgiveness just won’t do. Even fantasising about trashing your philandering lover’s car—or in the case of one study, stabbing a voodoo doll—can vent those angry feelings. Revenge is a way for us to feel less like a powerless victim, and more like someone who still has their pride and dignity. Even if that restoration of dignity involves dialling a sex-line on someone’s phone and leaving it off the hook for nine hours. If you want to plan the perfect act of revenge, not only should you avoid the potentially disastrous consequences outlined above, but according to Mario Gollwitzer you should also tailor your revenge to suit what has been done to you. The most curative revenge is that which makes you feel as though you have taught your enemy a lesson, and really made them feel as though they know exactly what they did wrong. Feeling vengeful is nothing to be afraid of, but bear in mind that payback is a powerful tool. Done right, it can be entertaining, fulfilling and cathartic. Done badly, it can lead to pain, sadness and nothing but trouble. Clearly, revenge is indeed a dish best served cold. So please, I beg of you, tread carefully out there on your quest for vengeance.
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Issue 16 Justice
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Faces to Deface
The Local Actors Edition with Bouise Lurston & Uthan Deer
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Zoe Reid
Wrangling with
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The legal system can be terrifying. Many of us have encountered the ‘wrong’ end of the law in the form of police, and a night in the cells can be a huge culture shock. Beyond deciding that one’s situation is bad enough to require legal action, knowing that one then has to organise legal action is an equally terrifying prospect. Justice is actually much easier for students to organise than it may seem. The legal system in New Zealand is set up so as to avoid lawyers and courts wherever possible—the Disputes Tribunal, the Tenancy Tribunal (relating to renting/flatting), and the Employment Relations Authority. All of these hold minimal fees for the applicant—for example, it costs $20.44 for most applications to the Tenancy Tribunal—so many people are able to access those services. A common A common complaint from the complaint from the legal community is that many legal community is that many students students haven’t quite realised haven’t quite that life can be unfair realised that life can be unfair. If it isn’t a formal agreement, you may not have a leg to stand on. If it isn’t explicit, there’s wriggle room, and in interactions with landlords or employers, wriggle room will not be found but rather used as a matter of fact—that’s why it’s there. As a student, the best way to ensure financially viable justice is to ensure that you know your rights from the get-go. Enter into contracts fully aware of the consequences—for example, work out exactly what, when and how purchases
are to be paid off, and the overall amount of interest you will be paying. Sit on the phone with a calculator and ask for the bank to confirm your calculations. Put bill paying cut-off dates into your cellphone, including credit cards, and learn about minimum repayments. In an issue involving a contract—be it tenancy, employment or otherwise— the other party is likely to know what is reasonable, what will be considered a breach of contract, and what is fair. If they don’t, it’s likely that they will back down once they do. Importantly, students especially are better able to find success without taking the matter further, by accepting a healthy locus of control over their lives. Locus of control is a personality variable related to how much people believe their lives are under their own control. Those who are said to possess internal locus of control believe they determine what happens to them and that they can change or influence the course of events. Others said to have external locus of control feel that the cause and control of events in their lives lie outside their abilities, and attribute what happens to them to the external environment. (Pinto et al, 2004.)
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This attitude is even more important when it comes to borrowing and spending, as individuals are more likely to take responsibility for their decisions and think about their future in respect of pressing decisions. Students, especially, while readjusting to a new lifestyle, need to see their actions and responses as those intimately affecting the outcome of a tense legal situation. Prior to reaching the courts, it is all down to being gracious, careful and firm with words. Once it reaches the courts, the opposite occurs—anything said right up until the courtroom will be considered, so agreeing to anything or making unnecessarily harsh demands or expectations will not work in your favour unless they really are terms you are willing to stick to. What we as students are less likely to have access to is the time or advice that will make claims through the courts worth it. Some governmental advisory phone lines are able to provide general advice, but you are unlikely to receive feedback on your specific claim beyond either “it’s worth following up” or “you probably don’t have a claim”. Often disputes are based on technicalities, and those technicalities are unlikely to be covered in such advisory phone calls, so
Warrant of Fitness due?
while they are able to tell you parts of the law, they may still be unhelpful. So, let’s assume that you have contacted the relevant authorities for advice and you wish to take someone to court. How do you know that it’s all worth it, assuming you have the time to invest into this particular cause? Get legal advice. Despite the fact that you will not need a lawyer for any of the initial courses of action, seeking legal advice will make it less likely that you waste your time. There is the law, and then there is how the law is applied. There are key things to mention when attempting to invoke the law, or show that the law is on your side, and unless you have significant experience in those fields, you might omit key facts completely. For instance, one of the key determiners in whether an individual is still an occupant of a house is whether or not they have keys to the house—when flatting, often keys aren’t handed over in the first place, but if an ex-flatmate is still holding a key, they are likely to still be liable for rent. Would you have mentioned that if you didn’t know to? There are also specific aspects of how the law is applied that you are unlikely to know unless you have some form of
ard to Bring in your StudentC
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When it comes to the law, you need to accept that there is a certain amount of either time or money that you will need to spend legal knowledge. Informal conversations with lawyers, or anyone who has been in formal situations, may be helpful, but you need to know details specific to your personal circumstances. In conclusion: spend some time with a lawyer, and try to find out how to get legal advice with the smallest amount of cost to you. When it comes to the law, you need to accept that there is a certain amount of either time or money that you will need to spend, and if you have no money, you better have a whole lot of time to spend on your case. So, how does one get justice as a student? Really, it is more about knowing the world we live in and trying to avoid situations where we are unable to invoke the law. Part of this is ensuring we don’t get into disputes where we have also breached contracts or broken the law— it’s easy to say that something is unfair before considering how we brought it on ourselves. Weigh up the pros and cons of different courses of action, and get as much legal advice as possible— preferably, before it’s really necessary.
And, if you come in on a Tuesday during August you’ll collect 10 Fly Buys Points
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Go to www.vtnz.co.nz or call 0800 88 88 69 to find your nearest VTNZ
Fitness on your Warrant ofThu rs) (on Tues, Wed &
Ten Point Tuesday offer valid from 2 to 30 August 2011. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other VTNZ Fly Buys promotion. VE15124 Student Ad-3.indd 1
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Salient Vol. 74
Getting Amongst-
The Wellington Community Justice Project Laurel Carmichael
I am a commercial law shark. I am a commercial law shark. I am, I am, I am. Or so my flatmate attempted to convince herself before her interview at a Wellington law firm last month. The law world is often associated with multistorey office buildings, tailored suits and ruthless courtroom cross-examination. But what if you didn’t always have to be the shark? What if students were able to successfully utilise their legal skills in areas beyond the commercial sphere? What if you could dig your teeth, so to speak, into some influential new legal projects? Imagine if five arduous years of student poverty and gargantuan course notes could result in tangible benefits to the wider community.
Enter the Wellington Community Justice Project. The Wellington Community Justice Project, or WCJP, is a student-led organisation at Victoria’s School of Law. The Project matches law students with local
legal volunteering projects, providing them with vital experience in four main areas; Education, Advocacy, Human Rights, and Law Reform. While there have always been opportunities to gain community-based experience, the WCJP aims to make these more easily accessible to the student body. Working alongside existing legal organisations, this group of passionate and dedicated students aims to explore new avenues for student involvement and to address areas of society which are often overlooked by the current legal system. WCJP co-director Emily Bruce insists that while commercial internships are extremely valuable, community-oriented experience is equally important. Even for law students who envisage a career at a commercial law firm, volunteering with the WCJP offers insight into the role and practical application of law in the community. Having received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response, WCJP is already making a positive impact on the Wellington community.
Salient spoke to Emily about the project’s origins, current initiatives and future goals. How did the Community Justice Project come about? A student Heléna Cook (who has now graduated) came up with this idea in 2009 after going along to a conference on human rights, where it occurred to her that we were missing something like this. Another ten of us then joined her to form WCJP in 2010. Was it an entirely student-led initiative? Heléna, and a team of ten students who formed the committee. It was mostly student-led, but we have a team of interested faculty members who acted as a board who helped us out at the outset, ensuring that our plans were viable and that we had the support we needed from the university. We also had one (and now have three) staff members on the committee itself. They themselves all have background and interest in community law issues. It’s been awesome having them.
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What projects are currently underway? Law Reform is continuing to work alongside community organisations, assisting with research surrounding the law and the drafting of submissions. One big project they have been involved with is helping Adoption Action Inc start civil proceedings regarding consistency of the Adoption Act 1955 with the Human Rights Act and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. They are also in the process of creating informative seminars on the elections and the MMP referendum, which they will then deliver to young people all around the Wellington region. Education is continuing to work on the YEP (Youth Education Project) alongside the Wellington Community Law Centre. They are delivering modules on areas of the law such as tenancy, employment and consumer issues to young people, with a focus on presenting to industry training organisations. So far this year, they have already presented at Massey University and the Salvation Army and have several other seminars lined up for the rest of the year. They are also hoping to present their module on tenancy to university students. Advocacy is involved in several new projects (and continuing several old ones too). Student volunteers have been trained by the Restorative Justice Trust to be advocates for restorative justice in the courts, and are now doing this. Other volunteers are helping to set up and will eventually volunteer for the new Howard League for Penal Reform in Wellington. Students are working at the Whitireia Community Law Centre in Porirua and the Innocence Project New Zealand (which deals with past potential wrongful convictions) too. Our project managers are also currently researching a potential opportunity for students to be trained to and to advocate for students before school boards of trustees. Human Rights is continuing to work alongside the Human Rights Commission on Policy Review, Litigation and Select Committee Report Projects. They have recently completed the first stage of their research work on the Migrant Workers’ Convention. They are also assisting anti-human trafficking charity Justice Acts New Zealand with research work and have created and submit regularly to a new blog on human rights (WCJPhumanrightsblog.wordpress.com). The WCJP is also investigating and preparing speaker events from speakers involved in community legal issues. Steph Lambert from Justice Acts New Zealand (along with her student volunteers) will speak to students later in the year on the research they have done into New Zealand’s anti-human trafficking laws. What are some of the long term goals for the WCJP? We’d firstly like to build and develop on the partnerships we’ve entered into. The more established these partnerships become, the more students will be able to do. We’d also like to make community volunteering an even more viable option to law students by increasing the number of projects we have and the number of students we’re able to accept, as well as looking into different ways our students can get recognition for what they do in return.
We’d also like to build WCJP as an organisation in the community, and get as many people in the legal world involved as we can. This could mean, for example, involving law firms and their pro bono teams in the work of WCJP. Already this year we have Buddle Findlay helping us register as a charity, pro bono, which has been great. Finally, we’d like to build the educational side of WCJP: for example by running more speaker events from people involved in legal issues in the community. Who can get involved and how do students do so? Law students from second year up. At the start of every year we hold a launch event, where we introduce the projects for that year. From there, we have an application process. Interested? Have wonderful ideas for new projects, or keen to get involved in the Project next year? The WCJP will be holding their AGM to select 2012 committee members later this year- if you would like to attend, or have ideas to pass on, you can contact student directors Emily Bruce, or Adèle Taylor at studentdirector@wellingtonWCJP.org, or check out their website at wellingtonWCJP.org.
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DIVE INTO THE WORLD THIS SUMMER
Intern abroad this summer and take the plunge into another culture. Apply online or come to an information session
Every TUESDAY and THURSDAY SUB 218 12pm and 1pm
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Salient Vol. 74
“He worked so hard, he deserved more than a B!” “She slept with so many guys, she had syphilis coming!” “They watched that old lady get mugged and didn’t help”
karma will serve them right! Harriet Campbell
As human beings, justice as we know it is built around the idea of conditionality. We do something and we expect something in return. We do well, we expect rewards.
We act badly, we expect punishment. If somebody avoids these conditions, we resent them and believe it to be unfair and an injustice—for there is no such thing as a free lunch, right? I once heard a saying, “Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.” Now, I admit I eat a lot of meat, but I bet a wild pig in the savannah doesn’t consider whether it is fair that a lion eats it because that fat cat is further up the food chain. Nor do I think the plant meditates about the just or unjust implications when your nose rejects the pollen it is trying to use to reproduce in those schnoz hairs. In fact, justice or a lack of it seems only to be understood by people, our superior intelligence rendering it a distinctly human concept. However, if there is so much manmade injustice in the world— corruption, war crimes, inequality based upon race and sexual orientation and wealth—is there a way in which justice can truly ever be served? I think there is, and if you give me but five minutes of your precious procrastinating time, I will tell you. I am a new believer in God. No, this is not the time for me to tell you my story on how I got “saved”, nor is it my goal to try to “convert” you. However it is relevant to know I came to know God less than three months ago, previously considering myself to be a strong atheist who held all the questions that would stump theologians and disprove Christianity. Half of the student population may have stopped reading this the moment I confessed to being a Christian, so thank you to those who give my words justice by reading them. In coming to faith, I was faced with some of the biggest questions humans will ever have to ponder:
Was Jesus a real guy who performed miracles? Where is the compelling evidence for that? Will my perception of reality be altered if I do believe? And perhaps most personally threatening, why should all this religion stuff affect me? If I am a rational person who likes to delve into science and history and base my beliefs upon solid facts, why should I give the time of day to something that looks supernatural and irrational? Or why should I have to pick one religion when so many people seem satisfied with taking a bit of every spiritual belief and chucking them together without boxing This idea of themselves into a rigid category? justice through This idea of justice conditionality through conditionality (good (good works = works = reward/evil works = reward/evil works punishment) is one that sits = punishment) is well with us animals who one that sits well possess the gift of morality. And that seems to me to be with us animals precisely why Christianity who possess the causes us such discomfort, gift of morality such disdain. In reformed Christianity, you or I do not receive worth through the actions we take. Instead, we are justified by believing in the actions Jesus Christ took. This concept within Christianity is important to grasp as it is different from the modern-day, media-hyperbolised view that Christianity is, in essence, corrupt or all about the money or anything else negative that I always assumed in my stance as a media-influenced atheist. What I am first and foremost hoping you are questioning is this idea of justice in Christianity. If we are living as humans in the prison of conditionality,
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!thgir meht evres lliw amrak how does Christianity affect us? In order to answer that, I’m going to give you a word-economical run down of the need-to-knows of Christianity. Here is the essence of it. If you cannot be certain of how the universe and everything came to be (which nobody’s belief can account for 100 per cent accurately, including mine), then you should accept that there is a possibility, however small in your mind, that God created this universe. If He did that entirely unsurpassable action, He is capable of doing anything supernatural, from raising Christ from the dead to creating us in His own image. In believing this, we are said to have been first created perfect and holy like God. In His delight to give us good things, He gave us free will, which we used to satisfy our own selfish pleasures and began to sin. When we sinned first (as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden), we fell from the image of perfection that God had made us in, so we became separated from him and were cast out from the garden. As our Father, He loves us so much that He gave us a way to get back to Him. Our selfish and fickle hearts meant we wanted to walk in our own glory instead of seeing God for the amazing things He has done. Now, we try to make our own lives satisfied by worldly pleasures. God so loved us that He sent his son Jesus so that we could understand the love of God in the only form we can understand (human form). Jesus was persecuted because we could not stand to see our own glory being nullified by our Creator’s glory. Christ was crucified, and on the cross, He took the burden of our sins. He, in so much love for us, took every bad thing that every human has ever done, and all that sin died with Him. So, the love of God was shown by Him sacrificing His only son so that we could find a way to get back to God’s perfection and sit at His right hand. This is the way to believing in Christ’s finished work for us on the cross. In bearing the full brunt of our horrible trespasses against the only being
who unconditionally loves us until the end of time, Jesus becomes the mediator to God’s love and we have a share in that not through our own works, but purely by resting in the faith of what He did for us. Keeping in mind that this is all the word space I can possibly use for a much larger and more scientifically and historically evidential version of these events, we can now look at justice in God’s light. Now, justice can truly be served because humans’ redeeming qualities do not come from helping old ladies across the street or giving money to churches. If you are an Afghani prostitute who is stuck in a terrible situation in this life, In his delight you can trust in Jesus’ finished to give us good work on the cross to be assured things, he gave of a place in heaven for eternity through faith in this us free will work alone. This is the ultimate which we used flip from the human prison of to satisfy our conditionality in which we try own selfish to earn our worth. This justice is terrifying because it cannot pleasures and be bought with promises or began to sin bribed by tears, and we have to be dependent on someone else’s works. That fearful reliance on Christ can only be a legit, solid standing because He was sent sinless and perfect, and we are fallen from this standard. As I said earlier, I am not here to convert you. I am writing this so you can make an informed decision to look into something that, if true, is life-changing and freeing beyond any means of worldly satisfaction you have ever tried to obtain! If “fairness” has the means to be achieved beyond that proposed by William Shatner or Lord Denning, I hope you and I can see the way we are so graciously served up a plate of deliciously hot justice. Now that’s something to get your mouth watering!
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Salient Vol. 74
The Right to Marry:
Gay rights in New Zealand Geraint Scott
The past 12 months have seen a huge shift towards a focus on gay rights in the media. Spurred by an uprising of gay activists in America founding projects such as The Trevor Project, and a massive push for GSAs (Gay Straight Alliances) and PFLAGS (Parents of Lesbian and Gay Students) in American schools, the world has caught on and gay rights is now, arguably, the largest human rights issue facing the Western world. But why is this happening, and why does it matter? First off, we need to understand why gay rights are an important issue. Currently, gay people do not have the same rights as their straight counterparts. Although some countries have eliminated this within their own borders, they are currently in the minority. This means that gay people are second-class citizens: we are entitled to basic citizenship such as a passport and the right to work, but we are also subject to laws that specifically discriminate against us and remove some of our rights, making us less than our straight counterparts. The crux of the gay rights movement is marriage. That I can be in love with another man and want to commit to him but not be legally allowed to do so, while two straight people can pick each other up off the street and without even knowing each other’s names enter a legal marriage, is absurd. If I love someone and want to marry them, that should be my right—and that is the main drive of the gay rights movement. Some would argue that marriage is a religious construct and because the Bible does not condone homosexuality, gay people shouldn’t be allowed to marry. This is a blatant discrimination through cherry-picking of facts. To get married before the eyes of God, a couple must be approved by a church. If the celebrant believes the couple are not worthy of a marriage under God, they will not marry them. Despite that, marriage has now entered the non-religious realm for straight people, to the point where marriage for the majority of straight people has nothing to do with God and everything to do with love and commitment. If straight atheist people can get married because they love each other, why can’t gay people? In the Netherlands, gay marriage is legal but individual churches have the right to refuse to marry a couple if they please. This satisfies both the Christians and the gay community. What is stopping New Zealand from adopting a similar structure? In a recent ResearchNZ poll, it was found that 60 per cent of New Zealanders support gay marriage. Is it time for NZ to face this issue?
When Justice M inister Simon P attended a PO LS lecture late ower last semester, I dec ided to query h im on gay rights. “Mr Power, gi ven that in th e civil union National MPs debate 24 of 27 voted agains t civil unions who voted fo and those thre r them have e be en forced out do you agree of Parliamen with the stat t, em en website that t on the Natio National seek nal Party s to achieve ‘e and equal op qual citizens portunity’?” hip “Yes.” “Do you agre e with John K ey’s statemen Out that Nat t at the Big G ional suppor ay ts gay rights “I always agre ?” e with the Prim e Minister.” “Will you, in your role as th e Minister of give equal ci Justice, move tizenship an to d equal oppo people of New rtunity to th Zealand?” e gay “That’s not a pr iority for Nat ional right no w.” “Will it ever be?” “I can’t speak for future cauc uses, I’m afra leaving after id, since I’m this term.” “Do you believ e it ever will be?” “I honestly ca n’t say.”
Only 10 minutes earlier, Mr Power had lectured us on how if we really want to be politicians, we have to be “straight-up and honest” with our constituents and we have to tell voters exactly how we feel so they know who represents them. Despite trying to fluff the issue, he has put the writing on the wall: the National Party doesn’t support gay marriage. Therefore, they don’t believe in “equal citizenship and equal opportunity”. If New Zealanders want to continue to claim that our country is fair and equal, that everyone in New Zealand gets a ‘fair go’ and that we are all a decent sort, we need to open our eyes and face the truth—we are not an equal country, and this is only one of many reasons why.
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Sexual assault: Potential Impacts Linda Beckett (PhD)
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Like Anim al of the Wee ko Faceboo n k!
The Vampire Squid David Burr
In my last article on sexual assault, I talked about a common scenario in respect of assaults reported to the Sexual Assault Assessment and Treatment Service (SAATS), specifically in regard to the experience of women. Today’s article will identify the multiple harms caused by sexual assault. For instance, there are many potential physical health impacts. A variety of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), or alternatively the side effects of antibiotics given to prevent STIs, are possible. In the case of the female assault victim, there is the added risk of pregnancy, miscarriage, termination, or alternatively the (albeit mild) effects of the emergency contraception pill given to prevent pregnancy. In addition, a variety of injuries have been documented (but are not usual in presentations to SAATS) as being caused by sexual assault. Of considerable concern are psychological harms which have been documented as being caused by sexual assault, but it is important to be clear that these are potential harms only because people react differently to different stressors. Does it hurt or help to know about potential psychological harms? And again the answer is both. It helps because if we know that these effects have been documented as normal responses to a traumatic situation, then we know that with the right assistance we can work through them. It hurts because knowing about potential effects can have self-fulfilling outcomes and the knowledge itself can be oppressive. Unsurprisingly, sexual assault may cause post-traumatic stress in the form of Rape Trauma Syndrome (RTS). For some, acute phase RTS symptoms, including fear and clinical shock, may be wide-ranging. These and other effects are exacerbated by: • Social forcesespecially rape mythology • Threats and force used during the rape and the commonly expressed fear of dying • These may cause complete disorganisation of people’s lives in the immediate aftermath of rape. Beyond the immediate psychological impacts, there is potential for long-term effects such as: sexual dysfunction, phobic reactions, intrusive thoughts and fear of solitude, or conversely withdrawal and social isolation. These can lead to compromised ability to function in usual work and social roles and therefore economic and social disadvantage. Such disadvantage has also been clearly demonstrated in relation to childhood sexual assault/abuse. Children who have been sexually abused and leave home without the means of survival, in having been sexualised, may sell sex in order to live. If alcohol and drugs are accessed in coping with the consequences of this decision, this compounds the economic and social disadvantage. Other long-term effects include the many possible somatically induced physical health effects which can occur due to the effects of severe stress on the immune system. These occur particularly if disclosures are inadequately responded to. It is evident then that sexual assault is a significant event warranting an equally significant systems response. I will talk about the medical/forensic response in my third and final article.
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A titmouse is a bird. Not a tit, or a mouse. A silverfish is a pale grey insect. A congo snake is not found in the Congo, nor is it a snake. Animals such as this generally suck, however the Vampire Squid is a definite exception to this rule. Its Latin name, Vampyroteuthis infernalis, literally translates to “vampire squid from hell” and although it is neither a vampire, nor is it technically a squid it is a total badass. This black or pale red cephalopod lives 900 metres below the surface of the ocean. Here, oxygen saturation is as low as 3 per cent, meaning very few animals, and in fact no other cephalopods can survive in this environment. The “from hell” section of their name is fairly becoming, especially when we look at Vampire Squid sex. This act consists of the male penetrating the female’s forehead and depositing his sperm underneath her eyes! The eight arms of this deep sea beast are lined by fleshy spines called cirri which are used to help consume prey. When startled, the Vampire Squid turns itself inside out by folding its legs back over its head, exposing the cirri. This is known as the “pineapple position” and when combined with a dazzling display of bioluminescence, this is enough to deter any predator. To top all this off, out of any animal the Vampire Squid has the largest eyes proportional to its body size, which may turn blood red! Terrifying.
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Animal Fa ct
No one can ca the mothe tch rfucking fox.
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When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death! Ben Wylie-van Eerd
It may interest you to know that this June, ERMA approved the release of a species of fungus into the New Zealand ecosystem. The fungus is called Uromyces pencanus, and it is being released as a biological control agent for Chilean needlegrass. This means that ERMA considers Chilean needlegrass to be a pest, and they are trying to find a natural parasite to prey upon it and remove the problem. Of course, the question one always has to ask when using biological controls is: what else is the control species going to affect? Biological control has got a bad reputation for causing huge unintended problems. A pertinent example is the introduction of cane toads into Australia to suppress the problems of cane beetles. Most of us know how that turned ou—not only did they suppress the beetles, but they were enormously successful in preying upon other native insects. They also out-competed native lizards and amphibians, resulting in a huge loss in biodiversity in Australia. Another example more close to home— stoats and ferrets were originally introduced to New Zealand as biological control agents to suppress rabbit populations. Turns out the stoats acquired a taste for native birds and eggs and have added to the problem possums began. And we are still inundated with rabbits! Fortunately for us, it looks like the ERMA has done its homework this time around. They have reported that the fungus was tested on 65 closely related species, including species expected to grow in the same environment, and that the fungus did not take root in any of the species besides the Chilean needlegrass. What this tells us is that the risk of the fungus spreading is minimal. The biggest risk with biocontrols is for the agent to spread to other unexpected species and adapt to them. However, if the agents are unable to grow in other places (in this case, on other plants) then they have little opportunity to adapt and spread. And just to be a little safer, the Uromyces pencanus has also reported to have been tested on a number of native flora species in a separate document. Incidentally, there has been some research into the use of biological controls for possums in New Zealand. Naturally existing possum predators and parasites would cause too many problems if introduced to our native forests (see stoats above), so more complicated methods are required. Mostly these involve genetically modifying micro-organisms, which needless to say is not a popular approach. There have been a few years of research, but nothing solid has yet been developed. Biological controls can be a useful and cost-effective way to deal with invasive species into our ecosystem. However, due to the potential irreversibility and severity of the side effects, thorough research is a must. New Zealand is of course particularly vulnerable to new organisms due to its isolation and fragile native species, so we must be extra careful. Further reading:
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An old paper which nonetheless gives a good introduction to biological control in New Zealand: doc.govt.nz /upload/documents/science-and-technical/SFC199.pdf Documents from ERMA regarding this release: ermanz.govt.nz /search-databases/Pages/applications-details.aspx?appID=ERMA200754#
The Log o’ Wood goes South again Jono McLeod
Rugby fans are fortunate right now to be part of a deluge of rugby that will not stop until the Rugby World Cup Final on October 23rd. The Super 15 seems to have only just ended, the Tri-Nations has already begun and the ITM Cup is quickly getting into full swing, with games being played on every day of the week except Mondays. Then there will be the small matter of 48 World Cup games. But the competition that seems to continue to provide the most passion and excitement has to be the Ranfurly Shield. The Ranfurly Shield is probably the most coveted trophy in provincial rugby in New Zealand and it seems to know this, serving up great games every single time it is on the line. Last weekend was no exception. Southland challenged Shield holders Canterbury, who had taken it from them at the end of last year’s season. The game promised so much as it was being contested by two teams who have had some mighty battles for the Log o’ Wood in recent years, and it delivered. Canterbury flew out to a strong lead in the first half, scoring two tries in the first twenty minutes which gave them a 16-9 lead going into half-time. The second half was to be all Southland though, as they proved why they are a force to be reckoned with in this
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“Oddly, the only people not confused about bisexuality are the bisexuals themselves.” Bex Miller
- M. Morgan (The Guardian)
I supp ose that makes me uniquely qualified? Although I’d hope Morgan is wrong, it’s tru e that there are so many false stereotypes and ideas about bisexuals tha t not many people really know what’s going on. So here I thought I’d deb unk a few, and hopefu lly clear some things up. So, here goes—Bis exual 101, I hope you all learn a thing or two about us ‘ambisextrou s’ types. Enjoy!
Bisexual men don’t exist
; it’s one or
year’s ITM Cup. For the first twenty minutes of the second half, Southland camped down in Canterbury’s 22, forcing them to make tackle after tackle as they lunged for the line time and time again. Southland finally crossed the line in the 63rd minute, courtesy of halfback Scott Cowan, after Canterbury left an inevitable hole in their defence around the fringe. That can happen when you’re subjected to making near a hundred tackles in 25 minutes. That swung the score in Southland’s favour at 19-16, however Canterbury were not done. Canterbury scored a penalty with only 10 minutes to go, levelling things up which would have meant they retained the Shield, but Southland first-five Wilson had a drop-goal left in him which eventually gave Southland the game 22-19 after a nail-biting last few minutes in which Southland softly hit the ball up and retained possession. The passion and desire for New Zealand’s oldest and most revered rugby trophy was obvious in this game, which epitomised the gritty, merciless rugby that Shield challenges and provincial rugby are known for. This game was certainly one that will go down in the exciting history of the Ranfurly Shield, which along with a few other games from the first two weeks of the ITM Cup has definitely reignited my enthusiasm for the game in what will be a rugby-saturated year. It will also have a dramatic effect on the spirits of Southland rugby fans who over the past year have had significant trouble with the financial situation of their rugby union. And as I am sure most neutrals will agree, it is always good to see a Cantab hand over some rugby silverware.
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the other. Clearly, there’s a major problem with this one. If bisexual women exist, why don’t men? Certai nly, fewer men seem wil ling to identify this wa maybe it’s because the y, re isn’t really any cultur al niche for them yet, maybe it’s because New Zealand’s conception of masculinity tends to polarise men into superstraight or super-gay, who knows? What we do know is that this bla tant denial of their exi stence is just silly. Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie fee ls similarly; “I’ve been in a relations hip for a while now, and if you just met the two of us together we’d be ‘gay.’ But that someho w means anything tha happened before [we me t t] didn’t count—and I don ’t feel that way… It felt right at the time. It didn’t work out, but it also didn’t work out wit other men—many tim h es.”
All bi’s are just looking fo
r threesom
es. I admit this one is a ‘pe t hate’ for me. I don’t go out looking for two partners at a time—the point of bisexuality isn ’t to always have a boyfriend and a girlfri end; it’s that the person you want to be with can be either. The confus ion is understandable, since so much of our modern media implies this myth. But bisexualit y isn’t the same as promiscuity, no matte r what Hollywood would have us think! Damn you Basic Instinct. Bisexuals are just undecid ed; they’re really gay or straight.
This is quite possibly the most hated misconcepti on by those who identify as bi! With goo d reason, really. Imagi ne if you told someone you were 100 per cent straight, and they told you there’s no such thi It’s strange how even tho ng? ugh we’ve moved to the point where most of us can agree that bei ng gay is a legitimate sex ual orientation, it’s apparently harder to qua ntify and accept bisexu ality. Hopefully this won’t always be true.
Bi’s are just greedy.
Um, what? Every time I hear this one, I just sta re and blink. The idea that all bisexual people are just ‘horny and ind iscriminate’ undermines the idea that sexuality is generally something you can’t really change (or at least this is the com mon scientific consensus at the moment), and is subsequently just dow nright inaccurate. I thi nk we can agree that this is starting to get int o the debate on choice vs. wiring, and since I’m no scientist, I’ll stop her e. So! I hope this helps dem ystify some of the cultur al myths surrounding those of us who hit the middle ma rk on the Kinsey scale. And, a side note, thank s so much to all who org anised and attended Pride Week events! I kn ow I, along with so ma ny others, had an awesome time. Kudos to the UniQ Exec, and screw the bad press. Lov you guys lots, and goo e d job.
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salient.org.nz
Columns
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Salient Vol. 74
with Auntie Sharon
How to figure out what to do with your life
I used to be able answer the question of what I was going to do when I grew up with ease—a ballerina, zookeeper, astronaut, princess, or rock star. Anything that involved cute animals, dressing up or rockets was bound to make me wildly successful and famous. My well-meaning parents backed me up, telling me I could do anything if I put my mind to it. The choices were endless. If you’re lucky, they still are endless. But I can attest to the fact that this actually makes it incredibly difficult to decide what one thing you should spend your life doing. You all now have the added anxiety of seeing a new story every day about some bastard Gen Y genius who invented an insanely clever thing and is a kazillionaire and philanthropist by the age of 20. Y’know, no pressure or anything. I’m afraid I don’t have all the answers for you on the issue of what to do with your life, but I suggest you approach this the way many of life’s confusions are managed—write a list.
Things to make lists about: • What do I really like doing with my time? • What would I like to do more of? • What do I spend a lot of time doing without noticing hours are slipping by? • Who am I trying to impress? Do I need to? • The best job I’ve had so far was good because: • The job I hated the most sucked because: • What’s really important to me? In life and in work? • If I were to have a perfect work day, it would involve doing this stuff: • What could I absolutely not tolerate in a job? • What am I willing to fight for? • What would I do for free anyway? • Things I am NOT doing because I’m scared I won’t be good at them: • At the end of my life, what am I most likely to regret NOT doing?
Hopefully the lists will help you clarify some stuff about yourself, but the important thing is not to freak out if you still don’t know. It takes some people awhile, and in fact some people never figure it out—but that doesn’t mean they enjoy life any less. Still confused? Email auntiesharon@salient.org.nz
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CONSTANCE CRAVINGS
Sup Connie, Generalisations aside, guys (and probs girls) like porn. No biggie. It’s human nature I reckon. What’s sorta bugging me though is whether it can get dangerously addictive? There’s smokoholics, alcoholics and drugoholics out there, there must be pornoholics too? Chur girl, Potench pornoholic
Hey PP, I do genuinely think that porn addiction is a reality for many people. I’m not a therapist (but if I was I would be Dr Cravings and that’s awesome) but in my humble opinion it’s easy to see how it could become a problematic habit. Orgasms are nature’s ecstasy. Porn, and the often-accompanying masturbation-to-orgasm, trigger the pleasure parts in your brain which results in you feeling like you’re on top of the world (even for a split second). Also, having easy access to a visual aid which makes achieving orgasm even easier, and allows you to choose from hundreds of thousands of kinds, is kind of like a free ice cream stand with every flavour you could ever want. I can see how people might get hooked on the ease of the whole thing, the control over your stimulation and the nice feeling it creates. I think it’s important to remember that for most people (and I do think that most people watch porn) it’s a bit of fun which means they don’t have to rely on their own spankbank creativity. It’s also an effective release of tension, and for some people, the only way they can explore their sexual preferences. But if you start feeling that your need to feel that way every single day, or you can’t function properly without
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Issue 16 Justice
stion? x que e s a t Go to ask Want usly and mo to anony alient? Go r S fo in see it stance.com 15 n d o e c n k r s a a ard-e ss, your h s of facele e . t e u m in m less fa pants
If you start feeling that your need to feel that way every single day, or you can’t function properly without that release, then it’s impeding on your daily life that release, then it’s impeding on your daily life. And for me that’s the distinction between hobby and addiction. I don’t think that problematic and healthy porn use is black and white, I think it’s more likely that your use can and will fluctuate for a lot of reasons: boredom, stress, hornyness etc. For instance, if you’re on holiday and you spend a decent amount of time in bed watching porn and having a good time with your fun bits, I don’t think you’ve suddenly crossed the line between good use and bad use. If, however, that becomes what you need every single day to feel good then that’s an issue. If you’re unsure if your porn use is problematic, then maybe start to view it like (for example) alcohol. Most people like to drink, but we don’t do it every day; It’s usually reserved for weekends and special occasions. Perhaps a way to get a sense of control and measure of your porn use and its impact on you would be to try and save it for the weekends and be strict on yourself with that. However, if your attempts to cut down don’t work, or if you already feel that your porn use is becoming problematic, then I don’t think there should be any taboo around going to see a counsellor at Student Health. Personally, I view it in same vein as going to see a physio because you’re really sick of taking Nurofen every day. No biggie. It’s self-care and everyone who needs help figuring stuff out should feel comfortable with exploring their options. I hope that helps x
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A Column In Which I U se
‘Diddle Brain’
As An Insult.
Ally Garrett
Do you know what’s w orse than being offensive? Being boring .
And do you know what is really really seriously truly boring? Making tha joke about Amy Wineh t ouse. That joke I’ve see n made by several smug douchebags in every litt le corner of the internet. That joke about how it looks like she really sho uld have gone to rehab aft er all hur hur hur lol sni gger. Do you kn what, diddle brain? No t only My mum likes to warn are you lauow ghing at the death of a drug me that the children addict, you are doing so in a way that thousands of other Tw of alcoholics tend to itter users have done before you. It’s the go two ways—the not joke equivalent of a Panini with sweet chilli sauce: been drinking at all way or there done that and lef t 2007 behind, the Beefeater-Ginthank you very much. What’s even less funny Adult-Bed-Wetting-Way about your pathetic little joke is tha t actually, Amy did go to rehab. Re unsuccessfully. She cyc peatedly and led in and out of treatm ent for alcoholism and addiction in the years drug before she died. And des pite being a multi-millio with access to the very naire best medical practition ers, she died. Addictio ugly and cloying and con n is suming and just ‘going to rehab after all’ isn’t cure-all that it’s made the out to be. I wish it was. I bet that Amy’s parent and Janis, wish it was. s, Mitch I’m scared of addiction. Being the daughter of an alcoholic will do tha you. I can’t laugh about t to the death of Amy Wineh ouse without thinking my mum having to cha about nge the sheets on a nig htl y basis because Beefea Gin had turned my sui ter t-wearing, law-case win ning father into a middl aged bed-wetter. I can e’t even look at a picture of Amy Winehouse wit thinking about how my hout mum likes to warn me that the children of alc tend to go two ways— oholics the not drinking at all way or the Beefeater-Gi Adult-Bed-Wetting-Way. nI worry when I feel like a drink on Fridays after work. I worry when I wa ke up with a hangover. I worry when I remem that in second year I wa ber s kicked out of the Big Kumara for vomiting on own face, even though my it was really funny at the time and it’s still kind of funny now, especially when I remember that the food specimen in que was a chicken fettuccin stion e from La Casa Pasta. I worry that I’m 23 and every likelihood that by there’s the age of 27, the age tha t Amy died, I could be making acquaintance wit h plastic bed sheets. I’m scared of ending up like Amy, and at the sam e time, I’m scared what it says about my person ality that I can so casual ly use her life as an exa and a warning when she mple was a singing, walking, breathing person with mother and a father and a friends. Amy Winehous e deserves better than Rest in peace, Amy. I’ll that. always remember that really good song ‘Valer song that I used to dan ie’, a ce to in 2007, the year that I also happened to up on my own face. throw
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Salient Vol. 74
Theatre What’s O
nline? Kiran M a t t hews’ Review o Toi Wh f Hamlet at akaari is wha t!
Young and Hungry 2011 Louise Burston
For Johnny
Hearts Encoded
Disorder
Johnny, the charismatic ringleader of a recently graduated high school clique, is dead. When news of this reaches his friends while they are on a camping trip, each member of the group must re-evaluate not only their feelings for Johnny but for each other too. What saves For Johnny from being a big old cliché, in regards to the script itself, is Hereaka’s decision to present us with the story through a series of illuminating flashbacks which pique the audience’s interest to great effect. Eleanor Bishop’s direction elegantly eases the transitions between past and present, as do the actors’ commitment to their performances. Sometimes too much is done to highlight a transition and the effect becomes messy and cumbersome, such as the decision to have Millie awkwardly don her school tie whenever we leave the present moment and head to the schoolroom. Greater trust should be put in the audience to realise when a scene occurs in the past. Te Aihe Butler is particularly enthralling in the title role and Rose Guise’s portrayal of Kat, the stereotypically bitchy Head Girl, was also a highlight. Although the script has a tendency to bludgeon the ‘point’ of a scene to death with superfluous dialogue, a palpable unity within the cast generally distracts us from this. Incredibly thoughtful lighting and a set of draped green fabric were hugely successful in expressing shift in mood and created some sublime images onstage; the sunset which the actors walk into at the close of the play and the beauty of the glitter on a blue sheet, ingeniously representative of a river, just about blew my mind.
Can you love someone you’ve never met in real life? What’s so special about reality or ‘Meat Space’ anyway? The themes which Aaron Alexander deals with in Hearts Encoded are complex to say the least and, at a time in which many of us communicate on a daily basis through the Internet, the issues it raises are particularly topical. I found the play accessible despite having not had much experience in 3D virtual worlds and enjoyed conventions, such as having the actors all speak facing the audience while addressing one another, which emphasised virtual reality. Acushla-Tara Sutton as Butterpink Butterboo gives a wonderfully strong performance and the entire cast’s commitment to the physicality of their avatar characters has great impact. The red curtains, bar and backlit panels which make up the set look sparse and, the panels in particular, are moved awkwardly. I was told that it is common in virtual reality for the environment to appear shabby in relation to the avatars and, although the characters were costumed beautifully, the drab nature of the set resulted in its destruction from technical glitches carrying little dramatic weight. I wonder whether theatre is the most appropriate medium for a play so steeped in the virtual world when film would allow for much more impressive visual effects. Yet when I voiced this thought to William O’Neil, a Young and Hungry kid himself in past years, he argued that we were able to observe the intriguing parallels between an actor’s relationship with their character and a person’s involvement with an avatar.
I’m remarkably easy to scare. Seriously. I considered asking someone else to review Young and Hungry simply because I suspected I might make a silly duck of myself by screaming in a play about a zombie apocalypse devastating Wellington. More farcical than frightening, however, Disorder proved to be a riot of gore which inspired me to laugh more often than not. The plot is by far too convoluted for a one-hour show but it allows for some delightful cameo performances before the characters are savaged to death by a horde of highly convincing zombies. To be honest, though, I wanted to be scared. I wanted zombies to creep through the audience and burst out of doorways. I wanted more blood and I wanted to be scared that it might get sprayed on my beautiful coat. Don’t get me wrong; there was blood and it was interesting to watch the white panels of the set become steadily more covered with the stuff over the course of the show but I wanted more. Disorder needed to take a cue from Sean of the Dead and decide whether it would revel in the glorious ridiculousness of zombies or create a post-apocalyptic drama about the horrific things people can do to one another in extreme circumstances. An audience who is laughing at a farcical romp will forgive a poorly-executed fake stabbing while an audience who has witnessed an implied rape probably won’t.
For Johnny By Whiti Hereaka 22 July – 6 August at BATS
Hearts Encoded By Aaron Alexander 22 July – 6 August at BATS
Disorder By Thomas Sainsbury 22 July – 6 August at BATS
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The Arts
Issue 16 Justice
rts
Visual A
Four Arti s ts’ Brushes with the Law Thomas Coughlan
There’s a whole school that would look at art as a great historical counter-narrative of poor bohemians strutting the truth in the face of societal and judicial oppression. Read enough about certain artists and one might believe jail time more essential to the artist than an easel and brushes. Our love affair with Banksy the Bristol-born (we think) British graffiti artist, epitomises society’s love for bohemian art on the fringe. Without getting into a painful graffiti/art debate, my favourite of Banksy’s hijinks was his 2005 ‘cave painting’ that found its way into the British Museum. Titled, ‘ Early Man Goes to Market’, it’s basically a scribbling of a man with a spear and a shopping trolley. Far from being miffed at this blunt snub at the integrity of their collection, the curators at the British Museum had the painting added to their permanent collection as soon as it was authenticated. Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were the absinthechugging Tweedledee and Tweedledum of the post-impressionist movement. Van Gogh had a rather creepy infatuation with Gauguin’s work, which crops up more than its fair share in van Gogh’s prolific, and often incoherent, writings. Of course, it’s impossible not to see Gauguin’s influence on van Gogh; his erratic juxtaposition of intense colour belying the ever lurking melancholy, loneliness and mood swings that haunted both artists. Unfortunately, Gauguin didn’t exactly return van Gogh’s affection and it is now believed that the pair engaged in an undoubtedly absinthe-fuelled duel in 1888. van Gogh came out minus an earlobe which eventually found its way into the hands of a Provençale prostitute. Gauguin is reported to have pleaded with van Gogh to keep the episode hush hush and van Gogh, infatuated with Gauguin (still?!) or unable to hear quite so well with his one remaining ear, agreed and the issue went away. Justice, huh? Still, van Gogh got off light at the hands of Gauguin, compared to what Ranuccio Tomassoni suffered at the hands of that other maestro of colour Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. At age 30 he went on a rampage allegedly shouting at some well-to-do people that he would cut their balls off and fry them in oil. He was later convicted of libel and thrown in prison (the victim, one Giovanni Baglione). But it was on a summer night in 1606 that Caravaggio really crossed the line when he challenged the pimp Ranuccio Tomassoni to a duel outside a Roman tennis court. Tomassoni came off worse and bled to death at home, while Caravaggio was banished from Rome for murder. Can we excuse the great artist? Not really. But when you look at Caravaggio’s paintings and see the incendiary raw flesh emerging out of the bitumen-dark Roman side streets, you know you’re looking at the work of a man whose unparalleled understanding of light came from a life lived in the shadows and we are the luckier for it.
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37
New Zealand in Vogue Sally Anderson
French Vogue, British Vogue, American Vogue, Italian Vogue… New Zealand Vogue? This somewhat-forgotten part of New Zealand history will be little known to many but Te Papa celebrates the former publication with New Zealand In Vogue. Feast your eyes on some of Te Papa’s extensive textile collection as the pages of Vogue New Zealand inspire the curation of this exhibition. The publication ran from 1957 to 1968, originally being set up along with Australian Vogue by the British counterpart. Alas, New Zealand’s version did not last the distance that Australian Vogue has, but visitors can now see some of the subjects covered in the publication come to life. The exhibition is divided into different themes, including an examination of our relationship with both wool and the colour black. Both synonymous with New Zealand style, often in the form of a black singlet, a trip to this exhibition will show you a far more sophisticated history with evening dresses and stylish suits. It showcases some of the history of our top designers and the designs made under licences in New Zealand by leading fashion houses like Christian Dior. My personal favourite item in the collection is a dress from the 1960s designed by Dior and manufactured by El Jay, bought by an Auckland mother to wear to her son’s wedding. The piece is exquisite in its jewel detailing and velvet bow. If you too cannot resist a look at some vintage brocade I would advise a trip to this exhibition. New Zealand in Vogue, Te Papa, Eyelights, Level 4
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Salient Vol. 74
Books
Interview with... Salient’s Fairooz Samy talks to Nalini Singh, NY Times bestselling author You’ve made the NY Times bestseller list yet again, your books are incredibly successful and you have a passionate following. Has there ever been a moment where you thought to yourself, ‘this is it, I’ve made it?’ or do you have an ultimate literary goal? Throughout my career, I’ve had small goals each time. For example, when I sold my first single title, I definitely felt that that was a goal achieved, and when I hit the NY Times the first time, that was just fabulous! But as a writer, I’m always thinking about the next book. I want each book to be the best it can be and the best I can do, give them a really good read. I think that is my ultimate goal throughout my career, just to write books that I’m really proud to give to readers and that they’ll hopefully love. Everything else is really wonderful, and I love the fact that I can be a full-time writer, but the books are at the heart of it. Psy-changeling has some of the most devoted fans around. Have you ever been blown away by something a fan has done or said? I get a lot of emails and some of them are really touching. The ones that really get to me are the ones that say that I helped them through some kind of tough time in their life and gave them escape for a People say that fiction few hours. People say that fiction books are escapism books are escapism and they mean that in a and they mean that bad way, but I’ve never in a bad way, but I’ve understood that. I think never understood that it’s a good thing to be able to give people time away from their lives because sometimes they might need to get away, and it’s just fun to step outside of this world and enjoy a completely new world. I really love getting that feedback from my readers. You’ve described yourself as a romance writer in the past but of course you have a strong supernatural element to your books. Do you think one is more important than the other in your series or must there be a balance? Definitely a balance. I still call myself a romance writer because I love the relationship aspect of the books, and I think they tie books together so strongly, but the romance is at the core. I also love the familial and friend relationships, and you get to see all of these develop through the book. But if you’re writing paranormal romances, you need to have a really strong balance, otherwise one is in danger of taking over. For a strong series, you need to have a really coherent world, but
you also need very strong characters so that they’re not subsumed in the world, they’re strong in their own right. Both elements must be intertwined, you can’t take the characters out of the world and you can’t take away the world and have the same story. When it comes to something like writing about vampires, which have a vast body of literature behind them, do you feel any pressure to stick to previous literary precedent? I don’t think I’m tied to convention. I do think that if I’m going to change something drastic then I have to have an explanation for it. There is such freedom in fiction, and as long as you explain your world well enough, readers will go along with it. With my Guild Hunter series, the angels make the vampires, which is really unusual, but readers have accepted it because I’ve given them enough of a basis. I don’t think I’m constrained by their fictional history, it’s more a case of using it as a jumping point. I imagine it can be very liberating as a fantasy writer to be able to circumvent the conventions of real-life and create your own world. Having said that, are there any drawbacks? I guess you have to be careful about internal continuity, because a lot of the time people think you can build your own world so you can have whatever rules you want—which is true—but then you have to make sure you follow the continuity, otherwise the story will just fall apart. Your readers won’t trust you if you change the rules midway. For me as a reader that would be so frustrating, and I don’t want to do it as a writer. Once you break a rule, you lose all the tension.
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Read the rest online!
Louise B
urston
Addictive Fantasy Novels
1. Assassin ’s Apprenti ce by Robin Hobb 2. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin 3. The Eye of the Worl d by Robert Jordan 4. The Nam e of the W ind by Patr ick Rothfu 5. The Blad ss e Itself by Joe Abercro mbie
The Arts
Issue 16 Justice
39
Games
Deus Ex Anomalous Materials:
Angus Winter
Released at the turn of the millennium, the original Deus Ex was met with massive critical and commercial success. Building on the innovations of its predecessors, namely the System Shock games, it was the first shooter/ role-playing hybrid that really struck a chord within the mainstream gaming industry. While most shooters of the time were still peddling different takes on the template set in the early ‘90s by games like Doom and Quake—essentially, you shoot things and they die— Deus Ex offered a much more cerebral first-person experience, one that garnered unanimous praise, and over 40 distinct Game of the Year awards. In retrospect, the most immediately striking aspect of Deus Ex is its enigmatic plot. The game takes place in the year 2052, a dystopian future where civil unrest is at an all-time high, and from shadowy governmental branches come whisperings of post-humanism and new world order. You are cast as JC Denton, a stoic, nanomachine-augmented agent working in the anti-terrorism unit of the United Nations. As you become further embroiled in combating an increasingly prevalent worldwide “terrorist” presence, the more questionable your motives become. The slow unravelling of this conspiratorial mystery is driven by excellently written characters, who transcend their presence as mere gameplay objects and actually become figures within the narrative of the game that fluently represent its wider thematic implications. It’s easy to get caught up in empathising with these characters and their ideals, and when betrayals happen, they are shocking to say the least. It’s seriously heady stuff for a genre that even today is fraught with lazy, threadbare plot devices to move you from one objective to another. Its brilliant setting aside, experiencing the depth of Deus Ex’s core gameplay for the first time was astounding. The game inserts you into what feels like a real, reactionary environment, with places to explore, people to talk to and conflicts to resolve. What’s more, the choice of how to fulfill your objectives is entirely up to you. As an upgradeable super-agent, you can choose which skills and bodily augmentations best suit your preferred approach. If you want to take a no-bullshit, guns-blazing approach, you could build yourself to be skilled in the use of heavy weaponry, and upgrade
your metabolism for increased health regeneration. Alternatively, you could take a stealthier approach, augmenting your legs for ultra-fast and silent running, and specialise in hacking computers or picking locks. Notably, the fact that you can take multiple approaches is consistently factored into the environment design—If you want to sneak around, there will always be a secret route to uncover or a security system to bypass. It’s actually possible to go an entire playthrough without killing anyone—an incredible feat of game design for its time. While the original wowed gamers and critics worldwide, its sequel, Deus Ex: The Invisible War, received a comparatively lukewarm response. Expectations were understandably sky-high, and although it garnered generally positive While the original reviews, it was entirely wowed gamers and overshadowed by critics worldwide, it’s the impact of the sequel, Deus Ex: The original. Most people Invisible War, received felt disappointed in the simplification, or a comparatively ‘dumbing down’ of lukewarm response the elements which made the first game so engaging. The plot was less dense and involving, and drastically reduced character customisation hampered its role-playing elements. These were essentially the things that made the formula of Deus Ex so successful, and thus, Invisible War was not remembered with nearly as much fondness as the original, and faded into obscurity. However, this was not to be the last heard from the Deus Ex series! Eleven years on from the original, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, technically a prequel, is to be released at the end of next month. Preview builds demoed at press events and over the internet give the impression that its developers are trying to faithfully recapture that essential playing experience that made the first game beloved by all. That, alongside the inclusion of both impressive art design and current conventional game mechanics should make the game both fun to play and an exercise in joyous nostalgia. Both Donnie and myself have been waiting in anticipation for quite some time, so expect full coverage from Anomalous Materials come September!
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Salient Vol. 74
Music
Interviews... Barney Chunn
I AM GIANT I AM GIANT, the brainchild of Shelton Woolright (formerly of Blindspott) and Paul Matthews (formerly of Stylus), have been honing their musical baby in the UK since 2008. Having gained members in the motherland, they are making their way back to NZ to unleash their debut record and a host of live shows. Shelton, having come over early to take care of the business side of things, spoke to us about his worldwide endeavours and what it’s like making music in the age of the Internet. Hi Shelton. Hi Barney. What’re you wearing? Sorry, I missed that. Sorry, I asked, how long have you been back in NZ for? I just came back last week, the others are still in the UK, and I’ve just come back early to help with some business stuff and to set up some things here for the release of the record, so I came home early man. The others are coming back on I believe the 30th of July. So not too far away now. How come you decided to be based in London rather than in NZ? Well it wasn’t so much that I AM GIANT decided to be based there, it was that Paul and I did, and that I AM GIANT were actually formed there. So Paul and I moved over there as musicians with not really any intentions or clue of what we were going to get up to, we just wanted to be playing music over in the UK, and to play around with a few other bands, and then Paul and I formed I AM GIANT and wrote ‘City Limits’ one afternoon and then auditioned 160 vocalists and found Ed and then 120 guitarists and found Max, who was a UK guitarist, who we’ve recently replaced with Aja, who was in Blindspott with myself and now is in I AM GIANT fulltime and is based up in the UK with us. I hear you guys held auditions, which is how Ed joined the band, did you have specific ideas of what sort of music you wanted to be making before you all got together? Kind of, but we didn’t really know... Read the rest online! I Am Giant The Horrifying Truth Album Tour Saturday 13th August at Bodega
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Karl Stevens The Drab Doo-Riffs’ arrival in our fair city is imminent and happily anticipated. Their live shows are infamously good and with the inimitable Karl Stevens at the helm, you can be assured of deceptively clever rock’n’roll and a goddamn good time. How did the Drab Doo-Riffs come into being? Well, the songs I started writing when I was living in England, so it sort of started out by myself really, and a friend of mine encouraged me to put them up on MySpace, just these demos that I’d done with a dictaphone, and so they sat there for a while under the name Drab Doo-Riffs, until I moved back to New Zealand, then I started thinking, “wouldn’t it be nice to get a band together and muck around with these songs, write new songs, and play gigs etc.” And that’s pretty much what happened. I would just point the people who I came across to the MySpace and if they liked the songs that was the sole criteria really. And kind of miraculously Marcus, the bass player, was into it, and then Lucy, who I work with in the Vietnam War, she was really keen, and then Mikey was keen to work with Lucy, and then Caoimhe was keen as well, she’s my sister-in-law, and I just thought “wouldn’t it be good to have another vocalist and someone to add a different flavour.” And so that’s how it came together. So you wrote those demos in England by yourself, how much do you think about how songs will work live when you’re writing? Well they changed a lot when we all got together in a practice room, the songs got bigger and everyone’s different tastes polished up the songs. But really when we’re writing them it’s a bonus if they are going to work well live. Occasionally we write something and go, ‘oh that’ll go well live’ but just whatever blows our hair back is what we go for really. There are two sorts of ways I write really...
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Read the rest online! Drab Doo-Riffs supporting Liam Finn Saturday 6th August at San Francisco Bath House
The Arts
Issue 16 Justice
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Film
TERRI ADAM GOODALL
It’s easy to come to the conclusion that Terri is just another one of those 21stcentury tales of precocious teens coming of age and learning valuable lessons about life. Our protagonist, the obese, world-weary Terri, is the logical extreme of the disaffected loner high schooler—he wears pyjamas to school, he engages in odd forms of altruism with local hawks and he’s practically isolated from the real world by virtue of living with his old uncle in the middle of the woods. The moral at the end of the story is also par for the course, with Terri learning that the world can be cruel and fucked-up, but that it’s better when you’ve got someone to weather it with. Where Terri differs from your regular coming-ofage story is in its execution—and it’s all the better for it. Director Azazel Jacobs’ approach to Terri is calm and, in a sense, meditative. Barely anything in frame moves quickly or makes much noise—like Terri, the life in Jacobs’ lens takes life as it comes and doesn’t see any particular reason in moving any faster. With minimal non-diegetic music, sparse sets and the frequent use of static shots, Terri feels more matter-of-fact and honest about its characters and its story than the likes of Juno or Rocket Science. Rather than trying to spin a crude approximation of the way teenagers speak and act, Terri treats teenage life like anything else, stretches of tedium and routine punctuated by achievements, connections and disappointments. Jacobs also gets great performances out of his young cast, feeding into his naturalistic portrait of the outer circle of high school life. As the eponymous loner, Jacob Wysocki gives a performance that wouldn’t be out of place in a Bresson film. A highly internalised portrayal of a boy simply resigned to the idea of his life stagnating, Wysocki’s passive demeanour gives greater depth and humanity to the moments when he can’t help but get emotional. Wysocki is well-supported by Bridger Zadina, who plays his fair-weather friend Chad with a simmering frustration at his inability to change the world around him; Wysocki is not so well-supported by John C Reilly, whose performance never really gels with the film’s melancholy until late into it. However, Terri still sets itself apart as a truthful and heartfelt look at high school life, at its best when it simply observes its characters, rather than manufacturing conflicts or forcing laughs.
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THE FUTURE Harry Evans
As a fan of director, actor and screenwriter Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, I found her follow-up, The Future, disappointing. The Future is the story of Sophie (Miranda July) and Jason (Hamish Linklater), a couple in their mid- thirties, whose decision to adopt an injured cat triggers crises that consume their relationship, their lives and even time itself. They see their imminent adoption of Paw Paw (the cat) as a symbol of settling down, not just with each other but with their boring lives and dead-end jobs. So, for the thirty days until they retrieve Paw Paw from the shelter, they decide to quit their unsatisfying jobs in order to find fulfilment and happiness through being entirely open to the opportunities that life may present. The Future is certainly not terrible—I enjoyed elements of it, especially July’s voice work as the cat longing to be loved. However, it is difficult get past the film’s irksome similarities to Me and You and Everyone We Know, be they in tone, dialogue or character. As it is, it becomes difficult to fully engage with The Future as a meaningful film experience when July calls attention to the ways The Future falls short in comparison to her previous film. As in Me and You, the characters in The Future are earnest and artistic members of the suburban middle class who feel isolated from society and have a deep desire to be fulfilled by the same simple things that work for their neighbours and colleagues. However, July fails to pull off this sense of alienation in a convincing way. It was also hard to take the scenes where time is messed around with seriously when they evoke a poor man’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Miranda July could make another really incredible film if she challenged herself and pursued different avenues, be it through exploring more diverse subject matter or through writing a protagonist that is not just a very slight variation of July herself, acted by herself. Overall, if you haven’t seen Me and You and Everyone We Know, The Future is probably not the film you should be (and, for that matter, need to be) seeking out.
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salient.org.nz
Columns
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Salient Vol. 74
will be
Sweet & Simple Hayley Adams
I made this recipe last week after finding it on an awesome blog written by a clever lady in New South Wales, you can go check it out at towardssustainability.com. It has heaps of great recipes, gardening tips and a few nifty craft projects too (including how to make your own reusable fabric sandwich wrappers!) I thought it would be a nice idea to make some muesli slice at home, perfect to take in your lunch or as a wee treat with your afternoon cup of tea.
Muesli Slice
• 2 cups rolled oats • 6 weet-bix • ½ cup of sultanas • A handful of dried apricots • 1 cup of orange juice (if you don’t have orange juice, you can use water with some brown sugar, but the orangy taste is delicious) • 1/3 cup of honey
Crush up the weet-bix in a large bowl. Add the oats, apricots and sultanas to the oat mixture. Put the honey and orange juice in a small saucepan and pop on a medium heat on the stove. Stir regularly and bring to a boil, simmer for about 10 minutes until it becomes a little syrupy. Add the orange juice to the bowl of dry ingredients and combine. Tip out into either a lined baking dish or a tray with a bit of baking paper on it. Press it down until it is roughly rectangular and a couple of centimetres thick. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until toasty brown. Cool in/on the baking tray and then turn out and chop into which ver shapes and sizes your heart desires. This recipe is simple and the slice is a yummy, chewy consistency. When I make it again, I am going to swap one of the weet-bix for some nuts and seeds and maybe throw in a little cinnamon.
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Christchurch brewing dynasty is 20 years young Brendon Mackenzie
Harrington’s Brewery of Christchurch is an institution that has now been providing quality beer to the locals for 20 years. The family business, with three generations of the Harrington family involved in the brewing, celebrated the milestone recently with a few quiet drinks after the normal business of brewing, bottling and selling beer. A family portrait is proudly on display at the Ferry Road brewery site to commemorate the early steps towards a New Zealand brewing dynasty. The Harrington’s brewery was started by John Harrington in 1991 in an old Gilmore Street pub—now the home of Pomeroy’s Ale House. John had retired from being a publican for many years, but by all accounts had grown a little restless with the ‘easy life’ and decided to start a brewery to produce the classic kiwi styles: Lager, Dark and Draught. Sons Carl and Craig returned home from Australia to help Dad out. As Carl enthusiastically puts it, “[Craig and I] had to be involved with a brewery!” Demand for the beer soon saw the brewery relocate to the Ferry Road location, close to the now ghost-like AMI Stadium. Touring the Ferry Road brewery with Carl, I was reminded of what so many have lost. Rubble, filled sections and boarded up businesses neighbour the brewery, indicating the loss to the community. Harrington’s was relatively lucky in the succession of quakes. Production at the Ferrymead Brewery was halted for a number of days due to power supply issues resulting in 30,000 litres of beer being dumped. The Hills Road bottle store has been closed due to sustained damage from repeated aftershocks. The Harrington’s business model has always been a little different to other breweries. Harrington’s has two breweries, eight bottle stores and a restaurant-bar dotted around Christchurch with over 70 people involved in running the various businesses. The day I visited there was a steady flow of patrons coming to the Ferry Road brewery to fill up their flagons. With over 25 Harrington’s beers produced there is plenty of choice on the taps. Over 70 per cent of Harrington’s sales are via their own bottle stores and restaurants. Thankfully, some Harrington’s beers make it into Wellington supermarkets and bars. Not wanting to rest on their laurels the team are set to launch a number of new ‘Brewers specialty’ beers in the coming months. I was lucky enough to taste a pilot batch of ‘Anvil’—a late-hopped Pale Ale with pronounced floral and stone fruit flavours from the hops. Keep an eye out for this beer! With the multi-national Lion moving production away from Christchurch following the quakes, Harrington’s is the largest brewery in the city and looking to grow. This proudly loyal and local brewery is reflecting the spirit of a city—to endure and move with the times. The first 20 years was just the beginning.
Beers to try:
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While the Harringtons’ beers have always had a firm grounding in the traditional kiwi styles of New Zealand Draught and New Zealand Lager, the range is huge and will accommodate most tastes. Here are a few worth seeking out: Clydesdale Stout: Easily accessible Stout with roast, chocolate and light caramel malt flavours. Razor Back: A malt-focused session beer with a light hoppy nose. A nice balance of caramel and toffee malt flavours with a moderate balancing bitterness. The Rogue Hop: An example of New Zealand Pilsner, this hoppy pilsner has a ‘raw’, grassy and floral hop aroma with a slight malty sweetness in the finish.
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Notices
14/8 – ExxonMobil
Gender Club Society
31/8 – Embassy of France; The Australian National University
The Gender Club Society is a social and support group for trans*, genderqueer, intersex, and questioning students, and their friends, partners, allies, etc. Our next meeting is at 4pm on Tuesday 2 August in Meeting Room 2, Level 3, Student Union Building. New members are welcome.
10/9 – United Nations 30/11 – Jet Programme Salient provides a free notice service for all Victoria University of Wellington students, VUWSA-affiliated clubs and not-for-profit organisations. Notices should be received by 5pm Tuesday the week before publication. Notices should be fewer than 100 words. For-profit organisations will be charged $10 per notice. Send notices to editor@salient.org. nz, with ‘Notice’ in the subject line.
Careers Expos – check details CareerHub: 11/8 – Science Careers Expo, 11am – 12pm, Alan MacDiarmid, 30+ Employers 16/8 – FCA: Post-experience Careers Expo, 5 – 7.30pm, Rutherford House, email Claire.angliss@vuw.ac.nz to RSVP Get expert advice from Vic Careers on: - what to do with your degree
Film Society
- how to put together a CV
Do you want a chance to watch a vast range of weekly movies with fellow students?
- what to expect at an interview
Do you want to eat homemade popcorn while doing so? Do you want to pay dirt cheap prices for it? If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’ then come along to Film Society. Thursday Night 6:30pm Room 203, 83 Fairlie Terrace This week, pay only $15 for a year’s worth of films (carrying through semester 1, 2012) or $2 for a single non-membership screening and watch Fred Astaire do his thing in Stanley Donen’s Golden Age musical Royal Wedding. Film Society: All the cool kids are doing it.
Drinking getting you down? AA Student Meeting Every Thursday Student Union Building Room SU219 Noon email: aameetingstudent@gmail.com
Students for Palestine presents: PALESTINE SOLIDARITY This week: WEDNESDAY 3rd: Speaker Panel with Dr Nigel Parsons, Senior Lecturer, Massey University ‘Occupation and Resistance’; Spokesperson from Kia Ora Gaza on the latest attempt to break the siege on Gaza; Testimonies from Occupied Palestine. 6:00-8:00pm, Memorial Theatre Foyer, Student Union Building, VUW Kelburn Campus. Come along and learn some more about what’s really going on in Palestine.
CAREERS AND JOBS
- how to get a job Vic Careers: 463-5393, careers-service@vuw.ac.nz, 14 Kelburn Parade
Why not study overseas as part of your degree?!
Because communication isn’t optional, Toastmasters is a club dedicated to helping people practice public speaking in a fun and supportive environment.
Earn Vic credit, get Studylink & grants, explore the world! Weekly seminars on Wednesdays, Level 2, Easterfield Building, 12.55pm - 1.05pm
Everyone - no matter what your current public speaking ability – is welcome. Come along and see what Toastmasters is all about.
Upcoming Deadlines: For Tri 1, 2012 exchange - July 16th, (UC June 30th)
Visit us online at vicuni.freetoasthost.info
Email: exchangestudents@vuw.ac.nz
Are you tired of the same old boring summer job?
Website: victoria.ac.nz/exchange Visit us: Level 2, Easterfield Building Drop-in hours: Mon & Tues 9-12, Wed-Fri 10-12
Blah Blah Blah Victoria’s premier open mic and spoken word event is back! This Wednesday the 3rd of August at Ramsey House, 8 Kelburn Parade. Starts 7:30, BYO Wine. Hosted by Human FM.
Women’s Group Movie Night Come along this Friday to watch some awesome feminist movies, hang out with like-minded people and eat pizza! Thursday the 4th at 5.30 in SU 217. Feminists of all genders welcome
Greens@Vic Greens@Vic weekly meeting to discuss election domination - all welcome. 1pm every Thursday, SU219.
Applications Closing Soon (details on CareerHub http://careerhub.victoria.ac.nz):
Vic Anime Club
7/8 – Ministry of Economic Development 8/8 – Auckland Council 11/8 – Russell McVeagh; Microsoft Corp. (Internship) 12/8 – ANZ; Microsoft Corp. (Graduate)
Toastmasters!!! Wednesdays, 12-1pm, Room 218, Student Union Building
Authorised by Jon Field, Level 2 17 Garrett Street, Wellington
5/8 – Macquarie Group; NZ Steel; ABB (Science/ Engineering)
The drop-in will continue this trimester, MondayFriday from 4pm to 6pm. It’s a place to bring friends, meet friends, make friends. It’s a place to study, relax or have fun. Come for academic support or a chocolate biscuit - ToffeePops are promised everyday next week! Senior students are available each day to help with your studies or surviving Vic: plan a paper, edit a paper, deal with a tutor, prepare for a test, practice an oral presentation, de-stress, prepare for th exams… Come by Room 1010 on the 10 floor of the Murphy Building.
Vic OE – Vic Student Exchange Programme
2011/12 Internships and 2012 Graduate Jobs:
1/8 – Fairfax New Zealand
VUW Drop In Centre for RefugeeBackground Students.
Do you want to be the very best? That no one ever was? Well come to the Vic Anime Club! Meetings every Monday at around 5.30pm, at Meeting Room 219 in the VUWSA building. There may be free stuff and your dreams may come true. For more details, contact us at vuw.anime@gmail.com. See you there!
Want excitement and adventure in an otherwise lame summer holiday? Challenge yourself with a truly cultural experience that has a positive impact on society. Develop professional skills not taught in the classroom and make yourself stand out to future employers. Travel abroad while still studying and gain experience before you graduate! Keen to find out more? Come to the Student Union Building Room 218 Tuesday and Thursday 12pm and 1pm Or apply online at impactabroad.org.nz Applications are closing soon for our Impact Abroad Summer Internship Programme, so make sure you don’t miss out! Look out for more awesome opportunities from AIESEC Victoria
SoAD Ball 19th August 8pm - 3am at The Garden Club, Tickets sold week days in the SoAD atrium from 12.30-1.30 25th July - 14th August = $25 per ticket. 15th August - 19th August = $30. CASH ONLY Playing: Frederick Crew (DJs) DJ WixMix DJ Koten Wives (Previously Entwives) Young Lyre (Previously The Frisk)
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Salient Vol. 74
Letters
Or Maybe You Could Just Move? Dear Salient,
Gettin’ Shitty About The Toilets
Amy Jade Winehouse dead because of crack her life could have been golden, but now it’s Back to Black.
Dear Salient,
Sad day Johnny.
Two things. Firstly, it has come to my attention that some students need a quick lesson in toilet etiquette, particularly those who frequent the level 1 cotton building female toilets. So, I have provided some useful rules. Failure to follow the rules immediately leads to doush bag status. Rule 1: Flush. You must always flush. Always. No exceptions. Rule 2: After application of rule 1, check that the toilet actually flushed. This must always be done. Always. No exceptions. If the toilet failed to fully flush, apply rule 1. Rule 3: Dispose of tampons and pads into the bins provided. Nobody wants to see how much you bleed. Rule 4: Do not piss on the floor. If you do, clean it the fuck up you disgusting pig. Secondly, someone ought to inform Ngai Tauira that lunches which celebrate Maori Language Week should occur in Maori Language Week. Not the following week. Muppets. Regards Disgruntled toilet user
Amy Winehouse Died and We Got This Letter About It Dear Salient, Drugs blew the Winehouse down, and extinguished a bright light from London town her voice took us high, but she was a mess She said no no no when she should have said yes One more voice that will sound no more we’ll never know what she had in store,
A bunch of people complaining that they can’t read Te Reo is not a “public debate” nor is it representative of the views of students. Soz. In your 2011 Letters Policy, you state that “Salient welcomes, encourages and thrives on public debate ... through the letters pages.” Why then, did you decide to decline the correspondence you receieved about the Te Ao Marama issue of Salient. Sure, your Letters Policy also states that you can decline any letters without explanation. But a every single letter about a particular issue? C’mon. Whatever one’s views on the annual te reo issue, this is an outrage. You should be ashamed to call yourself a student media publication when you refuse to publish the views of students. Sincerely, Disbelief.
‘Insomnia Cure’ is slowly creeping up the ‘Uses for Salient’ List Salient, I’ve picked up your magazine each week this year, and they’ve been getting progressively more boring.. I mean seriously, there were only a couple of bits in this week’s volume that were worth reading, and where the hell was the lol news? wtf Do something about it. Cheers
I have read your flatting issue and I regret to tell that you that there are other living situations just as bad (if not worse) than flatting. I live with just my boyfriend, and let me tell you, the 40 year old-ish man who lives upstairs WHO DOES NOT GO TO UNI is more annoying than watching Sesame Street. He always has loud music from 4pm-11pm every night, so I can’t study, his kids run up and down the lounge/kithchen like crazy (which I don’t understand because it’s only like 5 metres long, WTF could be such a rush?) and when the kids aren’t there, he throws parties and gets drunk. I mean I am pretty open to noise etc. I am the oldest of 5 children, and we are quite a loud bunch, BUT HE IS RIDICULOUS!! He smokes on the deck outside and then throws his cigarette butts at our washing line, he yells and abuses his cat when its time to come in, seriously its so harsh, I sometimes think I have done something wrong. People beware, you may live onto not have flatmates, but people that aren’t uni students are just as bad! Please Salientman, or whatever your superhero is called, come to my house and beat the shit out of this guy!! Very fustrated with the man upstairs, and no, I don’t mean God.
Post-Grad Craves Afterhours Computer Joy Kia ora Salient editor, In the old days all post graduate students could access a dedicated computer lab in the Von Zeditz building but now it appears that it is assumed that all individual schools supply computer facilities and when they don’t? I am a student in Maori Business 401 enrolled in a post graduate class of 4 and none of us can access the post graduate Pipitea Victoria Management School student computers. The reason given is that none of us are enrolled in Honours or higher in Management school.
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Issue 16 Justice
When our lecturer enquired on our behalf about any other post grad facilities that we might about to access elsewhere she got an outdate list of places that used to exist. The only one of these that still exists in any form is the PGSA Computer Suite in the Student Union Building. This used to be a 24 hours 7 days a week but now shuts at 4.30pm Mon-Friday and isn’t open weekends. While I understand while this has happened it still amounts to a huge loss of service for those of us affected.
others that there are people living north of Khandallah. You need not mention the city of Upper Hutt, for that is a myth, long since lost to human civilisation.
My absence was preordained by a long-standing commitment in Auckland that day. I gave my apology to the organisers, and it was noted.
Nonetheless in the interest of fairness I ask you to consider the many shitty aspects of the Hutt in a future issue, so that we all get the chance to feel insulted.
Do what thou wilt-on
To VUWSA’s Campaigns Officer
As for the charge that I am ‘distancing’ myself from the campaign, this couldn’t be further from the truth. I approached Students for Justice in Palestine earlier in the year to express interest in their activities and inquired about how I might be able to incorporate some of their ideas into the broader theme of a campaign on international affairs. In fact, I gave the group my support for the idea of holding an SRC meeting on the Birzeit University issue last trimester.
Dear Salient, After having a good read of this weeks issue on flatting, I enjoyed reading your article about the suburbs of Wellington. However, I am disappointed that you seem to include suburbs like Northland, Karori and even Khandallah, but you missed me!!! I exist too! I live in Wilton!!! WILTON!!! For those who don’t know, thats between Northland and Khandallah, like 2 kms up from Northland!! Its a town! If you still don’t know, google it. I think if google recognises me as a place, Salient should to. Its only fair, after all, google is always right.....ALWAYSSSS!! Little insignificant Wilton-ian (is that right?)
Ed’s Note: “Wilton – Where ginger-bearded dribblers go to hunt domestic pets and bake bread whose only ingredient is the mould that collects on their toes. Wilton is not so much a place as a way of life. That way being out the fucking window into the fucking bin where it belongs.” Happy now?
The Hutt is not a suburb, it is a hell dimension shrouded in the cloak of a shithole Whilst I found your recent article on the pitfalls of Wellington suburbs to be entertaining and informative, I was shocked to see no mention of any similarly appalling suburbs from the Hutt Valley. I would have thought the decaying, wasteland that is the Hutt would be prime fodder for a scathing attack on the suburbs. A city with no distinct character, appeal or real law and order would surely be an amusing target. A city that is centred about the Church of Westfield, an institution so lifeless and dull that the toilets are more commonly used for self-harm than for relieving oneself. We have a variety of interesting yet depressing suburbs, many of which are plagued with many more social ills than anywhere in Wellington itself. Naenae is well known for its fondness for violent assaults and knife-crime as well as a zoo which some have described as a “school”, whilst Kelson is famous for being completely unknown, to anyone. A simple mention of our existence would have done much to provide a respite from the unbearable pain that is our lives, and acted as a reminder to
Yours Sincerely, Gerald Lee
Maybe he was just Joshing? I was wondering if you could please justify some of the comments you made in your recent Campaigns Column. You referred to the motion for ‘VUWSA to support the “Right to Education” campaign in the West Bank, Palestine,’ with guest speaker John Minto by saying that you ‘couldn’t think of a more divisive issue and speaker if [you] tried.’ Could you please explain, perhaps in a letter of response, what it is specifically that you find divisive about this issue? Students of Birzeit University are routinely intimidated and harassed by Israeli security forces. Students and staff members have been illegally detained, some have disappeared. Access to the University is regularly blocked by Israeli checkpoints, at which students have been shot, beaten, even tortured. The Birzeit University Council has in the past released annual summary reports detailing violations against the university community by the Israeli army. These reports are endorsed by Amnesty International and other respected human rights watchdogs, and can be accessed online. A brief excerpt from the 2004 report follows: ‘...Israeli soldiers returned their ID cards and as they were returning to their homes, a second group of soldiers arrived on the scene and began randomly shooting at the students in clear sight of the first group of soldiers. Two students were injured; one student was seriously wounded when a live bullet fractured his leg; the other student was hit in the hand with a rubber bullet.’ Furthermore, I ask you to please clearly identify the reasons why you have chosen to distance yourself from this campaign. I take it from your article that you have elected not to even attend the SRC. You failed to hold an SRC last trimester, which directly contravenes VUWSA’s constitution. This means VUWSA is now in breach of the one article in its constitution that holds it accountable to students through student democracy. You, the Campaigns Officer of VUWSA, will finish the year without even asking students, through an SRC, what issues they want VUWSA to campaign on. I don’t care what VUWSA says, you do not represent me.
The Campaigns Officer Responds
My comment about it being a ‘divisive’ issue was intended to elicit the kind of response you gave. I wanted people to question it. However, it is not my role as Campaigns Officer to tell you what to think, or how to feel about a particular issue. Constitutionally, my role is to encourage discussion on issues concerning students as citizens. With regard to the constitutional status of the SRC, you are absolutely right. But responsibility for that does not fall solely on me. If you feel so strongly about it, then I implore you to take the matter up formally with the Executive. Regards, JVV
A Pride Week to Be Proud Of Redux Us ‘homo’s have come a long way. From a once fatally persecuted sexual minority, today ‘queerness’ is a bold and proud testament to our nation’s diversity. This community, in its celebration of difference, inclusion and exuberance, is the part of this city I first fell in love with.
Salient Letters Policy 2011 Salient welcomes, encourages and thrives on public debate—be it serious or otherwise—through the letters pages. Write about what inspires you, enrages you, makes you laugh, makes you cry. Send us feedback, send us abuse. Anything. Letters must be received before 5pm Tuesday, for publication the following week. Letters must be no more than 250 words. Pseudonyms are fine, but all letters must include your real name, address and telephone number. These will not be printed. Please note that letters will not be corrected for spelling or grammar. The Editors reserve the right to edit, abridge or decline any letters without explanation. Letters can be sent to letters@ salient.org.nz, posted to Salient, c/- Victoria University, PO Box 600, Wellington or dropped into the Salient office on the third floor of the Student Union Building.
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Send ‘e
.nz nt.org @salie letters / c t Salien rsity Unive ia r o t Vic 0 x6 0 PO Bo ton
g Wellin
Our youth pay tribute to this history too - not with pride, however, but with a shockingly high suicide rate and none of the niceties and securites of their heterosexual counterparts. We are not there yet. Indeed, such progress ‘depends not only on changing laws but also changing hearts’, as Obama once said to an LGBT audience, and so when I read a certain series of aaronandandy.com blog posts this week, I was exactly that: disheartened. With a tone befitting of a scorned tweenager and laughable factual accuracy, this alarmingly popular ‘journalist’s shameless self-promotion was, this time, at the expense of a fledgling, hardworking youth movement - a blemish on a subculture I was once entirely proud of. Surely our challenges are sufficient enough. In the face of the reinforcement of such destructive and embarrassingly old-hat social stereotypes, how can the young queer leaders of this generation be inspired to go about ‘changing hearts’ and our societies when our role models are the Andy Borehams of this world? Genevieve Fowler
With the greatest respect to the author of this letter, my non-attendance at the SRC last Friday is totally irrelevant to the points raised.
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Scatterbrain II
Beatles songs
Olympic sports
Puzzles
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Salient Vol. 74
ACROSS:
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1. VENOM
2. NOTION
4. FAMINE
3. MORSEL
8. OOZE
4. FEIGN
9. DETER
5. NIGHT
11. GENTLE
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13. UNIT
7. GUEST
14. TABLET
10. VITAL
16. ANNUL
12. JACKET
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20. AMBIT
17. STAIN
I
A
I
V
R
I
B
M
N
L
E
M
S
N
O
22. TITLE
18. EXCEED
B
N
F
L
E
B
R
E
P
O
U
Z
I
O
Z
24. THORN
19. STOP
A
O
L
E
B
R
W
T
F
S
S
K
A
T
R
26. EMPTY
21. BOND
27. NOBLE
23. EFFORT
S
E
G
E
V
U
E
O
S
L
N
M
C
S
R
29. POKER
25. HIND
A
I
Y
N
N
E
P
G
L
U
A
H
I
E
Y
31. ADMIRE
28. OVERT
E
N
A
R
I
N
T
E
S
S
A
R
H
R
E
34. ROBE
29. POSTER
E
G
P
R
E
C
V
T
R
R
O
B
E
L
C
36. TENANT
30. KATANA
R
E
G
D
M
E
N
H
M
H
S
H
O
O
E
37. TRAIL
31. ACTOR
F
F
E
S
N
L
I
E
F
E
C
P
U
R
N
38. WAVE
32. MANIC
39. SYMBOL
33. ENTRY
Z
W
Z
T
H
L
L
R
F
R
E
E
U
R
W
40. REACH
35. BOWL
S
E
I
E
L
E
C
T
A
B
U
Z
Z
R
A
N
N
O
R
O
U
L
E
C
N
A
R
F
C
F
G
B
G
N
I
V
O
L
Y
M
L
L
A
I
K
ACROSS: 2. To climb up (5) 5. Bad to the highest degree (5) 8. Angry look (5) 10. Void (5) 12. To mature (5) 14. Segment (7) 16. Static (5) 17. What goes around comes around (5) 18. Wager (4) 19. Lengthen (6) 20. Hood (6) 21. Stimulating (5) 23. A baked snack (6) 25. Realm (6) 28. Lettering (4) 29. Replenish (5) 31. A transitional place (5) 32. A cocktail (7) 33. To detest (5) 34. Burglary (5) 36. Topic (5) 37. A tangent (5) 38. Direct (5)
DOWN: 1. Pessimistic (8) 3. Recognition (6) 4. Recede (3) 6. Lessen (6) 7. Tighten (8) 9. Characteristic (6) 11. Barb (5) 13. Benefactor (6) 15. Thrill (5) 22. Behave towards (5) 23. To pledge security for repayment of borrowed money (8) 24. To conclude (6) 26. Impervious (6) 27. Articulate (8) 28. Entice (5) 30. Large marine animal (6) 31. Pay attention with your ears (6) 35. Falsehood (3)
Wordfind
S
E
C
A
F
Member countries of the EU
Pokemon
Colours
S
CRYPTIC ACROSS: 2. The magnitude of removing bits of fish skin (5) 5. The nastiest sounds like a brat sausage (5) 8. Large bright light (5) 10. Say bullshit for a chasm (5) 12. To grow snipers inside (5) 14. A part I see in stone (7) 16. Theatre nicety is lifeless (5) 17. This is what you get when you mess with us without police (5) 18. Stake your mother’s sister (4) 19. The next edition will stretch out longer (6) 20. A cap of half candy mesh (6) 21. Some daze by the pig house to be piquant (5) 23. Gaga’s bluffing with her food (6) 25. The State Building strikes back! (6) 28. Petty sort (4) 29. The wren you start again (5) 31. Rob millions to see how low you can go (5) 32. Ram it in with gin and olives (7) 33. Loathe the All Blacks prostitute (5) 34. The larceny of some fettered top of a hat (5) 36. The idea of methamphetamine and MDMA (5) 37. Apart from the top face of a gramophone record (5) 38. The Young Victoria Emily Frank (5) CRYPTIC DOWN: 1. I gave ten less than zero (8) 3. Tire the compact disc with money on your phone (6) 4. Every bed and breakfast will fade (3) 6. The psychiatrist gets smaller (6) 7. Agreement that we are in contact (8) 9. A feature of European Community in the past (6) 11. Buffy’s British sharp point (5) 13. The investor will tap back Weasley (6) 15. Excite the electronically tardy (5) 22. The luxury of alien art (5) 23. Gauge the death of the loan on your house (8) 24. End like you’re from Helsinki (6) 26. I maintain my untouchable nature everywhere (6) 27. The lock went in a well-expressed manner (8) 28. Lure the temporary teaspoon (5) 30. The friend of Caroll’s carpenter after the eggman (6) 31. Take note of the twisted sparkly decorative material (6) 35. Defibrilate the fiction (3)
“I don’t like jail. They got the wrong kind of bars in there.” -Charles Bukowski Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.55)
4
1
5
2
6
8
9
7
3
8
2
3
1
7
9
6
5
4
9
2
6
9
7
3
4
5
6
2
8
3
9
8
1
7
5
7 3
1 2
3
4
5
6
8
4
4
6
7
9
9
5
1
2 8
5
1 4 6
7 3
8 7 1 3 2 5 4
1 4 8 2 9 3 6
2 9 5 6 7 8 1
Sudoku
Puzzle 1 (Very hard, difficulty rating 0.78)
6
2
7
2
7
5
1
9
8
5
1
7
3
8 3
6 1
5
7
4
8
9 9
1
8
3
6
6
5
1
Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/~jdhildeb/software/sudokugen/ on Thu Jul 28 02:47:45 2011 GMT. Enjoy!
Issue 16 Justice
47
Comics
salient.org.nz
Salient and Vic ITS present
48
Salient Vol. 74
One person’s trash is... another person’s home entertainment system
Salient and ITS have teamed up to locate the worst lounge in the student body, which we will pimp out with some of the second-hand stuff we’ve got lying around, including a Sony data projector, a DVD/ CD/MP3 player, speakers, and a screen (of sorts). We’ll even throw in a multi-point power plug and an extension cord! Just send a picture of you holding an issue of Salient in your poor excuse for a lounge to editor@salient.org.nz with PIMP MY LOUNGE in the subject line and you’re in the competition. The mankiest lounges will be featured in an upcoming issue of Salient. The one voted by ITS and Salient staff to be the worst will win the whole package. We’ll even deliver and set up your prize in person. Photos by the 26th of August please. For terms and conditions, go to victoria.ac.nz/its/studentservices/student-promotions.aspx.
Win a S data pr ony o a DVD/ jector, C player, D/MP3 spe and a s akers, creen