Movies, Schonell, Respecting Women

S E M P E R Your student magazine

Issue One February 2021

Free

Acklowledgement of Country Semper acknowledges the Turbal and Jagera Peoples as the traditional owners of the land on which this newspaper is created. We pay our respects to elders past and present.

Editorial Out of touch, is the best way to describe UQ Life, they’re not a bad group of people with malicious intent, quite the contrary they are good people with good intentions.

It is however an unavoidable truth that they are not in touch with students, because they are, for the most part, not students.

When attending an event planned by UQ Life it is difficult not to feel like you’re attending a corporate event with the intention of creating a better image of the university.

While there is nothing wrong with the university’s image, this is not the way to do it.

If UQ Life is determined to keep putting on events for students they would be best served by collaborating with students through the UQ Union, or better yet, provide funding to help the UQ Union put on events.

In this issue 3 UQ Library, a free Netflix 4 Bob Katter on Schonell Theatre 6 Sexuality and identities 7 Your UQU Collectives 8 UQ, the Union, and You 10 Studying from home 12 Union Pages 13 Sudoku and puzzle 14 Respect Is... winning submission

Write for us!

Message the Semper Floreat facebook page, or drop into our offices near the RedRoom.

On the cover Photo by Cassidy Cloupet.

Students perform at the UQ Union's 2019 Clubs and Societies Awards Night held at Schonell Theatre.

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Our Team Editor in Chief Matthew Johnson Editors William Ketter, Daniel Chancellor, Tennessee Walker, Jaycob Hayden, Isabella Towers, Marisha Robinson, Will Simon, Claire Sturm, William Kugelman Publisher Semper is published by the UQ Union President, Emily Scott, but she respects our editorial independence.

Disclaimer The views expressed in this publication are personal opinions of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or the views of the UQU. All articles are to be considered opinionative in nature. All articles remain the intellectual property of the authors.

UQ Library, a Netflix alternative

By Rowan Evans For some time now, I’ve been hooked on trying to consume all the ClassicsTM in time to be considered cultured. For some reason the deadline in my head is 30, which still seems a lifetime away, but there are just oh so many classic films out there.

Even just a few years ago it seemed like one of the best purchases to assist in this aim was Netflix, with a library of content so massive you could never hope to watch everything.

But I, like many people, have more recently noticed the Netflix bucket has a bottom, and the water in it is shallow indeed. With each newcomer to the streaming scene, that water spreads out and gets shallower. And it’s not like any newcomer unearths a trove of heretofore unencountered films that capture the heart and mind, belonging to some ancient tradition that has been lost to time.

No, instead the cinematic canon is spread thin among the purchasers of streaming rights, and each attempts to paper over their deficiency of offerings with a smattering of cheaply-produced content, the binging of which distracts us from the idea that we haven’t had a properly satisfying meal of cinema recently.

We finish a season of Friends and rejoice that our platform now has the rights to The Office, and convince ourselves that the treasure trove no longer exists.

An upwards trend on the cycle of relinquishing rights and purchasing rights is all we can hope for.

But what if I told you (as Morpheus said to Neo) that such a trove actually does exist? What if, in fact, you already have a subscription to this trove, you’ve just never thought to make use of it?

I tell you that trove does exist, and you purchase it with your semesterly tuition.

Friends, I tell you the very UQ Library contains within it a collection of classic films that puts every streaming giant to shame.

Yes, that’s right, the same website where you hastily look for tangential sources that you can make a vague gesture towards in your last-minute essay can also double as an entire replacement for Netflix.

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I’ll refer here to ten classic films which, although they are randomly selected, are also in the exact order as they appear on IMDb’s Top 10 list by user rating: The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, The Dark Knight, The Godfather: Part II, 12 Angry Men, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Pulp Fiction, Schindler’s List, Inception, and Fight Club. Do you know what they all have in common?

They are all (led by white males, but also) available on the UQ Library website.

Do you know how many are on Netflix? Just one (Dark Knight.

At least at the time of writing this). Admittedly, Netflix did also host Shawshank and Godfather at some point over the past twelve months.

But, as a streaming service, they are so fickle, and willing to serve their own needs for subscription renewal, rather than your own quest for edification at the temple of culture.

Are we going to go gently into a world where our chances of catching classic cinema are congruent to whether our streaming platform has them this month, and us grabbing it with both hands before it disappears back into the ether?

Do you want to live in that world?

I don’t.

Bob Katter on Schonell Theatre

By Matthew Johnson Opening in 1970, the Schonell Theatre recently celebrated it’s 50th anniversary, since opening the theatre has played host to many law and med revues, countless student productions, and numerous professional performances.

When not playing host to student performances, art exhibitions, or award winning musicals like RENT, Schonell Theatre is home to a spirit by the name of the Sophea who reportedly haunts the theatre.

Despite its rich cultural and political history, the theatre lost it’s bid for heritage status in 2019, allowing the university to proceed with plans to demolish the theatre.

One UQ alumnus and current member of the House of Representatives in Australia’s Federal Parliament, Bob Katter, spoke out strongly against the university’s plans to demolish Schonell.

Schonell was a place of fun, culture, politics, and learning according to Katter.

“It was nothing serious, it was just a huge fun time,” Katter said.

“It’s very sad that universities are not a fun place anymore.”

When reflecting on his own experiences at Schonell, Katter told of the significant role the theatre has played in Queensland’s cultural and political history.

In the mid-sixties while a resident at St Leos College, Katter watched as the UQ Union complex became a place of discussion and the sharing of ideas.

“It was a forum, a cradle of ideas, and intellectual thought,” Katter said.

It was a forum, a cradle of ideas, and intellectual thought

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In 1967, more than a decade after the start of the Vietnam War, thousands of students and staff gathered outside the union complex at UQ, listening to speakers who were advocating for a march without a permit to oppose the Vietnam War. “Five thousand people marched from Schonell Theatre into the central railway station, fighting for, initially, to get us out of Vietnam, and later on for freedom of speech,” Katter said.

“Schonell Theatre was the heartland of freedom of speech in the state of Queensland.”

When not playing host to political discussions, and the sharing of ideas, Schonell Theatre has been a place for students, and the community to display art, and put on performances.

For many artists and performers their first chance to showcase their talents has been at Schonell Theatre.

One Australian country artist’s first exhibition was held in Schonell Theatre, with Bob Katter arranging the exhibition.

“And I organised that exhibition, and there’s not a reputable art house in this country that won’t have his work,” Katter said.

Students outside Schonell Theatre circa 1976.(University of Queensland, Department of Audio Visual Services).

But the University of Queensland’s plans to redevelop the UQ Union complex and demolish Schonell Theatre drew criticism from many including Bob Katter.

“It would not be possible for me to have a lower opinion of the senate and administration at the University of Queensland,” Katter said.

“The fact that they’re closing down the Schonell Theatre, which was the Forum, it’s very sickening cause it describes clearly the sort of people they are,” Katter said.

Slated for demolition under the UQ’s multimilliondollar redevelopment plans, Schonell Theatre was considered for heritage status when it filed an application with the Queensland Heritage Council in May 2019.

But in December 2019, the Heritage Council decided that the theatre would not be added to the heritage registry, allowing the university to proceed with its plans to demolish the theatre and the surrounding UQ Union complex.

The redevelopment plans faced significant opposition from students first with thousands of students, staff, and community members signing a petition to save the Schonell started by former UQ Union Vice-President Nicholas Comino.

Further student led opposition to the redevelopment came in the form a student general meeting organised in 2019 by the UQ Union.

Hundreds of students packed into Schonell Theatre and voted that a replacement theatre should be student run, the result of the student general meeting vote was ignored by the university’s senate.

Katter also encouraged students to take a stand against the university, to stand up and fight.

“Your generation is gonna have to decide to get a bit of back bone and stand up to these bastards,” Katter said.

A spokesperson from UQ said that the university wants to invest in a space that meets the needs of current and future students.

"Progress on the student site complex was paused last year due to the pandemic. This work will start again shortly and will include engagement with staff, students and the community. We want to ensure we invest in an inclusive space, that meets the needs of students today and into the future - while acknowledging The Forum’s contribution to fostering debate about a range of social issues."

The fact that they’re closing down the Schonell Theatre, which was the Forum, it’s very sickening cause it describes clearly the sort of people they are

Students take to the main stage of Schonell Theatre during the 2019 Clubs and Societies Awards Night.(UQ Union: Cassidy Cloupet).

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Opinion: Sexuality and identities

By William Kugelman In response to the anonymous love letters I have received enquiring about my sexuality.

Performance in accordance with sexualities entails the fulfilment of the requisite coordinates on a multiplexed system which consists of: consent, in its primacy; actions, of one or more minds; objects such as bodies; immediate contexts or settings; broader narratives; and, any other variables as consist beings’ creative whims – such that sex is as art is.

Sexuality, though, is not a performance – it is an identity.

Equally, identities are historical rather than predictive. For sex, there is the act (physical or imagined) and there is how the agent/s felt in reflection. Sexual identities, then, are not at all strictly indicative of future sex acts. Inasmuch as philosophers claim roads direct cars, they are lying; vehicles’ drivers determine the direction of their travel. Just as roads guide drivers, sexual identities inform decisions surrounding consent.

One such identity – cupiosexuality, of the asexual umbrella – involves consensual sex acts which are not desired directly by the asexual beings, but through proxy of others’ desires.

Conventional ‘wisdoms’ might baulk at this for two reasons: the supposed degeneration of consent as a principle, and the perceived adverse individualisation of sexuality under neoliberalism.

The former implies said beings want never to have sex, whereas self-evidently the grammar regards not actively wanting sex. Furthermore, the view neglects that consent – in its relationships with social forces and physical realities – is conceptually multifaceted and never wholly actualised since it pervades its multiplex and is (seemingly unavoidably) affected by externalities. Thus, the affirmative consent model – where conscientious sexual agents engage openly in discussions regarding their assumptions of relevant risks such as pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and regret (et cetera) – is a pragmatic method, and not the adoption of some preordained consent principle.

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Equally pragmatic has been the adoption of terms like “queer” and “gay” for the normalisation of the sexualities they denote. Some – likely per ressentiment – argue that newly created identity terms represent unnecessary individuality and rigidity, whereas the older terms were supposedly inherently flexible and more indicative of the notion that sex occurred simply between the relevant faculties of one or more people. However, identities are only flexible at the moment of their conception; each passing moment presents us with options for acting in accordance with our historical identities, or in discordance – so as to recreate identities anew. Arguments about the meta of sexual identity terms are therefore mostly redundant, since identity terms are merely historical events.

Moreover, even if individualisation is a technology employed for the neoliberalisation of sexuality, rejecting the means will not necessitate desirable ends – particularly if the means are themselves ill-conceived; herein notably, much accelerationist theory proffers exploiting contradictions within capitalism. Indeed, sexuality is almost always framed individualistically, and corporatism and its marketisation of sex – as technologies of the neoliberal project – generally appear more oftemployed than individualisation. Short of coercing the adoption of Brave-New-World-esque sexualities where beings must be sexually available to whomever desires them, it is difficult to conceive of sexuality collectively. In any case, collectivism contra neoliberalism has no singular form.

Perhaps, then, the beautifully incessant self-expression that is being normalised contemporarily will eventuate as so rich a diversity as to reject needless discrimination in its many forms. As divisive as accelerationism is, there is unity in diversity: it’s called solidarity.

Your UQU Collectives UQ Union Women's Collective

The UQU Women's Collective is an autonomous group of Femaleidentifying and Non-Binary students who represent and advocate for Women on campus and in the broader community.

This year the WC has big plans for events and campaigns to raise awareness of gender inequality, engage new students and to collaborate with charitable organisations.

The WC also has a room at both St. Lucia and Gatton campuses where members can study, gather and engage with each other.

Keep up to date with what's going on by liking our Facebook page (@UQUWomensCollective), joining the private Facebook group and following our Instagram (@uquwomen). If you have any questions at all, get in contact with the 2021 Women's Officer, Emily Searle, through womenscollective@uqu.com.au.

Keep an eye out for our first meeting and the International Women's Day events!

UQ Union Queer Collective

The queer collective at UQ is your student run collective supporting queer and LGBTQIA+ students at UQ. We provide support, advocacy, social events, sexual health testing, sexual health information, information for medical transition, and a dedicated community hub.

This year the Queer Collective will be holding a multitude social events, including movie nights, games nights, a Pride Ball, and a Queer Festival. In addition the Queer Collective will celebrate all speciality days, such as Aromantic Awareness Day and Transgender Day of Visibility.

The dedicated community hub is known as the Carden Queer Room and Is used by LGBTQIA+ students only, allies are welcome as guests. The room is used as a study space, social space, a place to wear gender affirming wear and a place to hide away. Carden has a kitchenette and an extensive tea collection, so come on by and chill out.

UQ Union International department

The UQU International Department is focussed on providing international students with opportunities to participate in significant cultural celebrations and while also offering support in education and welfare matters.

Led by two elected International Students Officers, the International Department has an active advisory committee of ten students from diverse backgrounds, and is supported by a team of volunteers who help create, facilitate, and organise events and workshops.

In 2021, a variety of events and workshops will be held by the two elected International Students Officers. On-campus activities such as Cultural Fiesta, Paint & Sip, Gingerbread Decoration, Cooking & Language Exchange Class will definitely be the highlights of the year.

We’ll also be doing a lot to advocate for and support international students including job preparation, visa help, and more!

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Opinion: UQ, the Union, and You

By Tennessee Walker During most people’s introduction to university the UQ administration is their friend, and the student union is their smaller, much poorer friend. Over time however, if they pay attention, students will typically come to a more complete (and cynical) understanding of the various players in the petty power games that underlie the corporate side of tertiary education. For most people this awareness remains shallow, but if you’re reading the student newspaper we figure you’ll be curious enough to want the quick version in advance. So if you’re a clueless first year, an out-of-the-loop post-grad or one of the aforementioned corporate warriors poking their nose into student media for the strategic edge, read on for the condensed version of an undergrad perspective on student-admin relations.

The central problem

In the absolute simplest terms, the university is at a point where its main short to medium term goal is money. Of course, their justification is that eventually, in the distant future, they will be able to properly focus on research and education, but until then these lofty goals must take a back seat in favour of whatever is deemed necessary to achieve financial security (or rather, prosperity).

In the meantime, students suffer.

Maybe the best illustration of the issue at hand can be found by casting a critical glance at the naïve student’s idea of UQ. They believe that the university is something like the primary or secondary school they attended: an educational institution whose main goal is the intellectual and professional development of its students. And while it bears mentioning that the university is, on some level, definitely dedicated to this, the truth is that it's only one particular subset of their overall objectives. The goals of the university are a complex set of conflicting interests and ideals, from education, to research, to raking in as much money as possible and advancing the careers of those in charge as well as pursuing the public good.

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In recent years, under financial pressure from both government funding cuts and now a drop in enrolment due to COVID-19, UQ’s administrators have become increasingly concerned with securing their revenue streams. For confirmation one need only look at the University's hyperactive (and well-funded) marketing department, or the KPI’s handed down to our recently departed vice chancellor (concerned mostly with increasing enrolment at any cost), as well as the number of deals being sought with those who can provide sweet funding in exchange for a modest amount of the institution’s dignity and integrity.

When a multibillion-dollar institution has to balance the wants and needs of donors, think tanks, governments (at home and abroad) multinational corporate partners, researchers, academics and students, some parties are going to have to lose out. It is no surprise then that the most transient and least established group, the students, have drawn the short straw and bear the brunt of UQ’s cornercutting (though academics and researchers aren’t too far behind).

Unfortunately for UQ’s management, the student body often doesn’t take kindly to their revenue-raising schemes, which usually involve some combination of a working partnership with the devil, treating students like cash-laden cattle, mercilessly eliminating anything organic or unique and the all-round sucking-of-souls. Unfortunately for students the Administration cares little for any student discontent, especially when listening to student demands would prevent them from pulling in money and require them to admit their errors. In light of this, despite what some may optimistically imagine, the university administration does not answer to students. They answer to their senate, of which students make up a depressingly small part, the few students who make it there being largely powerless to change things anyway. UQ's goals remain financially inclined and decidedly separate from those of the student body, despite brief and elusive moments of co-operation.

The solution

We know that the university has goals separate from (and often opposed to) those of students, we know they won’t give students the power to oppose their plans, and in fact that they’ll do their best to suppress any dissent. The only solution, then, is independent co-operation between students, standing up for themselves when the university administration is acting against their best interests. This is the power of a student union and this is why for much of the union’s existence the university has been trying to shut it down, starve it of funding or replace it. No matter how nice UQ’s administration may be at any given point, the only body which can truly represent students is an independent student union.

After taking in the above, especially if you're unfamiliar with the theatre of student politics, you may be quite confused. That's alright, most people don't think about these things until their 3rd year, if they actively think about them at all. Regardless, if you're interested in seeing these issues in practice, read on and familiarise yourself with a couple of UQ's grand plans which form the ongoing struggles of student unionism in 2021:

bulldozing the union

Over the years the university administration has cleverly been siphoning assets from the union with the help of those willing to sell them. Notable examples here include union college, and the entire union complex, who some bright spark decided the student union could do without.

Meanwhile the union complex (including the beloved Schonell Theatre) is in an even more dire situation, slated to be knocked down. This is, of course, intentional. It's hard to fight a multibillion-dollar University's grand plans when you're losing income, even harder when your community hub is reduced to a small cube.

Besides, the union complex is both a bit daggy and a centre of genuine student life, neither popular with UQs management team who prefer brand new blocks of sterile, partitioned rooms. For them it's more about which buildings will look good enough in a brochure to increase enrolment, rather than what's comfortable for, or valued by students. By the time you figure out that their priorities don't involve you you're probably about to graduate, so why would they care?

uq life

Speaking of UQ's management team and denying the union funding, the university has decided that if they can't beat the union they should replace it.

Enter "UQ life" an attempt by the University to justify taking large amounts of student money and putting it into sub-par events, safely controlled by professionals rather than the grubby little undergrads who actually attend these gatherings.

Predictably something so inorganic and cynically engineered to remove student life from the control of students has not taken off a great deal, even if it takes a great deal of money from the union.

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slashing courses

Unfortunately, the changes students are facing aren't just social or "around the edges" as it were. And it's not just students facing them. A great number of courses have had their funding cut or have been removed completely. Several of the best courses I've done aren't planned to be offered ever again. Over half of the philosophy electives on offer when I arrived at UQ are now gone too. Of course the most popular, employable, milquetoast courses won't have to fear dissolution, though the amount the university spend on each student will likely keep decreasing, even if those students' fees don't.

conclusion

Though the above offers a grim picture of the state of things, there is definitely life in the union yet. Student community endures and there remain great things to do and people to meet. Nevertheless, keep an eye out because this likely won't be the last time you see or read about these issues while you're at UQ. I would like to finish with a disclaimer: this piece is not intended to frame this issue as the staff vs students.

UQ's administrative staff, though powerful, is still only a minority. The majority of UQ's staff: lecturers, tutors, counsellors, cleaners, etc. Are wonderful people who respect and are respected by students. They have helped me in my time here and I'm grateful for that.

The problem is that their help often comes in spite of, not because of the administrative bloat at the top of the university, in fact I'm sure plenty of staff have been pushed around by them just as students have. I'm even willing to note that I'm sure there are good people in the administration doing the right thing, sympathetic to student concerns. Nevertheless their behaviour so far has been decidedly anti-student union and antistudent. This piece is about the issue of students vs emotionless bean-counters, about decency and respect vs smug sneering superiors, and most importantly people over profits. If you're a student or a sympathetic staff member, keep your wits about you and your chin up, if you're an administrator, please, just listen.

Studying from home

By Claire Sturm These past few semesters have been very different from the norm with the coronavirus pandemic leading to all UQ courses being offered via flexible delivery, and most students taking their courses online, at least in part. While a large section of the general workforce has transitioned to working from home, people have raised the point of whether working from home should now become the norm.

Studying from home is really no different to this and these past few semesters have shown that online learning is a possibility, and not such an outlandish possibility at that.

Now, studying online is definitely not easy for everyone and we shouldn’t act like it is. This is precisely why all courses should be offered with flexible delivery, allowing both in person and online learning. The only change that should really be made is that online learning be made available as well as in-person learning.

There are many students (me included) for whom studying online has been incredibly liberating. Staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic can seem sad and gloomy but to me it has been a breath of fresh air. I’ve been able to take complete control of my schedule and it also cuts out travel time and the bus fare between home and uni. I’ve had a lot more time to do things that I enjoy like hanging out with friends, when coronavirus restrictions permit it of course.

Being able to choose when I watch my lectures makes it possible for me to study in a pattern that fits in with other commitments like work. Now, you can usually catch up on lectures you miss them even during normal semesters, after all these lectures are almost always recorded and uploaded online. However, the key difference here is the lectures are made specifically for being viewed online are often, if not always exactly the same as the lectures themselves actually given and not changed in any way to be made more accessible for those watching along online.

An example of this is during my first semester at UQ I missed a lecture fairly early on during the semester. The camera in the classroom hadn’t worked and so a whole section of the board was missing, and I just wasn’t able to see it. Now, I was able to make up for it by looking through the lecture notes but even then, having university level concepts explained to you is a lot easier than having to work them out yourself using the cryptic markings of the lecture notes.

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The issue doesn’t stop here, though, as the content of the lecture cannot simply be moved to a different mode and be expected to be just as effective in teaching. Both online and in person learning can be viewed later online, but the differences are obvious. With online classes tailor-made for students sitting in front of their computer, lessons become much more accessible with fewer, if any, sections of the lesson being only possible during the actual recording of the lesson.

Perhaps the key part of online learning that can’t be viewed later is breakout rooms. Last year I had a lecturer who used Zoom breakout rooms where students would discuss certain topics during nearly every single lecture. At least, that was the intention, although very often two or three students would talk while the rest said nothing, maybe a line or two if we were really talkative. It should be made clear though, this isn’t the students’ fault. I know from conversations with other students that many of us hate those kinds of forced group discussions and find it unconducive to learning. I’m sure many other students can relate to this and feel like their time would have been better spent doing literally anything else. Even if it was just writing down notes.

Since this is really the only part of online learning that is lost when you miss a lecture, this is a sacrifice many are willing to make, myself included. If people want to learn online, it should be made an option for all courses.

Of course, there are some parts of courses need to be done in person. For example, for pracs or placements, it is of course important to attend these in accordance with what is relevant to your study area, but most of the time, there are places to do these all across Queensland, or all across the world.

Some courses clearly have a crucial practical component that require attendance, like science, engineering, medicine, teaching, social work and many more. Such courses cannot be completed without this practical component and so that part of those courses doesn’t translate well to an online environment. However, even then, the option to do everything but the relevant practical components online should be made available. Perhaps it should also be made possible to have totally online classes for students able to provide a reason why they cannot attend in person classes.

So far, the focus has been entirely on students.

However, there is another important aspect to online teaching that I have thus far failed to mention, and that is the university teaching staff. It could be said that a major drawback to this proposal is that it would obviously require more work for teaching staff. My response is that teaching staff should certainly not be disadvantaged by the permanent introduction of online teaching options. Academic staff should in general be given greater employment security and additional teaching staff should be employed specifically to cater to the demand for the online learning option. Indeed, those lecturers and tutors focused on online learning might wish to be given the option to work from home.

All in all, there is no reason why UQ should not start considering a permanent move towards enabling online learning. It would undoubtedly be beneficial to students. Of course, not all students want to do online learning, but the option should be made available for those of us who have found it liberating to make our own schedule, and being able to more precisely control our own timetables.

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Union pages President's Report, Emily Scott, Rebuild I began my term as UQ Union President on December 16 and am excited to represent you throughout 2021. As President I am dedicated to ensuring that our Union is a transparent organisation which revives campus life after COVID-19, fights for your rights and isn't afraid to advocate for student issues to the University administration and Government. I have seen multiple wins for students in the short time I have been President, most of which would not be possible without students raising the alarm, so thank you!

January has been a busy month, with our main priority being perfecting our SSAF applications and operational plans for each portfolio. So what is SSAF? As per Australian legislation, you are charged a fee each semester you are enrolled for student services and amenities of a nonacademic nature (SSAF), the revenue of which is shared amongst UQ Student Affairs, UQ Sport and us - your democratically elected student Union. We use our share of SSAF revenue to enhance your campus experience with student-led events, offer support, advocate for you and provide opportunities to form communities.

If you had concerns about a sense of campus community not surviving the pandemic, there is no need to fear. We facilitate a number of autonomous collectives and have 220+ affiliated clubs and societies which connect you to likeminded students. Market Day has been designed by our team to be the perfect opportunity to get involved with these groups if you aren't already, so I hope to see you there on February 17! If you're in Brisbane make sure you don't miss out on our Great Court Neon Party on February 19, meanwhile, if you're at Gatton, there will be a similar party held for you too! If these events aren't your style, keep an eye out on our Facebook page for numerous other exciting events to start your semester right.

If the start of your year has been riddled with any academic, visa, work, welfare & wellbeing or legal concerns, feel free to book a free and confidential appointment with our wonderful 'Student Advocacy & Support' staff who can help you. If you have any concerns you want to raise with the student executive feel free to come have a chat with us at our primary office in the Union Complex or at one of the pop-up offices we will have across UQ campuses throughout the year.

Oppposition Leader's Report, darcy Creighton, Real I was pleased to be given the opportunity to contribute to the first edition of Semper for 2021, in my new role as a Councillor on the Student Union Council for this term. I intend on holding the new Labor-Rebuild administration to account on running the Union, and not necessarily seek to criticise their political views, but rather the quality of their efforts to support ordinary students at UQ. I hope this is a fresh approach to the Opposition Leader’s Report that ultimately seeks to explain how we plan to represent students better.

At the heart of our aims, fiscal responsibility for the Union budget is always a key priority for us. This allows for expanded SAS services, greater clubs and societies funding, bigger parties and more tangible outcomes for students, who may not just be here for an education. UQ provides a world-class education because of the plethora of extra-curricular activities and opportunities for students to get involved, like volunteering for the Union-run Morning Marmalades and Kampus Kitchens. New events and wider support for LGBTIQ+, women and other collectives on campus is just one example where Rebuild needs to address in 2021. We also know every day students love to party – and so do we. It was a shame to hear Rebuild cancelled Toga in O-Week for this year, something I know thousands of UQ students will be disappointed about.

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Let’s hope QUT doesn’t steal it back! I hope this isn’t a sign of an Executive with little C&S experience, as I sympathise with the C&S community over their concerns of the current VP C&S having never held an Exec position on one of UQs 250+ clubs and societies.

Instead, we need a team of students who have run clubs, fought for more C&S funding, wished for greater academic support and campaigned hard for such things as more bus services and standardised submission times. Instead of playing politics and being partisan hacks, UQU needs a team dedicated to the interests of every day students, and that will be our focus this year.

2020 was a tough year for many Australians, and particularly many students studying online, not being able to see family for months on end or in regards to accessing in-person services. As we gear up for hopefully an even bigger year in 2021, I look forward to attending many club launches, faculty events, society balls and sporting comps, and meeting you along the way.

Sudoku Easy

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February Puzzle: Word Wheel

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Be the first to show us the eight letter word, and win a prize.

Come to the Semper Office near the RedRoom to see if you're the first.

Respect Is... winning submission

By Jade Freeman To me, gaining respect starts with defiance. I am a woman, but who does that make me?

I am told to dress moderately, but not like a prude, don’t be too loud, be seen but not heard, keep my legs closed, but I MUST have children, and I mustn’t be too fat, or too thin, but if I’m proud of my body, I’m a slut.

Who made these rules? And why do we continue to enforce them? In a world where society and multinational corporations’ profit from a woman’s self-hate, any small act of self-love is defiance.

So, let’s talk about the society we live in, and how we can change it for the better. Unfortunately, gender inequality is so deeply rooted in our society we have become blind to the intricacies of it, the subtle remarks.

It starts young. When your grade two teacher states that she needs ‘strong boys to help move chairs’, when you get told that that boy only bullies you ‘because he likes you’, when young boys are told to ‘man up’, because any form of femininity or emotions must be weakness.

I remember the first time I was called a slut. I was 10. I remember when I was 11 my friend’s dads made a comment on how my breasts were growing and that I should be ‘proud of them’ because I would ‘attract the boys’.

When we tell young girls that a boy only bullies her because he likes her, we are conditioning her to accept violence and mistreatment as a form of love.

When we tell a young boy to ‘man up’ we are telling him that emotions are beneath him, and it’s okay for girls because they are inferior.

What’s worse is the the phrase “boys will be boys”. No. Boys will be held accountable for their own actions, otherwise men will believe that they can get away with anything.

Children who grow up with in this toxic environment turn into men who can’t handle their emotions, and women who despise other women simply for existing.

This world judges women for simply existing, and it starts with other women.

Our society has been shaped in such a way that the lack of opportunities has forced us to compete with our fellow women, and it has made us snarky, bitter and just plain cruel.

Why is it that when you meet a confident woman you instantly dislike her? I believe it’s because we’re jealous.

We’re so intimidated by such a strong woman that we feel the need to tear her down, and it only gives men permission to do the same.

There is a phrase recently coined amongst young people, called a ‘pick me girl’.

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It’s a woman who seeks male validation by insinuating that she is ‘not like other girls’.

A woman who picks apart other women in order to make herself feel better. This toxic culture has been perpetuated by society telling us that there can only be ONE woman at the top, and that other women are your competition, but we should be bolster our fellow women, not tear them down.

How can we make men respect us as equals when we don’t even respect each other?

And why is respect so hard to ask for? Do men know what it feels like to join a poker table and have all other members feel like they need to explain to you how it works?

Do they know what it feels like to have to cross the street every time a stranger is coming towards them? Or having a sibling of the opposite gender who is allowed to be out at night while they aren’t?

Women are told to be safe, to not walk by themselves at night, to hold their keys in between their knuckles, to not get too drunk, but why aren’t men told to keep their damn hands to themselves?

This is the thing that continues to baffle me the most.

The fact that when a man is asking you out, the most susccessful way of saying no is to say you have a boyfriend, because they’ll respect a man they’ve never met before they respect the woman right in front of them.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to blame men.

I believe society has failed us, and the world we live in has perpetuated this idea that men are superior in many ways.

I am more than familiar with the phrase “not all men”, and I wholeheartedly agree.

I have a number of kindhearted, tolerant men in my life, but if the only time this phrase is brought up is to invalidate the experiences of a woman, is it really valid?

I hate to say it, but our society, and the culture surrounding women is not acceptable.

The fact that a misogynistic, sexist man who makes lewd comments about his own daughter is currently in charge of one of the most powerful countries in the world is shocking proof of the world we live in.

Sadly, many people, women included, don’t believe this inequality is real. They don’t believe in the wage gap, or the pink tax, or the millions of missed opportunities young girls miss out on simply due to their gender.

But saying “women are equal” is a massive slap in the face to the 33,000 girls who become child brides every day, the 132 million girls denied an education, the women denied abortions or surgical sterility without their husbands permission, the Latina women who earn on average 46% less than their white male co-workers and the women who have to sit in a court room with their rapists and be asked “what were you wearing?”.

During a criminal trial in Ireland in 2018, a lawyer cited the underwear a 17-year-old rape victim was wearing as a sign of her consent. He stated “You have to look at the way she was dressed, she was wearing a thong with a lace front.”

The rapist was acquitted.

Do you realise that we have been in quarantine longer than Brock Turner was in jail? A rapist, in jail for 3 months simply because he ‘had bright future’.

In 2018, Julia Gillard predicted that it could take up to 200 years before men and women have equal work and opportunities.

The statistics are endless, and it’s almost disheartening, almost. We can make a change, and we need to demand respect.

And no, not just women. We need allies, everyone and anyone who gives a damn.

Even on an individual level, it starts with calling out a coworker who makes an inappropriate comment about a female, or telling your mates that the way they’re acting isn’t okay.

Especially at unprecedented times like this where domestic violence has increased by up to 20%, checking in is so important.

We need to stop putting gender labels on toys, and stop telling young boys they can’t like pink, or play with dolls, or wear dresses.

We need to normalise children being in control of their own bodies, and not having to hug that scary relative if they don’t want to.

Normalise women not having kids, or even women who aren’t sexually attracted to anyone.

We need to normalise self-love, and complimenting other women instead of tearing them down.

Get involved in politics, because we are part of a democracy, and that means we, the people, have the power to make a change, and elect politicians who uphold the correct values.

Finally, normalise the saying “you’re not like other girls” being an INSULT, because what the hell is wrong with other girls?

Women are some of the most strong, beautiful, independent, talented people I know, and we deserve everything the world can provide us with and more.

Personally, I am unsure whether I will have children in my life, but I know with all my heart that if I do, I will teach them respect, for themselves and those around them.

As I said, it starts young. I believe we can change the world.

We can build a community that is founded on respect, respect for women, respect for bodily autonomy and respect for gender equality.

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I will fight for my fellow women, for they are my sisters.

I will fight for every woman across the world who are denied opportunities because of their gender.

I will fight for equality, and I will continue fighting until the phrase “oh, so what are you like a feminist or something?” is not meant as an insult.

References https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/world/europe/irel and-underwear-rape-case-protest.html https://leanin.org/data-about-the-gender-pay-gapfor-latinas https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world53014211/coronavirus-domestic-violence-increasesglobally-during-lockdown

About the author Jade Freeman is Veterinary Technology graduate who won the 2020 Respect Is... writing competition.

Winning this competition meant finally finding my voice. Knowing that other people read my work and felt the same way was uplifting and gave me hope for the future. It made me believe that we can progress as a society and that there truly are people out there who care enough to make a difference.

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