Volume 1 Metamorphosis

Having academic issues?

Speak to our Student Advocacy Officers for independent and confidential advice.

Book an appointment OR drop in, Tuesday, 10am – 2pm

UTTSA Office UTS Tower Building, Level 3, Room 22 (02) 9514 1155 utsstudentsassociation.org.au/advocacy

The University of Technology Sydney would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the traditional custodians and knowledge keepers of the land in which UTS now stands, and pays respect to Elders past, present, and emerging.

Maree Graham Deputy Director, Students, and Community Engagement Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education & Research

Sunny Adcock and Sophie Tyrell would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.

The Vertigo 2020 team would also like to acknowledge the traditional custodians and knowledge keepers of the land where they lived and worked as editors and designers during the creation of this volume, paying respect to Elders past, present, and emerging.

Amy Toma and Ella Cyreszko would like to acknowledge the Cabrogal people of the Dharug Nation.

Evlin DuBose and Esther HannanMoon would like to acknowledge the Wangal and Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.

Jennifer Wen would like to acknowledge the Biddegal people of the Eora Nation.

Karishama Singh and Elby Chai would like to acknowledge the Cammeraygal people of the Eora Nation.

Rachel Lee would like to acknowledge the Dharawal people of the Dharug Nation.

1

DISCLAIMER: Some views expressed in this magazine may not be representative of the Vertigo editorial team or the UTSSA

Vertigo readers should be advised that before relevant pieces, there are content warnings. Please keep this in mind as you enjoy our magazine; your health and safety are important to us. Among the more standard warnings (such as violence, partial nudity, sexual references), this issue also contains references to and discussions of natural disasters such as the ongoing Australian bushfires and the Hong Kong riots.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please consider speaking to your local GP, a healthcare professional, or calling one of the numbers below.

Lifeline — 13 11 14 Beyondblue — 1300 22 4636 Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health — 63 638 444 If you or someone you know is experiencing, or has experienced sexual abuse, you can call or refer the person to the following confidential hotlines.

General — 1800 737 732 Counselling — 1800 211 028 Crisis Centre — 1800 424 017

2

New decade, new growth, new possibilities.

Welcome to Vertigo 2020.

We feel we’ve been given a gift year. A clean numeric symmetry, and nothing is as promising as a blank page.

Hot off the heels of a decade’s worth of talent, now it’s our turn. Nascent, unsure — no one ever knows what they’re doing, but damn it, we’ll try. We feel ourselves opening, becoming resonant. We want to journey with and guide you through the year. Whether our first Vertigo has found you on O-Day, or between classes, or after that long hard study sesh, we’re here. We’ll ‘become’ together.

Bright new faces surround this something new. So much has happened, the 2010s wrung us dry; the continent drowned and burned and protested. Creation is always messy, but growth means loving your stretch marks and ragged edges. This volume is an ode to exploration — expressive typography, irreverent textures, and an unrestrained aesthetic.

We want to be a refuge for all on campus, a familiar friend to return to, to prod you, to listen, to help you grow. Our cardinal directions bear us nor’east to compassion and accessibility. We’ve filled blank pages with our brave batch of first contributors; we’ve poured over your odes to transition and transfiguration, and learned so much already. The standard was high, but the result was gratitude. It is our utter joy to meet more of you this year.

Be brave, we say — you never know!

This feels like a clean slate. We’re opening to the door to something new; adventure lies beyond the light. However we entered the last decade, we’ve emerged into this one quivering, reborn. And you know what they say about hindsight. So let’s craft a love-letter to our chrysali. Let’s celebrate METAMORPHOSIS. Lots of love,

4

NEW DECADE NEW GROWTH NEW POSSIBILITIES

EDITOR’S LET

TER

EDITORIAL RECOMMENDATIONS The Lost Arabs by Omar Sakr Mirror jewellery cabinet $10 popcorn fish snackpack from Fich at Petersham Fairy lights in a bedroom Using Bunnings paint chips as cards Banoffee Pie! Best dessert that ever existed Whitewater Rafting on the Shotover River in Queenstown All About Love by bell hooks A decorative bamboo ladder to hang your towels, plants, whatever (or in our case, elegantly draped dirty laundry) Virgin Suicides (1999)

5

sips

by Ch’aska Cuba de Reed Content Warning: Sexual References

Coffee (grounds) I am in my school uniform, it’s early and I’ve barely slept from being on my phone all night. I am beckoned to the kitchen by the promise of caffeine keeping me awake through classes, and drinking coffee makes me feel like an adult. My father taught me how to use our stove top coffee pot; it gives me a routine that grounds me. There’s a text on my phone from my manager who I have a crush on. He’s older than my big brother, which makes him five years my senior. It’s probably banter of some sort, or maybe asking if I’d like to do a closing shift with him and get a lift home. The text is a joke about my favourite ice cream brand; it’s crude and immature — “I love bjs.” Because it comes from someone older, I ignore my gut instinct to cringe and instead idealise it. I drink my coffee with two sugars and milk; all my teeth are sweet.

Rooibos tea In the mornings, I wake up to my boyfriend turning off the alarm I’ve slept through. I fetch us both a mug of tea and a plate of toast. I have mine with sugar at first but over the months, it becomes easier to make them both without, and not worry which one I’m sipping from. He’s the first boy I’ve been in love with and I want to curl myself around and around him like a little live wire. I can’t imagine we will ever end. Sometimes I make jokes about eloping or tattooing each other’s names on ourselves, even though I know this is silly. We got back late last night from Parsley Bay, where we frequently drive in my old car and go for midnight swims. That night we heard foxes, but they sounded like wolves and we laughed in fear with each other.

6

Smoothie with egg Sometimes it’s blueberry, sometimes it’s banana, often times both. He doesn’t let me watch him make it, saying there’s a secret ingredient that I need to guess. I’m bad at guessing.

Before I met him, I didn’t like smoothies. Their texture reminded me of sauce and made me gag. Now, on mornings when he sleeps in, I’ll prepare two smoothies for us in his well-lit kitchen while I speak to his mother about her plans for the day. I’ll add two eggs. When he raises his head from bed and whispers, “Thank you, that’s so lovely,” he still has the imprint of the sheets on his cheek.

Coffee (instant)

FICTION

It’s early and I’m probably hungover because I’m going out a lot these days. It’s too much effort to use our stove top coffee pot now. Instead, I just boil the kettle and pour it over the little granules that cover the base of my mug. I can eyeball it all now.

Instant coffee is easier, but it also tastes better to me, and I like that it makes other people uncomfortable. I’m going to be up and at ‘em as soon as I can, settling into the university library for the next eight hours to avoid being lonely at home. I’m lonely at university too, but surrounded by friends. Sometimes I wonder if I should respond to being asked how I am with, ‘Not good quite bad thank you for asking’, but instead I smile a lot and say, ‘Just dandy, how about you?’

Coffee (grounds again) I found a family in my friends. My mother presses the coffee down in her French press. My brother sits across from me and asks me to pass the pepper. We’re eating perfectly boiled eggs and discussing who said what last night, or maybe a book one of us has read, or a film one of us has seen. The smell of toast fills the small apartment and I stand to make a second, third, fourth pot of coffee as the afternoon comes.

Ch’aska Cuba de Reed is a first year Communications student.

Find more on Instagram @chaskacdr

7

Need a lawyer?

The UTS Student Legal Service provides free and confidential legal advice for students.

Contact us to make an appointment.

(02) 9514 2484 | studentlegalservice@uts.edu.au utsstudentsassociation.org.au/legal

1

2

GROUPS ON CAMPUS TRANSFORMING THE SOCIO-POLITICAL CLIMATE The Students’ Association boasts a diverse range of student-run collectives.

These groups work to achieve progress and provide support for the student body with day-to-day issues and larger socio-political causes. Getting involved in a Students’ Association collective is an easy way to make a powerful contribution to Uni life. It means you get a say!

UTS COLLECTIVES

Here is a list of all the collectives and who they are. Find your people!

Wom*n’s Collective: We’re shaved-headed, hairy-legged feminist killjoys burning bras and aprons, a cult sisterhood of the travelling pink dildo and bare-chested fembots ready to storm the citadel. Okay, not exactly!

The UTS Wom*n’s Collective is for all students who experience sexism, misogyny, and oppression from the patriarchy. We are firmly ‘intersectional’ and regularly have open meetings to discuss issues ranging from gender pay gaps, unrealistic beauty standards, and bodily autonomy. If you’re a woman or non-binary student seeking a supportive space to grow, and nurture your interests and ideas — join the Wom*n’s Collective!

Education Collective: The Education Collective is a group of passionate students who care about making sure you receive the best education possible at UTS. The Collective runs campaigns about improving trimesters and making classes more accessible through online slides and recordings. We believe that universities need to be places of learning and education, rather than a business out to make money. If you would like an opportunity to make a change within the university and be consulted on how your degree is being changed or tailored, sign up now!

14

Queer Collective: The Queer Collective is a place for any UTS students, staff, and alumni who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, or who are questioning their sexuality or gender identity.

It is a safe space to forge friendships and build community. The Collective hosts regular events (nights out and pride prom), weekly meetings, and advocates for the welfare of queer students.

This Collective has an autonomous space on campus, as well as a private Facebook group.

Sign up now!

Indigenous Collective: The UTS Indigenous Collective is a group exclusively for Indigenous students and their interests.

The UTS Indigenous Collective aims to enhance the experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) students by creating social cohesion and facilitating cultural empowerment on campus. As ATSI heritage is something that is personal, the Indigenous Collective is considerate of the varied experiences and opinions of its members at all times. By holding regular autonomous meetings and social events, we work to provide a dynamic, collaborative, and ethical platform for the sustained cultural, social, and educational interests of Indigenous students.

Sign up now!

Enviro Collective: The Enviro Collective is a collection of students who use their power and privileges to facilitate environmental activism and action. We’re not just “woke capital-city Greenies”, and we’re not all vegans. We encourage students to engage with environmental issues and discourse — one of the most pressing and detrimental problems facing our generation. We hope to ignite student passions for activism, and use our collective power to problem-solve and deliver environmental solutions where possible. If you want a way to act on your concern for the environment, participate in events and protests, and positively contribute to student life, sign up now!

Postgraduate Collective: The UTS Postgraduate Collective is comprised of students who aim to make a positive contribution to the educational experience of postgraduate students. The Collective is passionate about fighting for the rights of postgraduate students as well as ensuring postgraduate studies are accessible for those who wish to pursue them. If you are interested in championing the rights of post-grad students, combatting the ever-changing HECS repayment threshold, and committing to advocate for higher education, sign up now!

Disabilities and Carers Collective: The Disabilities and Carers Collective is for UTS students who identify as having a disability and/ or medical condition, or for those who are carers.

Our aim is to advance access and inclusion at the university and to have a presence in student representation to help improve students’ experiences at UTS. The Collective assists students with a disability/medical condition for study or assessment adjustments. If you are interested, sign up now!

Welfare Collective: It is the job of the Welfare Collective to organise projects and initiatives that encourage access to affordable food, transport and housing, mental health support, academic support, financial assistance, and free legal services to UTS students.

The Collective aspires to complete projects that benefit all UTS students and welcomes anyone interested in being a part of this vision. Anybody who shares this passion and is interested in helping out, sign up now!

NON-FICTION

International Collective: Thousands of international students from all around the world come to Australia as their study destination because of its attractive beaches, world-class education, and diverse culture.

Coming to a new country and university can be challenging, between studies, work and your personal wellbeing. It is, therefore, crucial to form a network of friends and a support system. This is where the International Collective comes in! We are run by students, for students to make life at UTS much easier. We encourage engagement and social networking, providing a platform to discuss issues you care about. Sign up now!

Ethnocultural Collective: The Ethnocultural Collective comprises of students from many ethnic backgrounds, races, religions, and beliefs. It is a diverse collective that aims to promote harmony and peace through real life experience and cultural diversity. Meetings are a space of inclusion and respect and do not possess a hierarchy. Our aims are to help run more ethnocultural events that celebrate our strength in diversity and our message of anti-racism. Join now!

If you feel particularly drawn to any of these Collectives, head straight to the collectives page on the UTS Students’ Association website. Find your chosen collective and follow the instructions to sign up! https://utsstudentsassociation.org.au/collectives

15

16

AMPLIFY

playlist

NO HALO by BROCKHAMPTON Warm (feat. Mia) by Dre'es Butterfly by Umi Down to Earth by Umi I’m Trying by Yeek, Dominic Fike The Other Side Of Paradise by Glass Animals Lost by Frank Ocean Unique by GoldLink, Anderson .Paak Pluto Projector by Rex Orange County Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele Only If by Steve Lacey Rise by Solange

Find more on Instagram @thymai_

17

18

AMPLIFY

Harry Styles and His Pursuit of Freedom

by Sunny Adcock

19

SUNNY ADCOCK

t some period in the past decade, a good portion of us likely went to bed with a poster of either Niall, Louis, Harry, Liam, or Zayn blu-tacked on the wall. There’s no denying that it was the work of internet fangirls that took One Direction from third-place finalists on The X-Factor UK in 2010, to one of the biggest boy bands of our time.

The group enjoyed years of rapid and sustained commercial success before Zayn Malik left the band in 2015 – with no more explanation or farewell than a Facebook status. Before Zayn’s departure, the band had sold over 6.49 million US albums, with all four of their albums debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Safe to say, hearts were broken and mental health days were had.

For some Twitter ‘stans’ there was no debating that this simply foreshadowed the end of the world.

Arguably, every boy band member serves a purpose. There’s the cute one, the funny one, the mysterious one, the responsible one – and as for Harry Styles? The media had him pegged as the ‘womanizer’ from the start. Technically, it made some sense. He was charming, regularly involved with women many years his senior, and was seen with models. But the label just never sat right: not with his fans and seemingly not with Harry. Since the band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, it appears as though rejecting labels has been part of Harry’s mission. He has done this through tactics like declining to confirm his sexuality, making music that often bends genres, and by refusing to reveal his private life by evading interviewer questions.

If Zayn’s departure and the band’s hiatus swallowed us into darkness, then Harry Styles’ solo career journeyed us into the light. Coincidentally, the lead single from his sophomore album, Fine Line, is ‘Lights Up’, an anthem all about self-acceptance and “never coming back down”. It is different from ‘Sign of the Times’, a power ballad almost six minutes long, that launched him back onto the charts in 2017 – and a departure from his 1D singles.

20

But there is a lot about Styles that is different this time around. He’s rejected coordinated outfits for floral suits, white poofy blouses, and sparkly jumpsuits, which he wears like it’s nobody’s business. It’s not the traditional attire of heartthrobs past, but it’s the type of boundary-breaking branding that has cemented him as a pop culture icon beyond his days as a boy-band member.

Seeing Harry Styles live is best described as joyful, chaotic, and intimate ­– which doesn’t come easy when you are a star of his calibre.

Notably, Styles is universally praised for making his shows above all else, a safe place. The star actively encourages his fans to be themselves unapologetically, and gives thanks for their continued support. His audience has diversified, yet he remains loyal to his mostly female fanbase, refusing to disavow them like other artists over the notion that female interests aren’t legitimate.

In Sweden, he assuredly announced, “If you are black, if you are white, if you are gay, if you are straight, if you are transgender – whoever you are, whoever you want to be, I support you.

I love every single one of you.”

– whoever you are, whoever you want to

Styles isn’t overtly political, but his sloganturned-merch-turned-song, ‘Treat People With Kindness’, best embodies the ethos of love that he’s consistently acted on. He leads by example, frequently dancing around stage waving Pride and Black Lives Matter flags, whilst playing a guitar that reads ‘End Gun Violence’ on it – issues he’d be warned against addressing under One Direction management. Fans don’t expect him to lead rallies, but they do expect him to acknowledge the issues that they are facing.

With Styles, it feels like he not only cares about these issues, but he understands them as well.

There is a sense of mutual respect between him and his fans that comes from knowing that they are navigating the same diverse world.

With his latest album, Styles says it’s all about feeling “a lot freer”. Fine Line is experimental, clearly ignoring the formula that governs whether or not an album goes mainstream. It is the product of Styles redefining success and settling on a definition that prioritises joy over expectation. The lyrics are self-reflexive, and certainly his most vulnerable. Somehow, he’s found his secret confidence in vulnerability, in daring to break the rules. He’s over gender norms and embodies an exciting new form of masculinity that is multifaceted, sensitive, and compassionate.

He admits to embracing therapy and journaling, and hasn’t been able to stop reading after taking it up to impress an ex-girlfriend. Styles is in touch with his feminine side and is comfortable with that making others uncomfortable.

We haven’t seen that sort of fearlessness from a prominent male celebrity in a long time. He is still the same Harry that Directioners cherished, but finally at full brightness, and for most of us...that’s enough to make the break up worth it.

Sunny Adcock is a second year Journalism and Public Relations student.

Find more at www.asunnyspot.com.au

AMPLIFY

“If you are black, if you are white, if you

pp

18

b

f I s e, u

u are straight, if you are transgender yo ort you. I love every single one of you.”

a

ay, i g e r

21

2

RACHEL TSE

EXCERPTS

24

FROM

I was once fluent in Cantonese. But as I started refusing to integrate it into my everyday activities, I became uncomfortable and awkward when placed in situations where I had to speak Cantonese to strangers.

It is both incredible and daunting how much our language affects the way we live and behave.

The deterioration of my Cantonese knowledge altered my perspective on Chinese cultural habits and politics. It affected the places I went to, the language I used to order in restaurants, which strangers I talked to, and how I presented myself to society.

Moving to Sydney had a huge effect on my language ability — I was no longer surrounded by a language I wasn’t eager to learn, and everyone spoke to me in the one I was familiar with.

As my Cantonese weakened over the years, I lacked the confidence to speak to my own family.

There were times when I would sit next to my grandpa, fumbling around in broken Cantonese, to eventually form a horribly incohesive sentence.

I was once again ashamed of my language ability.

SHOWCASE

One day, I was at an event where everyone was playing games in Cantonese. Even though I could understand, I refused to speak it because I was scared of accidentally muddling a sentence.

Someone in the group pointed at me and said, “She is unable to understand anything,” and laughed. I was so embarassed that I got up and left immediately. From that point on, I avoided most social situations that included Cantonese-speaking activities. That one small experience threw a wedge in my relationship with the language.

I only realised the immense damage of my collapsing language ability after I moved to Sydney for university. It was causing a strain in my relationship with my grandpa (公公), who speaks the Cantonese and Chiu Chow dialects (潮州), with a few fragmented sentences of English.

This time around, instead of shutting down like I did before, I became more inclined to learn my native tongue again. I felt like I had lost a lot over the years because of the language, but I am determined to spend the next few years reclaiming them.

a

Book

By 25

This book is a dedication to those who have lost a language from relocating. It tells the stories of individuals who have seen struggles or personally struggled with relationships and culture because of changing place and environment.

Language that was once familiar has now become scattered lines and strokes.

RACHEL TSE

The visualisations illustrate the loss through three groups of individuals, guided by a story from each group. The first chapter (Group A) is a story from an individual born and raised in Hong Kong, who has remained in Hong Kong. The second chapter (Group B) comes from an individual, born and raised in Hong Kong, who then emigrated to a different country. The third chapter (Group C) comes from an individual born and raised in a different country, who has never lived in their ancestral country.

26

The deterioration of a native language does not only signify the loss of characters and letters.

It includes the loss of meaning, culture, politics, relationships, history, and stories.

SHOWCASE

27

28

RACHEL TSE

SECTION Find more on Instagram @racheltse_ 29

by Melanie Wong Content Warning: Violence

30

NON-FICTION Melanie Wong is a second year Journalism and Creative Intelligence & Innovation student. Find more at https://infinitesimal.home.blog

31

It’s 2020 and suspense has reached a boiling point; will a Democratic nominee supersede Donald Trump as the president of the United States? With President Trump’s recent impeachment, and Mike Pence as the Vice President, uncertainties have increased; the Republicans are looking to attain another term in the presidency. However, the Democrats have three big contenders: front runner Joe Biden, the Vice President of former President Barack Obama; Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democratic runnerup to Senator Hillary Clinton in 2016; and finally, Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Elizabeth Warren was born 1949 in Oklahoma City, KA. After endorsing Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, Senator Warren announced her presidential campaign in February 2019. Senator Warren, who was a lawyer specialising in bankruptcy, first grew a national profile through her political work during the 2007/08 financial crisis, where she served as the Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. She had a major role in establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to which she acted as the special advisor to former President Obama.

Since then, Senator Warren has served as a senator for Massachusetts.

For the 2020 campaign, Senator Warren has structured her campaign around two key areas: ending the existing corruption in Washington DC, and solving climate change.

She is a strong advocate for the environment and strengthening the American middle class. She is a promoter of gun reform, a woman’s right to abortion, and clean energy.

Senator Warren has promised ground-breaking reforms if elected; but what will this mean for the rest of the world?

1 32

NON-FICTION

33

What will this mean for the public?

Senator Elizabeth Warren has centred her campaign around reducing the corruption in Washington DC. Her website proposes anti-corruption reforms of the post-Watergate standard if she is elected. Her website notes that if elected, Senator Warren will end lobbying as it is today. How? By ensuring that all lobbyists are correctly registered. What will this mean for the public? By forcing lobbyists to register, this highlights their activities, and bans the interference of foreign governments in Washington DC.

BELLA KIDMAN

Senator Warren has also said that if elected, she will remove Wall Street from Washington DC, meaning that senators and congressional members will be unable to trade stocks whilst in office and throughout their lobbying careers.

Another large component of Senator Warren’s political campaign is her climate change action plan. Senator Warren has vowed to rebuild the American economy with 100% clean energy whilst simultaneously creating 10.6 million jobs.

In an unprecedented motion, Senator Warren has promised that if elected, she will establish a ‘superwealthy’ tax which will tax the US’ wealthiest citizens and allow the government to attain an approximate $3 trillion USD. With these excess funds, Senator Warren has vowed to invest $2 trillion USD in US-made clean energy, including off-shore winds.

What will this mean for the rest of the world?

The US has the largest economy on Earth, therefore this should act as a ripple effect. If the rest of the world sees the US investing this sum of money in solving climate change, there is hope that other similarly large economies will follow. This provides job opportunities for US citizens and will prolong the impending impacts of climate change.

1 34

Bella Kidman is a second year Law and Journalism student.

Find more on Twitter @KidmanBella

This will unofficially cleave the relationship between the White House and Wall Street, reducing the impact money and the economy have on politics.

From a legal standpoint, the code of ethics will be strengthened and monitored for all Federal Courts and judges.

If implemented, this should equalise all people in the court of law, meaning all get a fair trial.

What will all of this mean for the rest of the world?

If these reforms of a ‘Watergate standard’ are passed, the biggest question will be what happens to Wall Street. With politicians and lobbyists being banned from trading stocks, this could make or break the American economy. It will however, shine light on the interference of international political figures in US politics, a major ongoing issue from the 2016 presidential election.

SHOWCASE

by Felix M. Within this work, I explore the dichotomy between how we view ourselves as children, and how we view ourselves as we grow older. Aspirations held become harder and harder to achieve as we become more aware of their impracticality, as well as the negative aspects of these lifestyles. I aim to show how it would look if these two vastly different worlds collided, one of youthful wonder and the other of the harsh reality that is adult life. By portraying a superhero in this way, it brings a sense of reality to the image; no longer is the individual physically perfect, but rather a relatable character with flaws that children don’t take time to consider. Our perceptions of self and dreams slowly become darker and dirtier the more we learn about the world and ourselves.

35

36 FELIX M.

SHOWCASE Find more on Instagram @f.m.photog

37

Life

after

revenge

porn:

befriending predators in the digital age

by Ellie Campbell Content Warning: Self Harm, Suicide, Drug Abuse, Sexual References

“Well if it isn’t the amateur pornstar...” the direct Facebook message read.

The profile was blank. His name was ‘Ted’.

A screenshot from a grimy porn site popped up. It showed a webcam video of a young girl with braces performing a sex act in her bedroom. The comments below displayed a detailed relay of who she was. “It says her name at the top!” “She lives in Sydney?” “Link to her Facebook here!” “Wow. What a dumb slut.”

The girl in the video was fourteen.

She was me.

A twisted online ‘relationship’ was suddenly developed with ‘Ted’. Sort of like captive and captor – him feigning concern for my wellbeing, all the while dangling threats to broadcast the video over my head. Desperate, I begged him to help me. Links to multiple equally disturbing hardcore pornography sites then reached my inbox. My heart sank. I then went on to engage in semi-regular polite conversations with him, and in turn, he would grant me another link to an even seedier page. I would later discover his IP address traced back to the UK. For the most part, the authorities managed to remove the video off the first few websites (the worst one charmingly displayed a title graphic with a girl hanging with a rope tied around her neck*). But like a twisted game of whack-a-mole, it popped up over, and over, and over again. A new creep each time. An exhausting cat and mouse chase then went underway. The prospect of a lifelong digital sentence made my belly ache. Soon after, I was hospitalized after taking a prescription overdose.

38

An estimated 51% of ‘revenge porn’ victims contemplate suicide, with 49% also reporting harassment or stalking by online users (EndRevengePorn.org). ‘Ted’ was not the first and will not be the last person to hold non-consensual material against me. Many women are mercilessly tortured in their personal and professional lives in the years following the sharing of their leaked private images or videos. This bi-yearly ‘retraumatisation’ process embodies the horrifying reality of cybercrime.

Now, as a young student enjoying her early twenties, my stomach remains calm when a Facebook message pops up. I am no longer afraid, ashamed, or nervous. You could say I got my own revenge in the end.

NON-FICTION

You may well ask yourself as to why I engage with blackmailers instead of ignoring them. The answer is simple. The process of convincing these losers to help brings a deranged, yet satisfying, sense of control. I also refused to delete my social media pages after being advised to do so by police. Why should I adhere to these sickos’ demands? I figured.

* NOTE: This particular website has been under investigation on multiple occasions for the distribution of child pornography. The site has yet to be taken down.

More information can be found at: cybercivilrights.org If you’ve been affected by this story, contact Lifeline (13 11 14)

Ellie Campbell is a second year Journalism student.

Find more on Twitter @Eleanor_joan1

39

D E S I R E

THE ORIENT YOU ASKED FOR

by Alice Winn

Content Warning: Sexual references, Discrimination

I was asked to be like my mother and sister.

The women around me could do many things.

[Desirable things.]

The needle and thread of an ancient culture weaved femininity.

But white spaces washed me out.

Diluted and different.

[Undesired.]

40

But it was never at my house.

And my mum and your mum would not talk on the phone.

Or have coffee.

It was nice for an illusion.

I was asked to send pics.

I was taught that luck is red, but I was drawn to blue.

Blue screens, Blue moods, Blue eyes,

Blue balls. That wanted the flavour.

[Desired.]

SHOWCASE

So, I sought alternative validation.

I was asked to be like everyone else.

Vegemite and PB&J. And mighty Buddha! Wasn’t it nice?

Meeting after school at your swimming pool.

Truth or dare on your dad’s boat.

Christmas. Easter. Brunch and BBQ.

Valentine’s Day. I could do it all.

Breadtop vs Tip Top. Shin Ramyun vs Maggi.

Pocky vs Cadbury.

The lines are blurring.

Diversity is cool now.

I am blurred and I always have been.

There are countless others like me in this ‘ m u l t i c u l t u r a l ’

country.

Does this mean I can finally be me?

[Desired?] [Demeaning?]

It was electric for about 10 minutes.

But I was hollowed, and I didn’t even realise.

I’m an acquired taste it seems.

However, I don’t hold resentment.

I go on Instagram.

41

ALICE WINN

Be as different as possible. Be edgy.

2020. LOOK AT ME. I have culture and history.

One like for equality.

One comment for representation.

“Make me a Fenty girl”; she’s walking like Rihanna.

Be as different as possible. Be edgy.

That’s not me.

42

But it could be helpful in all honesty.

I mean “oriental” is still an adjective.

I want to see eyes like mine on Channel 7 just because.

I want to see brown and I want to see yellow in Hollywood. In PARLIAMENT. Seen. Heard. Sexualised. Normalised. Romanticised. Ah! Don’t hide the way we live. It’s chaos at its finest.

Shoes taken off before entering the house. ‘Hard-to-pronounce’ names.

The rice. The festivals. Cousins and aunties. It is majesty.

As I am. And there is no turning back now.

There is so much to take. To conquer.

Something is burgeoning.

SHOWCASE

Ambidextrous with a Westernised mind in an Eastern household.

Impassioned from the suppression from my childhood.

Hostile from a fetishized experiment.

Empowered from heartfelt representation.

I no longer take requests.

I am burgeoning.

[DESIRE] Herr God, Herr Lucifer Beware.

Beware.

DESIRE

The result of struggle.

The fire from friction.

The ultimatum.

I am the orient you asked for.

Find more on Instagram @its.eiei

43

STEP ONE

by Sunny Adcock

DISCLAIMER: Every head of curls is different and requires different treatment. These tips will not apply to everyone. I write these recommendations with afro-textured curls that can be classified as a hybrid of 3b and 3c. Knowing your curl type is incredibly helpful and can be identified using the Andre Walker Hair Typing System.

Once a week, it’s wash day. Contrary to popular belief, shampoo isn’t your friend but for the sake of being civil, we’ll use it anyway. Start by massaging a small portion of shampoo into your scalp. Get it in there, pal! If your head is anything like mine, your scalp is probably dry and could use some extra lovin’.

Use this time to rub your temples too; it must be exhausting carrying around such a big ol’ brain (how do I know this?

Well, you’re reading Vertigo after all!). After rinsing the shampoo out, apply conditioner. As you know, the common suggestion to use a 10c sized portion just doesn’t cut it.

We’re talking at least 50c! After applying the conditioner through your hair and avoiding the scalp, you’ll start to section off your hair before running your fingers through it in an attempt to start detangling.

Once it’s parted, take a fine-tooth comb and start combing from the bottom of the strands, working your way up to the root until all knots are gone. If it’s not freezing, this is a good time to turn the shower off temporarily. We are trying to save the planet here! After combing out each section, your curls should be poppin’, well conditioned, and knot-free.

Well done! It’s time to turn the tap back on and start rinsing.

44

STEP TWO STEP THREE

You’re dressed and your hair is ready to style. I have included the products that I use at the end. First, part your hair and apply coconut oil through your scalp and down the strands of your hair. Coconut oil is the ultimate life hack. Research has proven that coconut oil is not only conditioning, great for dry hair, and the perfect way to add some shine, but it can also help stimulate hair growth.

STEP FOUR

So the day may or may not have been a hit, but your hair was! Go friend! But it’s the end of the day and you gotta preserve all of your hard work somehow. Many will overlook this part but I can’t stress enough how important it is to preserve your hair with a protective material while you sleep.

Your curl type will determine which is best, and for me, a satin hair bonnet is ideal. These are hard (but not impossible) to find in Australia, but are easily found in stores in the US. Have a hunt online or annoy that relative or friend who lives in America and say you’ll give them your firstborn child in exchange for one. The hairnet will keep your hair away from

Next, grab a leave-in conditioner (hugely important), and apply it to the root of your hair from the bottom up. You should start to see your curls springing to life now. Then, use a curl-holding spray or a curl-sculpting gel (anything to that same effect), and spray/apply it through your curls before scrunching your hair in an upward motion. I don’t know why the scrunching helps (I’m sure someone will) but it does, promise. Now, it’s time to style. You can leave it out, brush it into a ponytail or a half-up half-down, the power is yours. Go ahead and claim that day!

AMPLIFY

Stepping out of the shower, it’s time to dry. This surprisingly makes or breaks your curl routine. I’ve come to learn that wrapping a towel around your hair isn’t the best treatment for curls and can lead to hair breakage given the harshness of the material. By now you probably know that air drying isn’t possible unless you have like, three hours to kill. It takes ages for all of the water droplets to slide down all of those gorgeous curls, coils, and ringlets. My suggestion: use a cotton t-shirt. Find one that you’ve already worn this week and scrunch it through your hair. Not enough to steal all of the moisture, but enough that your hair stays damp.

Then wrap your hair up in that t-shirt, moisturise, and put some clothes on.

45

STEP FIVE

SUNNY ADCOCK

your face and help retain moisture. Alternatively, I also use bandanas to keep the surface of my hair smooth, hairnets just to keep it out of the way (helpful for braids), and I have found a lifesaver in the scarves that Lush uses for gift wrapping (don’t throw them out, they are so helpful). If you have some extra cash, investing in a satin pillow could be worthwhile.

Owning one is how you know you’ve made it in life. Safe to say, I haven’t made it yet, but a girl can dream. Now, go get your beauty sleep!

THE REGURGE. Oh no, your darn bonnet/scarf/bandana slid off in the middle of the night! This isn’t ideal and feels like the ultimate betrayal; you have my condolences. Fortunately, not all hope is lost thanks to what I call the “regurge”.

The regurge is only possible if you’re consistent with your curl maintenance. As the days start to pass and it’s coming up on a week since wash day, the regurge is less possible to achieve, but resist the urge to wash your hair again. However, on day two you can use a spray bottle with water to resurrect your curls. Afterwards, if needed, apply more leave-in conditioner and curl-sculpting spray/gel to bring them back to life.

Remember when I said that applying coconut oil was essential? That’s because having that base will often determine whether or not the regurge is successful. If watering your hair, using your fingers to untangle, and applying more product doesn’t work, then it’s time to call in backup. Spray more water in your hair and section it off again; you’re going to comb it out over the sink. Once it’s untangled and the curls start to show themselves, wet it more and repeat step three, sans the coconut oil. Crisis averted. Continue step four and five each day until wash day arrives and it’s time to start all over again.

There you have it, you’ve gone from Hagrid to Tracee Ellis Ross in no time!

Sincerely, Your curly headed friend.

46

LEAVE-IN CONDITIONER CURL SCULTPING SPRAY

Toni & Guy Curl Sculpting Spray

Hollywood Beauty Olive Creme

Shea Moisture 100% Virgin Coconut Oil Leave-in Treatment

Garnier Fructis Nourishing Banana Hair Food

AMPLIFY

Toni & Guy Leave-in Conditioner

Aunt Jackie’s Flaxseed Recipe ‘Don’t Shrink’ Flaxseed Elongating Curling Gel

Sunny Adcock is a second year Journalism and Public Relations student.

Find more at www.asunnyspot.com.au

47

48

ELBY CHAI

SHOWCASE Find more on Instagram @elbowchai

49

by Esther Hannan-Moon and Amy Toma

50

51

52

Brekkie & Dinner On Us! The UTSSA runs Bluebird brekkie and Night Owl noodles right in the heart of UTS.

Photographer: FJ Gaylor

Follow us on Facebook for regular updates www.facebook.com/BluebirdBrekkie

summer arrived like a gift each december, i would feel it wrap around me, a soft cocoon of warmth and endless daylight summer would bring with it skinned knees and sticky fingers baggy cotton tees my mother sanctioned for water fights in our front yard; we’d play in the spray of the sprinklers and hoses and they would turn the dry grassy dirt to mud as we squealed and squelched for hours, until we’d be bundled up in fuzzy towels. the familiar smell of backyard barbeques each night, six p.m. as the sun tucked itself into the horizon and we put our bikes 54

and basketballs away. summer would kiss us to sleep, tiny tired bodies tucked between crisp white sheets before the bright, early light of tomorrow would spill from behind the curtains.

FICTION

now, i regretfully admit i have outgrown my old pink barbie bike, abandoned somewhere in the garage, and i watch my little neighbours bring their sprinklers into the yard from the safety of my living room, but summer, it feels the same and when the warmth whispers its way through the clouds after the long winter i am back in the cul-de-sac, smiling and sun-kissed, once more.

by Lily Sommer

Lily Sommer is a third year student.

Find more on Instagram @lilyksommer

55

I.AM.GIA AND NETFLIX MADE ME STOP BUYING FAST FASHION

by Amy Toma

Content Warning: Death Do you remember that sherpa I.AM.GIA jacket that everyone bought a few years ago? It felt as though en-masse, we collectively dropped $100 on the same beige-coloured teddy bear jacket. I would walk into lecture rooms and play a little game where I would count the amount of people I could see wearing it, myself included.

There were always at least three. I remember feeling utter dismay that the same jacket began to be worn by preteen white girls who came into my work to buy bath bombs – a demographic with whom I never thought I’d share something in common.

The teddy bear jacket phenomenon, along with my suffering bank account, due to my weekly habit of buying a new clothing item, made me begin to reevaluate my spending habits. It was also around the same time that I came across a documentary on Netflix, called The True Cost.

An ambitious, yet revealing film on the fast fashion industry, it illuminates the far-reaching effects of consumerism and mass-production under global capitalism.

In the 2015 film, director Andrew Morgan looks at the ways in which capitalism interconnects with consumerism, fueling industries that are built upon insidious systems of oppression, structural poverty, and environmental destruction. Morgan explores the outsourcing of the American garment industry over the course of the late 20th century to Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, and China, where garment workers are paid very low salaries and forced to work in unsafe conditions.

56

These unsafe working conditions culminated in the 2013 Dhaka garment factory collapse in Bangladesh. This was a structural failure where an eight-story commercial building collapsed, killing 1,134 out of the 3,122 workers who were inside. This loss of life could have been avoided entirely as the day before, cracks were discovered in the walls of the building. Consequently, shops and banks on the lower floors closed. However, the building’s owners ignored the signs that the building was about to collapse. Managers threatened to withhold a month’s pay from the remaining garment workers who refused to come to work the next day.

I decided to try to move towards the options that require the most amount of effort instead.

As cliché as it may sound, I felt like a changed person after watching the film. The True Cost had summarised a multitude of thoughts I had already begun having surrounding my own habits. It gave me a sense of hope that change can happen at an individual level, with global consumers gradually moving away from the fast fashion model, and inspiring change at a corporate level.

So began my journey of endeavouring to stop buying fast fashion and attempting as much as possible to choose the most sustainable options.

I swapped Glassons for Vinnies, and Universal Store for U-Turn Newtown. I found heaps of Instagram boutiques full of hand-made clothes from Melbourne, my favourite of which closed down after I bought only two pieces from them.

RIP Bedroom The Label.

But while these options were definitely more environmentally sustainable, some of them

simply weren’t financially sustainable as a student. Bold of these brands to assume that I had a casual $75 to drop on a plain white t-shirt.

I couldn’t help but feel some responsibility as a consumer to ‘vote with my dollar’ and make more conscious choices when I was purchasing things. But for all the people who think like me, I became just as aware of the amount of people who thought the opposite – people who probably wouldn’t go the extra mile to buy a musty old t-shirt from Vinnies instead of a brand new one from Target, for probably the same price.

NON-FICTION

To say that I was surprised, having watched this documentary and learned about the horrific effects of the fast fashion industry, would be false. I think part of being an active consumer within a capitalist society involves a form of cognitive dissonance. People generally know about what goes on behind the closed doors of these factories, yet when it comes to buying a new top, or pair of shoes, we tend to stick to what is popular, or the option that requires the least amount of effort.

Whilst individual consumer choices are very important, and the onus is on the consumer, it comes back to the same old thought that has been said by so many others: climate change is a corporate issue and not an individual one.

I know that me spending hours in Vinnies sorting for gems in a sea of junk, instead of buying from a shopping centre, isn’t preventing the very real effects of climate change. However, I feel like my efforts in shopping more ethically, and reducing my shopping habits altogether, help to expel a sense of frustration with the system we have been forced to suffer under. It helps me feel as if I am contributing positively to a problem that seems to have no solution in sight.

So while others can shop at Zara and H&M, and other fast fashion powerhouses, I feel slightly less anxious at the state of the world whenever I buy my $2 second-hand clothes from Salvos.

Amy Toma is a third year Visual Communication and International Studies student.

Find more of her on Instagram @byamytoma

57

STILL LIFE

Still Life (Manipulations) is a series of photographs that attempts to explore the irony that photography is seen and used, both as a tool for capturing truth while being the subject of discrete augmentation and manipulation. Fundamentally, photography is often seen as a medium used to capture reality, authenticity, and moments. However, through its history, photography is notorious for deceiving its audience. This is due to the ease in which photographs can and have been manipulated,

58

framed, and edited to become the basis of a new story or actuality.

Reality is twisted, and more often than not, the outcome of these photographs captures a version of the truth — but not truth in its entirety. In a more contemporary context, and with the inception of digital photography, Photoshop and other photo editing programs, photographic manipulation has never been as easy. Photos can be seamlessly

SHOWCASE

by Maya Kilic

altered in a matter of minutes. My work explores this concept by subverting the notion of ‘the real’ by photographically and digitally appropriating/ manipulating the traditional realism of Dutch Golden Age Still Life paintings. Each photograph in the series incorporates commonly used Photoshop tools and effects such as clone stamp, paint, opacity, hues, and even the select tool in ironically subtle yet obvious ways. Inspired by digital and photographic artist Lucas Blalock’s post-internet,

lo-fi aesthetic, I’ve chosen to adopt the inclusion of visual cues alluding to the prevalence of Photoshop, in an attempt to highlight the theme of digital manipulation.

Conclusively, Still Life (Manipulations) attempts to nonchalantly deceive the viewer, making them question what is real and what is fake. Realism is completely subverted and digitally augmented.

59

MAYA KILIC

REALITY IS TWISTED,

and more often than not, the outcome of these photographs captures a version of the truth

60

BUT NOT TRUTH IN ITS ENTIRETY.

WHAT IS REAL?

SHOWCASE

WHAT IS FAKE?

Find more on Instagram @ _mayakilic

61

rZ ho u

by V

NO N-E

ict o

G N I R U T Cap

XI STE NT

NOSTALGI AS

Film Ca mera Aesthe tics i n the Fa ce of Climat e Cris is 13 162

Recent developments have seen film camera aesthetics and analogue photography positioned at the forefront of rising aesthetic cultures.

This trend could be influenced by a nostalgia for past technologies, the need for escapism, or the (re)construction of memory and identity, amongst other things. However, I am most interested in looking at this trend within the haunting spectre of the climate crisis and its deathly malaise, for this not only erodes the future but erodes the quality of our present experiences. Eco-anxiety* and protests have replaced potential experiences of joy and hopefulness for some young people.

I offer the perspective that film camera aesthetics are being used to recover lost experiences and a sense of nostalgia for a period of our youth that never existed.

New cultural aesthetics have slowed down in their imagining of a new future beyond the ‘retro-futuristic’ aesthetics developed in the 20th century and used presently. For instance, the campaign Gucci and Beyond (2017), which featured aliens and spaceships, was inspired by the 1960s Star Trek series, while Lil Nas X’s ‘cyberpunk’ Panini (2019) was inspired by 1980s Blade Runner.

It is the social and political issues of the present, namely climate change, that have fostered uncertainty about our future. The prospective end of the Earth has in Greta Thunberg’s words, “robbed us of our childhood”. It is not normal for young people to protest for the existence of a future, regardless of those who enjoy this kind of activism. The future should be a given, however because of the climate crisis, some who are protesting or are experiencing eco-anxiety are losing their youth. Their budding and formative experiences are being stolen, replaced instead with worries and a preoccupation with protests.

These lost experiences were potential future memories, but have become nostalgia for what should have been.

It is no wonder then that film camera photography in Sydney has not only evoked a sense of nostalgia, but also a strong sense of relief.

Vertigo uses film cameras to record snapshots of their experiences, and so too have many young Sydney artists. For example, James Simpson’s solo exhibition at Goodspace Gallery, ALLORA (2019), featured ‘sparkling waters’, ‘beach umbrellas’, and ‘daydream-like settings’, all shot on 35mm film. At the same gallery, the cover photograph of Harry Bayston’s 2019 solo exhibition was a grainy vintage-like shot of a lone figure off in the distance at a beach before sunset.

NON-FICTION

We seem to have slowed down our imagination of the future. We tend to look back into the past because we feel there is no future promised.

I saw grainy shots of a girl wandering in warm flower fields, friends smiling at a picnic, having fun around a bonfire, dancing, and holding hands.

The girl who was wandering around the warm flower fields stood out to me. She was a 2019 model who starred in Alessandro Michele’s Gucci perfume campaign, Mémoire d’une Odeur (2019).

She seemed lost in this pseudo-vintage shot.

The girl felt out of place, as if she did not belong in this so-called ‘memory’. She was a contemporary being plunged into a faux-memory, a constructed past – but I enjoyed it. She seemed reminiscent of someone who exists in a Lana Del Rey music video, a person who appears to live in memory.

These kinds of aesthetics may have been used in 2019, however they are recycled from the past.

It is not because creatives cling to the past, but because they struggle to imagine new aesthetics which respond to the social and political issues of the present.

These ‘aged’ photographs fill a void, and by placing contemporary bodies, places, and environments into the past through film photography, we look at them in the present with an instantaneous feeling of longing. The film aesthetic is an attempt to surrogate and recover an imagined nostalgia from a stolen past that never existed. The return to analogue and vintage aesthetics is a return to the past, but it is with this that young people seem to be moving forward.

*In 2019, youth mental health organisation ReachOut and Student Edge announced that up to 80 percent of students are somewhat or very anxious about climate change. According to this data, a total of 82 percent of students surveyed moderately or strongly agreed with the statement “climate change is going to diminish my quality of life in the future”. Over 20 percent said they are “planning to not have kids or will have less (sic) kids” due to concerns regarding climate change.

63

64

MAGNOLIA MINTON SPARKE

SHOWCASE

visiting home

by Magnolia Minton Sparke Content Warning: Partial nudity

65

66

MAGNOLIA MINTON SPARKE

SHOWCASE Find more on Instagram @magnolia.msparke

67

N

OPTI

O

OPTI

O

MP HOW TO REVA R E VA M P YOUR INSTANT RAMEN O NE

by Rachel Lee

A bit of a no-brainer, but one of the easiest ways to upgrade your instant ramen is to add a ton of extra ingredients to it: steamed vegetables, tofu puffs, a classic fried egg (or boiled if you prefer),a little garnish of some green onions, etc. This is a great way to clear out any little bits of vegetables you’ve got in your fridge, too.

N

TWO If you’re feeling a little more fancy, this next method is perfect for you! While this transformation will take more time, it’s a great alternative to spending hours trying to make authentic ramen broth from scratch. It’s a major step up from the flavour packets that come with the noodles.

HOMEMADE RAMEN BROTH* Ingredients:

(serves 1)

½ tsp sesame oil

½ tsp garlic

1 tsp grated ginger

1 cup broth of choice (chicken or vegetable

would work best)

1 cup water

1 packet instant ramen noodles Method:

Heat the sesame oil in a pan over medium

heat. Add the garlic and ginger, and fry

for a few minutes, or until fragrant. Add

the broth and water, and then let simmer

for about 10 minutes.

Add the instant noodles and cook for a

further 5 minutes, or until the noodles

are soft.

Much like the first option, feel free to add in any other toppings or vegetables!

* Recipe taken from https://pinchofyum.com/quick-homemade-ramen

68

N OPTIO

RE TH E Time to bust out your old mason jars!

This next option is just a simple storage tip, but it’s also practical, too. Store the ingredients for your ramen in a mason jar, and when the time comes to eat it, all you need to do is add hot water! This also works if you’re on the go and want to eat some instant ramen out and about, because all you need to add is the hot water! Plus, anything in a mason jar makes it 500 times cuter.

N

FOUR This is for anyone who’s a little tired of having ramen in its conventional form and wants to be more experimental.

These noodle fritters are simple and easily customisable!

RAMEN NOODLE FRITTERS** Ingredients: (serves 1)

1 packet instant ramen noodles

2 eggs

1 tsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Vegetables and protein of choice (canned

tuna or salmon would work well)

OFFHAND

OPTIO

CAUTION: Mason jars are prone to cracking under extreme heat.

In order to prevent this, make sure the water isn’t boiling hot, add the water slowly, or place a metal spoon in the jar while pouring (this will help to lower the temperature of the water). Boronsilicate glass mason jars are able to better withstand the heat if you are able to find those too!

Method:

Prepare the noodles as per the instruct-

ions and drain.

In a separate bowl, add both eggs and whisk. Add in your protein, vegetables and noodles, and season to taste. Mix until incorporated.

In a pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add a ¼ cup of the mixture to the pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

** Recipe taken from https://theorganisedhousewife.com.au/recipes/snack/5-quick-ways-to-jazz-up-2-minute-noodles/

Rachel Lee is a third year Visual Communication and Creative Intelligence & Innovation student. Find more on Instagram @r_chell__

69

How To T r a Your bank

by Karishama Singh

After buying mountains of gifts for Christmas and New Years, splurging on that overseas trip, and indulging in Boxing Day sales, there is no shame in accepting that the holiday season broke the bank. Now that we are stepping back into reality, seeing the -$20.65 bank balance is starting to feel like a problem. Rent is due and textbooks are needed, but how do we save up enough in time?

This is where I come in. Don’t stress, I’ve got you covered. I have compiled a list of my top money saving tips for students. Whether you have another trip to save up for, or can’t stop online shopping, these tricks can help erase your money problems in no time.

Ask yourself, 'do I really need this?' How many times have you bought something only to go home and think, 'why did I buy this?' Next time you consider adding to your collection of white sneakers, really consider your purchase before clicking that 'confirm order' button. Save your coins and stop yourself from making those unnecessary purchases.

Sell it! Ever find random things in your room that you no longer use? Are you still hanging on to that backpack you bought so you could “wear it to Uni”, but realised it actually has no use? Here’s where social media comes in handy.

Declutter your space and use apps like Depop and Facebook Marketplace to get some extra cash from the things that no longer serve you.

74

Illustrations by Sophie Tyrrell Find more on Instagram @sophie.rose.tyrrell

Buy second-hand. The next time you need to buy something like a new festival outfit, find a local op shop or use the previously mentioned apps to make your purchases. This is not only sustainable, but will help satisfy your shopaholic tendencies.

nsform Account Bring food from home. Pack that left over dinner in a container and take it to Uni for lunch the next day. If there are no leftovers, hit up your local grocer, buy food in bulk, and meal prep. Skipping out on those $10 lunch meals three days in a row will save you $30, and that’s just from food alone! If you have a Keep Cup, bring your homemade coffee with you to Uni, rather than buying that $4 latte at the cafe.

Several bank accounts. If your bank allows it, open up three bank accounts. The first one should be for your daily spending and necessary expenses. The second one is for emergencies.

Consider this your savings account, but the funds can be used if reimbursed later. The more money you have in account number two, the more interest will accumulate, therefore avoid using it. However, if you need money — this is your safety blanket. The third account is the

Transfer a percentage. Set a percentage of your earnings to be instantly transferred to your savings account (e.g. from account one to account two from the tip above, once you have been paid). Try and start with 25%. For example, if you get paid $100 one week, save $25 and the next week when you get paid $150, save $37.50.

This tip will guarantee that you will save some money every week rather than spending it all.

AMPLIFY

Track your spending. This may sound boring, but trust me this is super helpful. Make a list of payments that cannot be avoided such as rent, petrol, food, and of course, Spotify (p.s. don’t forget about that student discount). Taking those into account, set a limit for yourself for spending and saving each week. Softwares like Microsoft Excel or even the notes in your phone will help you keep track of where your money is going. When you realise that you spent $50 on coffee in the last month, you’ll be able to break from those habits, and ultimately, save a higher amount each week.

one with the highest interest rate and where the largest sums of money are kept. Consider this your savings account for bigger expenses like travel or a car. I recommend setting a target for account two, and when reached, transfer half of the target to account three. For example, every time account two reaches $2000, transfer $1000 to account three. This means that you still have your safety blanket, but now you are also saving up for that Mazda 2 you’ve been eyeing.

Your account is now brand new! Now that I’ve given you all of my best money saving hacks, you have all the tools to conquer this year, debt free.

Happy saving everyone!

Karishama Singh is a third year Civil Engineering and Business student Find more on Instagram @karishamasingh

75

176

77

1

by Zachariah Lee

Plimsoll line is the reference mark on a wine glass to indicate a single serving

I want to drink Sauvignon Blanc. Home alone; poured generously into a wine glass. No plimsoll line. No one to watch me. I want to switch off the lights. I wish I could turn off daylight for just a second, it’s so pervasive sometimes. I want to switch off the lights. Let the blaring glow of my laptop overtake me. It makes me feel like I only exist in that moment. When I look out the window, all I see is the glare of my neighbour’s bathroom light through their fragmented glass windows. It’s still night. The light from their window shuts off.

The silence that follows is strangely acute, almost as if someone else’s light was the source of my comfort. I want their light to turn on again. The warmth of it, although unfelt, was visceral. I’d rather know that feeling. The digital brilliance consumes me again. I occasionally turn my head back to my door, glimpsing the belt of external light that exudes from the hallway. I think I’m being too loud. Too lonely. I get anxious for a moment, but the invasive whiteness of the screen brushes my hand and I return to nothingness.

I want a lot of things. I remember when my teacher told me that there was a difference between wanting and needing. Yet here I am. Caught in the tide of want. It spits me out and pulls me back.

How can I get angry if I am the one to walk into the water? Every time I think I am exempt from the rampage of my emotions, I am humbled. I sit on my bed now, eyes unfocused and glassy. A notebook sprawled out in front of me, which I think is telling me to be honest. That if I’m not honest, it’s going to be disappointed. I struggle to comprehend the thoughts sometimes. It’s hard to articulate when all you want to do is cry. I think I hate tightness. While it is a symptom of growth, it forces me into a corner of unbridled anxiety and agitation. I want the plimsoll line to exist for once. I don’t want copious abundance. I don’t want excess.

I don’t want heaviness. I’d much rather prefer to feel minimal within myself. Overthinking has no bounds. It’s insidious and uncharitable.

I want to feel content with what I have, not what I could have. I don’t want control over my emotions; that is not what I am saying. I just want the surge to not be so intense all the time.

84

Visuals by Shen Osaki.

Find more on Instagram @shenosaki

I think to be desired is a peculiar thing. I don’t have a problem with wanting to be desired. I think I’ve been a subject of desire before. A spectacle to behold. An alluring creature. Those impossible lock puzzles. I think while I’ve been a recipient of such desire, it’s debilitating when those yearning for my attention aren’t the right people. Wrong people subjecting me to expectations and wanting me. Yes, I want to be seen. But not by the wrong people. Yes, I want to be heard.

But not by the wrong people.

Yes, I want to be felt. But not by the wrong people.

FICTION

“I’m desirable and loveable, but by the wrong people.”

They’ve seen me, consumed me, held me, thought about me, wondered about the possibilities. That’s how I feel. I want to let myself go. I want to detach from my body. Every part of myself disengaging in a beautiful surrender. I want all of the orifices in my body to close. Perhaps as a sign that I’m finally closed for business. I’m no longer available to you. I want myself to be an empty space. Perhaps I want void. Quiet, still, like the enduring glow of the screen. There, but not there.

I want to float in space, only thinking about my own gravity.

That way, I am existing outside of myself. I want to see the weight of my existence. Not in increments of vanity. I don’t want comparison to be a prerequisite for my self-love. I want to feel like I can live this turbulent life without the validation of others; their constant reassurance, their approval. I want to look at myself and not immediately look to the sidelines, awaiting a cheer. I want to drink Sauvignon Blanc. And then, smash the glass afterwards.

I’m tired.

Zachariah Lee is a third year Visual Communication and Journalism student. Find more on Instagram @izyukan

85

ALTRUISM VS. THE SAVIOUR COMPLEX

by Rebecca Matthes

“Do to others what you would like done to you.” If I had a dollar for every time my mother said those words to me growing up, I’d have enough to pay off my student debt. And I’m sure I’m not alone — the concept of empathy is one value that all parents wish to instill in their children. However, as you unpack that phrase, it becomes a little more complicated. The phrase doesn’t encompass the fact that all humans are innately different; how you would like to be treated isn’t necessarily universal. For example, some like to be greeted with a hug, some with a solid handshake, and some with a simple ‘hey wyd?’ text at 2 a.m.

Breezing through life with a mentality that treating all how you would like to be treated is peak altruism and would arguably lead to a more selfish and problematic world than the one we face today.

I only began to grapple with what truly defines altruism when I was listening to a podcast that briefly dealt with the problematic ‘saviour complex’. As a young teen, I had participated in the 40 Hour Famine intending to contribute to a situation that seemed otherwise helpless. Over a few years, I had raised quite a significant amount of money — enough to qualify for World Vision’s Volunteer Abroad program (had I have not been too young).

This concept of volunteering abroad isn’t new. Over the years, developing countries have been flooded by ‘voluntourism’, with thousands spending time and money travelling to contribute to communities that are less fortunate than their own.

However, whilst this maintains an outwards aura of nobility, is it truly beneficial to these communities? Are jobs being taken away from skilled professionals and creating community dependence by students attempting to fill their resume? By people wanting to post photos of their nobility to their social media audience? By people wanting to feel as though they are ‘saving’ a community? Or, people genuinely intending to assist in a positive way?

What is of more importance — the intention or the outcome?

86

However, what about people travelling to genuinely help those in need? If their intentions are good, should it justify the otherwise dangerous outcomes? Upon questioning friends and family, most agreed that negative consequences should be considered before undertaking any action, regardless of whether one’s intentions are honourable. However, this is largely up for debate. Take, for example, the orphanage that worsened living conditions for the children in order to encourage higher donations from visitors. Visiting orphanages has become a tourist attraction, encouraging corruption. In fact, 80% of children in orphanages aren’t even orphans, as they are often either trafficked or abandoned by their parents.

So whose job is it to educate?

If I hadn’t stumbled across this specific podcast episode, I may have never even considered the harmful repercussions. Was I intentionally naive? I’d never thought to research the topic. Naturally, I wouldn’t expect every person to be educated on every social injustice, but how is it feasible to ensure that my actions aren’t backhanded? I created a (not totally encompassing) list of a few checks and balances to cover any ‘altruistic’ actions partaken: 1. Do your research. It’s a classic and it’s the most foolproof. It’s likely that the comprehensive list of positives and negatives of that action have been thought through.

There is a plethora of online examples of the negative outcomes associated with volunteer tourism.

NON-FICTION

There have been major discussions surrounding whether activities, such as voluntourism, ameliorate the saviour complex. This has been perpetuated with the advent of social media, and consequently, the ‘influencer’.

Celebrities whose only qualification is having a K behind their number of followers have been going to developing communities to participate in tasks they aren’t qualified to complete. Taking photos of this with the intention of promoting a ‘selfless’ persona on social media is hardly altruistic (quite ironic if you think about it).

Furthermore, incidents like when Dr. Jessica Evert performed an unanaesthetised child’s spinal tap whilst in her first year of university is detrimental to not only the patients, but the communities. Even though the procedure wasn’t done correctly, she was still celebrated, rather than challenged, for her efforts.

2. Inform yourself of opinions surrounding the issue.

It is difficult to empathise with anyone else’s lived experience, but luckily the internet has provided a platform for people to share their opinion. Whilst it is unlikely they are speaking on behalf of everyone associated, they may offer an unconsidered angle on the topic.

3. Act without intent. If you enter an experience with a transactional mindset, it is unlikely that your actions will be truly selfless, and you must be open to receive criticism. Ultimately, the saviour complex is defined not by justice, but by receiving a ‘feel-good’ experience.

This is an enormous topic, and an article can, in no way, do the issue justice. I would recommend checking out Kayley Gould’s TED Talk for further discussion, particularly focusing more specifically on the ‘white saviour complex’.

Rebecca Matthes is a second year Law and Media Arts & Production student.

Find more on Instagram @becmatthes

87

Untitled

by Max Rixon

88

SHOWCASE

89

90

MAX RIXON

SHOWCASE Find more on Instagram @rixondesigns

91

by Kerim Col

DIVI NATI ON

96

Find more on Instagram @kc_dragon_

SHOWCASE

PRES ERVA TION

97

TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF

Tell me a little about yourself.

Every day my nose seemed to occupy a greater part of my face. I tilted my head back, standing before the mirror. It was eight in the morning, the morning that was leading to the nine-thirty meeting. I moved my head slowly, measured the expanding bones and cartilage of the nose relative to my head’s more reasonable landmarks. What a thing to happen on such an important morning.

by Caroline Rannard What would you bring to this position?

beep

beep

A video online showed me how to fix such a predicament. FAKE A NOSE JOB. The perky American college girl showed me how to use my housemate’s department store makeup to paint the shadows of a lovelier nose, and paint the face to match. I copied her technique with remarkable skill; I had never used makeup in this way.

I locked the front door and slipped through the sun-covered streets to the railway station. beep Opal cards beeped frenetic, low balance, against the readers. The old train shuffled to a stop and I admired myself in the glass of the opening door.

Eight-twenty-two. It really was remarkable, the way my face looked, simultaneously natural and ethereal.

On the train, my body swayed into the rhythm of the journey, and I held onto the silver railing in a haze of sleep and the sweet optimism that comes from positive change in the summer. I went over in my head how I would address the interviewer.

My hand tightened when I imagined shaking his.

The blank canvas of this new job loomed, already as good as mine, and I smiled to think of it.

Eight-forty-five, and I locked my phone, but in the screen I saw the horrific sight of it.

98

The makeup sat limp and dull against the nose that seemed — there was no way — to have grown once more. I looked up and in the unambiguous angle of the blackened glass I saw it. I squirmed and in my handbag my fingers moved over a tissue packet. The opening came unstuck beneath them and I held one white tissue to my face.

Some people were looking at me, waiting to see what I did with the tissue. I breathed through parted lips and I endured this humiliation until my station slid into view and we slowed down.

I hurried out of the carriage. Eight-forty-eight.

More cards beeping. beep beep beep beep beep

beep beep

Why do you want to work here?

Was it possible I was getting smaller? That the nose was in fact the only constant, the signpost of who I once was? That didn’t seem so bad.

I alighted from the tram at nine-twenty-three and came to an impressive old building of blonde sandstone, where I was to work, if I could fix this nose. Be professional and presentable.

Fluorescent lights in the bathroom bounced off my skin; I couldn’t look in the mirror at first.

It would only be pallid skin and that inselberg.

I unlatched the mask from my ears, washed the makeup from my face with water and cheap toilet paper. Deep breaths through my mouth. I didn’t trust the crag anymore. Deep breaths, and I jerked my head up. In the mirror I looked at it dead on, the whole unforgiving shape of it. I moved my face from side to side. I was looking for an angle at which I could hold myself to offset the nose.

With a deliberate posture, I left the bathroom.

Nine-twenty-seven. I pretended to scratch the nose’s bridge while I told the girl at reception my name. She told me where I could sit. I proudly took a book from my handbag, wanting to be seen reading it in this room. I held it between the high relief of the nose and the waiting room. The unmistakable smell of paper, the smooth pages against the nose’s bulbous tip. The conference room door opened. I looked up.

FICTION

beep

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Do you have any questions for me?

I stood at the nexus of the underground concourse and the path outside the station, and as the tissue deteriorated in the sweat on my palm, I felt my hand lose its grip on the nose; it no longer fit over the mountainous shape sprouting from the root. In a discount chemist I bought a flu mask. I stretched it around my face and walked to the light rail station. I felt grateful for my ears.

I had never thought to before.

The first blue morning. Fires swarmed on the Central Coast and further north. The smoke filled the city for weeks and this was the first blue morning. A new tram opened its doors before me at nine past nine. I would make my interview.

Some people looked at me while the tram moved smoothly. I nodded politely when I caught them, crinkling my eyes at the corners to imitate a smile.

The mask’s elastic string began to strain at my ears, discomfort morphing into pain. It felt like it might tear the ears from my head. Tentatively, I touched my hand to the mask, scared of what I knew to be true. The nose now protruded monstrously from my head.

Caroline Rannard is a third year Global Studies student.

Find more on Instagram @caroline.rann

99

DIES IRAE DIES ILLA

by Bryan Lim

This is a stand-alone piece called “Dies Irae Dies Illa”. It means ‘Day of Wrath, Day of Anger’ in Latin. It’s a phrase referenced throughout the history of music and art that states the last days of Earth. Especially with everyone’s increasing thoughts on how our world might end, with the country literally burning, I took a rather spiritual approach to it. It captures a new dark era, a day where Heaven and Hell collide, and our normal days go to shit. In this work, nothing is planned out, I’m just noting down my constant stream of imagination while hopefully blowing someone’s mind with its abundance of atmosphere and detail.

100

SHOWCASE Find more on Instagram @byneart

101

102

Illustrations by Angelina Tran.

Find more on Instagram @lookatmytutu

OFFHAND

by Marissa

103

Have a question for Verti?

We want your big questions and your first world problems.

If you need a sounding board, the read of your life, a check-yourself-before-you-wreck-yourself, or some wise words from a friend said over the kitchen table – Dear Verti is the place for you.

Think of it as an anonymous advice column where no question is too wild or too stupid. Send in your dilemmas and Verti will try to answer as many questions as possible online, with the best saved for our print editions.

104

I’m fairly tired of my ‘look’ and would like to spice things up a bit, but I’m worried I’m not brave or edgy enough to try something completely bold and different. What are some things I can do?

A new look for the new year is a great idea and we applaud your eagerness to try something different. If you’re not too keen on chopping all your hair off, accumulating an extra five piercings, or throwing out your entire wardrobe, we hear you.

Change can be daunting (but a lot of fun). One less permanent solution could be to try a semi-permanent shampoo dye that washes out once you’re done with the colour. That way, you can test the waters before you commit.

You could also follow people whose style you like on social media and try to replicate their outfits using what you already own, or hunt through some op shops for some low-cost additions to your wardrobe. Another option could be pulling out a few choice items from your wardrobe and attempting different combinations.

You can also experiment with fun makeup that you have never done before. Even a bold new lipstick can go a long way to spice things up!

If you’re really not sure, take your look for a spin around your neighbourhood or whilst getting coffee with a friend. See how it makes you feel, because that’s the key to all this: you need to be comfortable in it.

Dating is super fun! But it can also be a little overwhelming if you are new to the scene.

There are loads of ways to meet people these days, but one of the easiest ways is probably downloading a dating app! Dating apps like Hinge, Bumble, or Tinder are great for low-maintenance ways of meeting new people. With a few snaps of yourself and a funny bio, you can be on your way to forming some great connections.

OFFHAND

I think I’m ready to start “putting myself out there,” if you know what I mean. What are some ways I can ease myself into dating? I don’t know where to meet the kind of people who would be good for me!

Alternatively, if you are not a fan of the apps, you could slide into someone’s Instagram or Twitter DMs and start a conversation from there!

If you’re more into “traditional” ways of meeting people, another thing you could do is go out and be social! Grab a few mates and go to a bar, or an art gallery, or wherever you feel like you are in your element, and strike up a conversation with whoever you find interesting. Grab their number and bippity boppity boo, you’re on your way to a relationship.

If the idea of approaching a stranger literally makes you want to puke, another super easy way to meet people to date is in places where you’ll see them repeatedly – like work, sports, Uni clubs and societies – which gives you the opportunity to get to know them for a while. This gives you the time to figure out if beyond the initial attraction, they’re an asshole or not.

At the end of the day, dating should be fun and light-hearted.

While there is an element of risk involved in putting yourself out there, what’s the worst thing that can happen? Rejection?

Move on to the next one.

With love, Verti xx 105

Can’t keep up?

Make your academic life easier with our Peer Tutoring program.

Photographer: FJ Gaylor

Enquire Now UTS Tower Building, Level 3, Room 22 | (02) 9514 1155 utsstudentsassociation.org.au/peertutoring

108

Erin Dalton EDUCATION VICE-PRESIDENT Hi everyone! My name is Erin Dalton, and I’m this year’s Education Vice-President for the UTSSA. I’m really excited to work with everybody this year to ensure we have a great activist association, and that we continue to stand up for and assist students at the university. Broadly speaking, the position of EVP is split into two separate roles, one primarily activism-oriented, and the other administrative and management-based. I’ll talk about my plans for the two components of this role separately.

Firstly, in terms of activism and campaigning, we’re currently at a critical juncture in society, and 2020 will definitely be a year marked by considerable student activism in regards to climate change. As part of my role, I’m working with Education Officers from other universities to organise our National Day of Action on the climate on the 13th of March. I’m also planning on working closely with our Enviro Collective and OBs to keep up a sustained push from across the UTSSA around climate justice.

On campus, my other main campaign for this year is to ensure we have mandatory lecture recordings for every single lecture here at UTS. As was demonstrated in our election last year, it’s a campaign with considerable student support. I look forward to the entire SRC and UTSSA mobilising as one to fight for lecture recordings, which are so critical to students across the board.

In terms of my role as Vice-President, I’m looking forward to being involved in broader decision-making here at UTS, and ensuring that the UTSSA, and students more generally, both know what is happening and have voices in the room when decisions that affect us as UTS students are being made. I also look forward to compiling our new regulations and by-laws, so that the UTSSA as a whole has not only a set of procedures and structures, but also a cohesive vision and a stronger ability to cooperate and organise. I’d like to see 2020 as a year where we have more cross-collective collaboration and activisåm, and I’m really excited to be working with everyone towards this goal.

2020 is going to be a huge year, and I’m excited to work with the executive team, the SRC, collectives, and the UTSSA as a whole in order to fight for the best outcomes for UTS students, both within and outside of the university.

We’re at a crossroads, and I’m really excited to be in a position where I can stand up for students and make real, effective change.

Miranda Crossley SECRETARY Hey all, I’m Miranda and I’m truly excited to be elected as the Secretary of the UTSSA. I am committed to this role particularly in ensuring accountability across the UTSSA, and I look forward to what 2020 will bring for students at UTS. 22

As you enter this year at UTS I would encourage you, as a student, to think about what you are passionate about and consider joining one of the collectives that are part of the UTS Students’ Association. Collectives are a great way to get involved in activism, and is a great place to relax and chat with like-minded people.

A huge congratulations and thank you to last year’s SRC for their achievements and commitment. I am confident that the 2020 team will further their good work and will be here to listen and take action on students’ wants and needs. So please don’t hesitate to get in contact (by email at: secretary@utsstudentsassociation.org) if you would like to learn more about the Students’ Association, SRC meetings and collectives.

Tallulah Watson Moyle TREASURER My name is Tallulah Watson Moyle and I am the Treasurer of the UTSSA for 2020. I have a passion for student welfare, and I strive for equality in everything I do.

I strongly believe that the welfare of UTS students is of the utmost importance, and the UTSSA works tirelessly to improve this standard. As your Treasurer, I will accept the challenges and hard times that may come with the role and ensure that the services offered to students are of the highest quality and won’t break the bank.

One of the great services of the UTSSA is the Night Owl Noodles that help with the stress of having to live pay cheque to pay cheque. Services like these not only help so many UTS students, but also create a sense of community and build connections; something that is crucial to university life.

Additionally, having lived independently as a student with not much to my name for the last two years, I have had to learn to be frugal and I hope that all the new or less active on campus students come to try some of our noodles.

Aidan O’Rourke ASSISTANT SECRETARY Hi, my name is Aidan, and I’m a second-year Law and Economics student, and am very grateful to be elected as the Assistant Secretary of the mighty UTS Students’ Association. I am involved in the Students’ Association because I believe that we have a lot to offer students.

Our brilliant services, and our role as student advocates, deserves to be protected and nurtured for the benefit of all at UTS. My experience in representing my community and delivering outcomes as an Electorate Officer, where initiative and diligence are incredibly important, have equipped me with the skills to advocate on behalf of 109

students. Additionally, I believe the SA should have readily accessible files on hand for all policies enacted by the SRC. Members of the Students’ Association, including collectives, council members, and students, should be aware of our policies and procedures so that we can be held to account, and to ensure efficiency within the SA. I am thankful to be a part of an exciting team which intends to work hard for UTS students’ best interests. I look forward to working with them and with students to deliver service, and speak out on their behalf.

Ahmed Ferkh WELFARE OFFICER Hi everyone, my name is Ahmed, and I am the 2020 Welfare Officer for the UTS Student’s Association. In my time at UTS I believe I have experienced some of the worst of being a student. I’ve experienced mental illnesses, which have affected both my study and my university life.

I have not experienced these troubles alone. A survey conducted in 2017 by Headspace and the National Union of Students, found that 65% of students aged 16-25 years reported high or very high psychological distress while 35.4% had thoughts of self-harm or suicide. No student should have to experience such hardship in their transition to professional life.

These alarming figures require measured and evidencebased responses. That’s why, as Welfare Officer, I aim to work with organisations such as Batyr and Beyond Blue to raise awareness around campus about mental health, and to encourage support-seeking amongst students. I also wish to organise peer-based programs, within the Welfare Collective, to guide students towards the right support programs within and outside UTS. I believe technological platforms (such as ‘The Desk’) also have a role in assisting student welfare, and I plan to implement them into our awareness raising initiatives. Furthermore, I plan to consult with the university on possible changes which could be made to policy on Special Consideration, to better cater towards people with mental and intellectual disabilities.

Student welfare is an issue which requires collaboration between students, SRC, staff and UTS. I encourage anyone who has had issues with welfare at UTS, or has simple ideas on how to make a better university environment, to contact me: welfare@utsstudentsassociation.org.

Mansingh Jatav OVERSEAS OFFICER Hello everyone, this is Mansingh Jatav, and I am pleased to introduce myself as the Overseas Officer of the UTS Students' Association for 2020.

110

First of all, I would like to thank all the students who believed in me and my capabilities and supported me in the student elections. As an international student, I faced many problems when I came to Australia, so I completely understand the situation of other international students.

Thus, the Students' Association and its representatives are always available to sort out any legal issues.

Furthermore, I know firsthand that students from different countries and cultures have different values and beliefs, and encourage all students to value their own culture and beliefs and try to be inclusive of the cultural differences of your fellow students.

If you have any issues specific to you being an international student that you need help with, please let me know at: overseas@utsstudentsassociation.org

Bella Forti WOMEN’S OFFICER At the start of a new decade, I am proud to be the Women’s Officer for the UTSSA. My name is Bella Forti and I have been a member of the Women’s Collective since 2018.

As the incoming Women’s Officer, I have big shoes to fill but I am excited to work with our Convenor Dana, the Students’ Association, and the members of the collective.

The Women’s Collective at UTS provides a safe space for women and non-binary students to gain support, share their thoughts, grow their perspectives and ideas; and my number one goal for 2020 is to maintain this culture, and grow student involvement in the collective so that more students are able to experience it.

In 2020, the Social Research Centre and Dr Anastasia Powell will be conducting a national survey on student sexual assault and harassment as a sequel to the report by the Australian Human Rights commission – this is a time where many students will likely need support, and the Women’s Collective will provide a safe space for the women and non-binary students affected by this.

By the end of 2020, my goal is to have a strong and resilient women’s collective, and for members to feel inspired and well-represented.

EDITORS

DESIGNERS

Sunny Adcock Ella Cyreszko Evlin DuBose Esther Hannan-Moon Karishama Singh

Elby Chai Rachel Lee Amy Toma Sophie Tyrrell Jennifer Wen

Vertigo is always looking for new ideas and pitches for fiction and non-fiction, visual art, think pieces, reviews, poetry, and everything in-between! Don’t think your piece fits into any of our moulds? Send it over anway!

FICTION Short stories, poetry, flash fiction: we’re open to it all!

NON-FICTION We want non-fiction pieces about any aspect of life: essays, opinion pieces, memoirs, and campus issues.

AMPLIFY Amplify is home to all things music, fashion, arts and lifestyle. This section showcases individuals in their creative elements, and we’re looking to support the creative scene of UTS and cover events near you!

OFFHAND Offhand is the weirdly wonderful section that features quizzes, games, satire, playlists, comics, and any other quirky tidbits you’ve got!

SHOWCASE Interested in presenting some visual art you’ve created? We’re always looking for standalone artworks, as well as visuals to feature alongside written pieces. If you’ve got any architecture, fashion, photography, typography, or any other art-related works, we’d love to see it!

COLD SUBMISSIONS Do you have anything old you’d like to submit?

Send them to submissions@utsvertigo.com.au along with a brief summary and the section you would like to be featured in.

PITCHES Have an idea that you’re not quite sure how to finish? Send it over with the following:

• Title

• What you want to write about

• Your style of writing

• How long you’d like the piece to be If you have any previous examples of your work, please attach them to your email too!

CONTACT US Email us at submissions@utsvertigo.com.au, and one of our friendly editors will be in touch.

Check facebook.com/utsvertigo for callouts, and feel free to send any enquiries there too.

SOCIAL MEDIA

v

Vertigo UTS

112

utsvertigo.com.au

Vertigo utsvertigo

Passionate about change?

Get involved with your UTS Students’ Association.

Photographer: FJ Gaylor

utsstudentsassociation.org.au facebook.com/UTSStudentsAssociation