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No matter who you voted for this past election, you voted

for a racist party. We’re not talking about laws that favour certain groups within New Zealand: we’re talking about the laws that keep people out. Our country is closed to most of the people on Earth, and that’s racist and wrong.

Free immigration and open borders are policies that we never talk about, but we should. Picture this: you’re walking down Cuba St and you see a starving person trying to sell some trinkets to people so that he can feed himself. You go up to him and offer to buy one because you really like them. But then a police officer comes along and tells you that you can’t give this person money and he can’t give you his trinkets. You’d think the policeman was a bit of a dick, right?

Well, that’s what closed borders do on a massive scale. If Salient decided to start a shoe factory which employed Chinese people but paid higher wages than Nike does, we would be forcibly stopped by the government, for no other reason than the fact that they were born in a different part of our space-rock. That’s wrong.

It’s wrong because birth is a lottery – you can’t choose where

you are born, so it shouldn’t determine the future that you have. It’s wrong because Salient would be better off if we could make shoes, and the Chinese workers would be better paid. Everyone wins if they can come here, but instead, everyone loses.

Because of all this, there has to be a pretty big presumption in favour of allowing people into our country so that they can make their lives better.

“But it will destroy our economy! They take our jobs! They’ll drive up house prices!” Let’s leave aside the fact that it’s ridiculous to say that a job is ‘ours’ simply because the business offering it is based in the same country that we are. The reality is that there isn’t a finite sum of jobs in the country. New Zealand’s population has increased massively in the last hundred years, but there are now far more jobs than there ever have been. Immigration creates jobs.

If a Malaysian comes to New Zealand and sets up a delicious restaurant (like KK Malaysian), they didn’t take any jobs. They added to our economy and made our lives better. And the people who get jobs over New Zealanders, despite the fact they

don’t come from the same culture or have the same connections or even speak the same language? They get them because they are better than the privileged New Zealander. And everyone benefits when the best person is in the job.

Economists have estimated that if every country opened its borders, world GDP would double. And that’s because we unlock the potential of those immigrants who otherwise would have wasted their promise by toiling in the fields or begging on the street or dying young of a horrible disease. What if the cure for cancer is trapped in some small Biafran child’s brain, but he never gets the opportunity to develop?

And even if immigrants do take ‘our’ jobs, so what? Presumably, women took some men’s jobs when they were allowed to enter the workforce, but it didn’t matter, and it didn’t matter because it was the right thing to do.

“But they won’t respect our culture! They won’t speak our language!” Let’s leave aside the fact that every modern nation, including New Zealand, has been built on the back of immigrants. Cultural diversity is incredible. You don’t have to believe in free

immigration to understand this: New Zealand is great because we have latte-sipping Aucklanders and salt-of-the-earth Taranaki farmers and even weka-eating Chatham Islanders. There is no such thing as a single New Zealand culture.

And it gets better when more cultures are added: it’s nice to drive in a European car to get Indian takeaways to eat in front of your Japanese television while you watch American TV shows. Our life and our culture would be shithouse if all those things were solely New Zealand–made.

Last week, Scotland had the chance to vote for independence. At the time of print, we don’t know which way they voted, but we do know that it would be incredibly bizarre if people weren’t able to move between London and Edinburgh anymore because there are now two separate nations where once there was one. It’s even more bizarre that we live in a land of plenty but we won’t let anyone in to drink the milk and honey.

And if you still disagree with us on this one, read Ibrahim’s story on page 18. Then come to our office behind The Hunter Lounge and tell us why we shouldn’t ‘let’ more people like him into our country.

We’re born to this Earth, not to a country. This floating space-rock is ours. We should be able to live wherever we choose.

From New Zealand with love,

Duncan & Cam

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Letters

Anon-partisan letterDear Editor,

I was upset to read your recent apology in “The Election Issue”.

As Salient is a publication funded through student levy’s I think it is only fair to try to be representative of the views of all students. I do not believe that you have fulfilled this in your recent apology note. While it is important to respond to a large number of complaints received in response to the publishing of a paid advertisement from Right to Life, I found your way of apologising unnecessary.

Regardless of my personal opinion, it is upsetting to see a view on a highly contentious topic being publicly disregarded by a student funded publication. There are strong ideas on the legal status of abortion by both pro-choice and pro-life supporters. I do not believe it is Salient’s place to state a definitive answer to something that is an opinion as you did in stating “Abortion should

be entirely the decision of the pregnant person without the state questioning the validity of their reasons.” This is purely a pro-choice stance that is not shared by the whole student community.

As shown at clubs week by the presence of both Pro-Choice and Pro-Life groups (neither of which I am affiliated) the student population is not in agreement on this, and your blatant disregard for the views of one group over another were offensive. By then furthering these ideas and stating it was a “serious error” and then publishing (free of charge) the opposing view and stating that the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand, which is a pro-choice organisation, do “amazing work advocating for the decriminalisation of abortion.” was also offensive for the same reasons as stated above as it shows clear preference to one opinion over another. The initial disclaimer was sufficient.

Lastly, I would like to question how exactly the accessibility of

the Salient was violated by the publishing of the advertisement.Many thanks,Anon

And I might ad...Dear EdI noted that in the election issue you apologised for one piece of advertising and published a free advertisement on behalf of the complainants. So all we have to do is complain about an advertisement we disagree with and we get free advertising? Magnificent. The shareholders will be pleased.PS Could the Publications Committee please forward its list of banned products, ideas and brands once its ratified its inclusive advertising policy?Happily,CEO multinational (name withheld)

iSpyDear ConsoliantI’m sitting here at 12 am after just getting into a huge argument with my aunty about this idiotic election. Look I love her very much but she has her head shoved so far up her ass crack that she can smell what she had for dinner the night Robert Muldoon was appointed PM. However we must keep hush hush as we have just found out we’re being listened to. Government mass surveillance is what we got into an argument about, seriously though we had international Whistleblower Edward Snowden (who leaked files showing that the US government was spying on it citizens) tell us that our government has the capability/ is trying to do the same. It amazes me that she thinks that the internet is a magical dooda land where she can listen to Smokey Robinson’s - Cursin’ on a flipping loop, and peoples rights don’t matter because it’s all make believe. Any other evidence is just left wing lies to her. This is what I have to say about mass surveillance,

Letter of the Week

1 down, more to go

Dear Salient,Thanks for making the past couple of crosswords easy. Completing them without Google have been the only real times I’ve felt smart at university.xoxoAn official genius.

encrypted of course nhoj yek nac kcus a evissam esroh kcoc, yevrus taht tunc. ;) My aunty on the other hand really needs to wake up and smell the roses, it’s happening and how would you like to be dragged away to some Alf Stewart rape dungeon every time you say something bad about the government. Just saying aunty, it’s happened.Thanks for a cold consoling sesh,The ‘Dude’ and or ‘Dudette’ who knows really

Purchase on shaky groundDear magazine of important issues.Assuming that there’ll be some report in the coming salient about VUW’s buying the falling-apart flats HNZ site on the terrace...referring to this article an the quotehttp://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/10494842/Flats-may-be-demolished“If the consensus of the community is that the building shouldn’t be there...”?????!!!#$*??!Yes there are options on what should go there to replace the buildings, and that’s a separate topic.But the buildings are old and crumbling, and WERE EVACUATED BECAUSE THEY ARE DANGEROUS.There’s no debate or discussion or options to consider on ‘whether the buildings should be there’.Get on with it and knock them down - whether the demolition is funded by VUW, HNZ, WCC or whoever, get it agreed and get it over with; they’ve been there, known to be dangerous for over 2 years.Once down, THEN discuss what goes in their place.Perhaps an escalator can go there to replace the #18/47 buses, that nobody seemed to care enough about the council’s plans to eliminate...

FREE COFFEE!Are you angry, elated or apathetic about Salient? Send us a letter of less than 250 words to editor@salient.org.nz. Pseudonyms are fine, but all letters must include your real name, address and telephone number. These will not be printed. Letters will not be corrected for spelling or grammar. The Editors reserve the right to edit, abridge or decline any letters. The letter of the week wins a coffee from Vic Books.

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InternationalQuiz

SincerelyT John Edwards

Coupon, coupoffDear Liars

I was excited when I saw a coupon for Mrs Higgins oven fresh cookies. I like cookies but what I like even more is coupons (also pronouncing the word with an american accent. coooopons). The coupon was ripped out of your precious little magazine with such happiness. For the rest of the day I was on a complete high with that coupon.But then, What is that?!The date that ruined my trust in you 31/07/14You should be ashamed of publishing such disgusting out-of-date nonsenseNeedless to say the cookies were bought anyway but in my heart I felt couponers all over the world mourn with me in this tragic tale of hope and lossShame on you.I want REAL coupons! Signed,The Cookie Monster

Always install cookiesDear Salient, while reading your election issue, I was delighted to see that amidst the political commentary, the full-page of a particularly blurry Dinocop (and the weird baby comic), and the thing on FKA Twigs (top notch, should have been longer), was a sweet little coupon for a free cookie from Mrs Higgins.My happiness, however, was short-lived when, after excitedly reading about the “American style soft chewy centres”, “Baked fresh on [their] premises”, and “Over 16 (so.. 17?) flavours daily to choose from”,I noticed the expiration date in the bottom right corner:31/07/14 - nearly two months ago.Salient, you collective dick.

Don’t promise me a free cookie with every three cookies I purchase and then take that free cookie away from me like that.Sure, I don’t need 4 cookies. I don’t even need 3. But can you live with yourselves knowing you have deprived every cookie-loving reader of a free cookie?I couldn’t. Take a good, hard look at yourselves in the mirror,Salient.I hope you like what you see.Sincerely craving cookies.

Auto Erotic FixationHi, Hope all is well. Should you have any interest in doing a piece on my side project I would be more then happy to help. I have such a solid relationship with the motor industry in Wellington that I have the ability to take out sports cars and test drive them at my leisure. I have created a page so that I can share my love for cars via Facebook with other Wellingtonians. I have driven everything from Jaguars to Holdens and feel my page would be something that your readers would have a great interest in. I also do weekly test drive competitions where my followers get to come along with me on test drives.

Taking the wind out of our SailientDear SalientWas good to see you sorting out politics in your latest issue. Cheers for that. I also noticed it had some salient information about the future of the school paper. As we considered our nation’s future, we also considered the school paper’s. Sonya’s words about using advertising as the means of supporting Salient seemed pretty onto it. But I did notice earlier in the paper advertising had gone free to a good home. How to balance the two is my query of the weekSincerely #Freetotherighthome?

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1. Which animal appears on the flags of Albania, Egypt and Kazakhstan, as well as several other countries?2. What is expected to take place in Bougainville and New Caledonia in the Pacific by the end of the decade?3. Which borough of New York City is often called the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world?4. True or false: Nigeria is currently projected to have a larger population than the US by 2050.5. Germany may have beaten Argentina 1–0 in the football World Cup final in July, but what was the score when they played each other in a friendly match earlier this month?6. Kingstown is the capital of which Caribbean island nation?7. The kora, used throughout West Africa, is most similar to which better-known stringed musical instrument?8. What is the only fully independent country outside of Europe where Dutch is an official language?9. Joko Widodo was elected President of which Asian country two months ago?10. What is the smallest country in the world with a stockpile of nuclear weapons?

1. The eagle 2. Referendums on independence (from Papua New Guinea and France respectively) 3. Queens 4. True 5. Argentina 4–2 Germany 6. St Vincent and the Grenadines (but Kingston is Jamaica’s). 7. The harp 8. Suriname 9. Indonesia 10. Israel

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PERSON OF LAST WEEK

AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST GREENWALD MADE HEADLINES LAST WEEK WHEN HE SAID NEW ZEALAND HAS SENT SPIES INTO FRIENDLY COUNTRIES TO ELECTRONICALLY SNOOP FOR THE UNITED STATES. HE CLAIMED THIS ALONGSIDE EDWARD SNOWDEN, WHO CLAIMED THAT KIWIS HAVE BEEN SUBJECT TO MASS SURVEILLANCE THROUGH THE CONTENTIOUS SPYWARE XKEYSCORE. SCUMBAG JULIAN ASSANGE ALSO APPEARED BY VIDEO LINK FROM THE EMBASSY HE IS CURRENTLY HIDING IN TO AVOID BEING PUT ON TRIAL FOR RAPE. THESE REVELATIONS WERE MARRED BY KIM DOTCOM’S RELEASE OF A ‘WARNER BROS EMAIL’ OF DUBIOUS VALIDITY, AND PROBABLY WON’T CHANGE THE ELECTION RESULTS. NONETHELESS, THE NSA, FIVE EYES AND THE ROLE OF THE GCSB IN SPYING ON NEW ZEALANDERS ARE NOW ISSUES WHICH HAVE BEEN PUSHED TO THE FOREFRONT OF POLITICAL DISCUSSION.

BY THE NUMBERS

5 PER CENTTHE NUMBER OF 50-YEAR-OLD WOMEN IN HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS WHO HAD A MALE PARTNER AT LEAST FIVE YEARS THEIR JUNIOR IN 2013.

27 PER CENTTHE NUMBER OF 50-YEAR-OLD MEN IN HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS WHO HAD A FEMALE PARTNER AT LEAST FIVE YEARS THEIR JUNIOR IN 2013.

44 HOURSTHE LENGTH OF TIME IT TOOK TO PRINT AND ASSEMBLE A 3D CAR DURING THE SIX-DAY INTERNATIONAL MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY SHOW 2014 IN CHICAGO. MADE OF ONE SOLID PIECE, THE ‘STRATI’ WILL HAVE A TOP SPEED OF 40 MILES PER HOUR AND A BATTERY RANGE OF BETWEEN 120 AND 150 MILES.

5 TONNES WEIGHT OF THE WORLD’S BIGGEST POLENTA, MADE BY A FOGOLÂR FURLAN CLUB IN WINDSOR, ONTARIO, CANADA FOR THEIR ANNUAL POLENTAFEST. THE CLUB USED 90 KILOGRAMS OF COAL, 4550 LITRES OF WATER AND NEARLY 800 KILOGRAMS OF CORNMEAL TO MAKE THE POLENTA.

$200WHAT AN AUSTRALIAN WOMAN HAS PAID TO HAVE HER GOLDFISH’S TUMOUR REMOVED. TEN-YEAR-OLD GEORGE FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO BREATHE AND SWIM BECAUSE OF THE TUMOUR, AND WAS BEING BULLIED BY THE OTHER GOLDFISH IN HIS TANK. HE IS NOW EXPECTED TO LIVE ANOTHER 20 YEARS.

KEEN EYE FOR NEWS? SEND ANY TIPS, LEADS OR GOSSIP TO

NEWS@SALIENT.ORG.NZ

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NEWS@SALIENT.ORG.NZ

he recent University Council fee-setting meeting

passed much as expected, with University fees increasing by four per cent next year, albeit with a greatly increased student turnout and level of protest compared to recent years.

Four per cent increases, the maximum allowed under the government-imposed Fee Maxima, will apply to domestic and most international courses at Victoria in 2015. Some students, such as international LLM (postgraduate law) students, will pay ten per cent more next year for the same qualification.

Along with the increase in fees was a two per cent increase in the Student Services Levy (SSL) paid by every full-time student at the University. This increase means the SSL will top $700

in 2015. The SSL is used to fund student services such as healthcare, careers counselling and student media.

Protesters from Occupy Vic were present at the meeting, beginning with a march from the Hub to the University Council Chambers. The protesters heckled throughout the meeting, growing in intensity as the ‘debate’ continued. Student representatives Sonya Clark and David Alsop challenged the Council on the need to raise fees by four per cent, but speakers from the rest of the Council – including Vice-Chancellor Grant Guilford and Chair of the Finance Committee Roger Taylor – spoke in favour of the raise, to loud calls of ‘shame’ and boos from the gallery.

At one point, Chancellor Ian McKinnon told protesters that if the heckling continued,

FEES INCREASE BY FOUR PER CENT

LESS THAN FOUR PER CENT OF STUDENTS CARE

by Sophie Boot

Tthe meeting would have to move to a closed room. The heckling didn’t subside, and the protesters began to loudly chant their slogans from the march – including “Do a degree, what do you get? Debt, debt, debt, debt” and “Bullshit, come off it, our education is not for profit” – as the Council voted on the fees.

McKinnon also directly addressed disgraced former VUWSA President Joel Cosgrove, who appears to have nothing better to do than to attend University Council meetings despite no longer attending university, as a particularly loud and aggressive heckler.

In 2009, Cosgrove was removed from the fees-setting meeting and trespassed from the University after hitting then VUWSA President Jasmine Freemantle in the head with an orange and pelting Council members with eggs. Cosgrove was VUWSA President in 2008.

He is also notorious for wearing an ‘I love my penis’ T-shirt to graduation and burning a New Zealand flag, as well as spending $2000 of VUWSA money on a junket to Melbourne but never producing the report he promised.

Clark and Alsop voted for the two per cent SSL increase, but against the fee raises and other charges. The rest of the Council voted in favour of all increases. After the meeting, Chancellor McKinnon invited students to join the Council for afternoon tea – apart from the students who had protested.

4 PER CENT Increase in your fees from 2014 to 2015

$704Student services levy you’ll pay next year

The International Issue8

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APATHY? WHAT APATHY?HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS PACK THE HUB FOR POLITICAL DEBATE

VUWSA’s recent political debate in the Hub

was a roaring success, with an estimated 600 students cramming in to hear MPs argue for their vote.

The debate was hosted by Wallace Chapman of Back Benches fame, and the politicians attending were incumbent Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson (Labour), Russel Norman (Greens), Tracey Martin (NZ First) and Paul Foster-Bell (National). There was an open discussion about student issues, and then questions from the floor.

VUWSA Campaigns Officer, Alasdair Keating, said they were very pleased with the turnout.“It was great to see so many people there and interested in a whole range of issues, and not just stereotyped ‘youth’ concerns. It was probably the best-attended debate of the election, which I think shows our influence as students and young people. We are as engaged with issues as our parents’ generation and our

voices do matter.”Students responded well to Chapman, who was active among the crowd, asking questions and allowing the audience to control the progression of the debate.The debate began with discussion of student debt and postgraduate Student Allowances, which Labour, NZ First and the Greens all said should be free.

A question from the floor was focussed on rehabilitation of prisoners, and Chapman asked the crowd to raise their hands if they thought prisoners should be able to vote. A solid 90 per cent did so.

More questions from the floor canvassed funding of sexual-violence services, GCSB surveillance of New Zealand citizens, abortion-law reform, immigration and child poverty. You can find full Salient coverage of participants’ answers at http://salient.org.nz/news/apathy-what-apathy-hundreds-of-students-pack-the-hub-for-political-debate

by Sofia Roberts Photos by Rick Zwaan

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TREATY OBLIGATIONS? WHAT TREATY OBLIGATIONS?

INTERNATIONAL CASH COWS MIS-TEETED

UNIVERSITY SET TO CLOSE MAORI BUSINESS PROGRAMME

BUT ARE THEY MILKING IT?

by Sophie Boot

By Sophie Boot

The University is closing the Māori Business programme,

in a move criticised by VUWSA.Māori Business has previously

been offered as a major for the Bachelor of Commerce, but has not been open for student enrolment since 2012.

Six students are currently enrolled in the programme, and two lecturers are employed to teach courses such as Treaty Settlement Process and Advanced Management of Māori Resources.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Commerce at Victoria Business School, Professor

As part of last Monday’s fee-setting meeting for 2015,

changes were made to the fees paid by international students.

The University is introducing a new $1000 administration charge for international students who enrol and pay their fees but withdraw from their courses. This fee will apply to international students who withdraw before the term starts or during the two-week free withdrawal period at the start of each trimester.

International fees will also increase by four per cent across most undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Undergraduate Architecture,

Bob Buckle, said the proposed closure follows a review of the programme and “a decade of steadily declining enrolments.”

Buckle said Māori student numbers had declined within the programme, but had grown in Victoria Business School as a whole, up from seven per cent in 2000 to ten per cent in 2014.

“A range of initiatives designed to achieve these objectives have been introduced in recent years and have resulted in a significant improvement in Māori-student success in Commerce programmes,” Buckle said.

The University said the decision on the programme’s

Design and Education course fees will only increase by two per cent. However, international postgrads are less lucky, with Master of Conservation Biology fees going up by five per cent and Masters of Laws fees increasing by ten per cent.

The University has justified the $1000 charge by saying withdrawals incur administrative costs and “pose a risk to the University in meeting new banking regulations.” Salient understands that there is concern that international students pay their fees, gain student visas and enter the country then withdraw, having never actually intended to

future had not yet been made, as it was due to be considered by the Academic Board last Thursday.

However, VUWSA’s Academic Vice-President Rāwinia

Thompson said the Senior Leadership Team had already decided to cut the programme, and Academic Board was merely a “discussion and notification.”

Thompson said the “conception of tertiary education as primarily developing employable graduates does not favour programmes like Māori Business”, and that education in the area had far-reaching benefits for students and their whānau and communities.

“All things that matter aren’t necessarily those which can be measured.”

Thompson was also concerned with the loss of the Business School’s only two Māori academic staff. She said it was

study at Victoria.Ramon Quitales, President of the VUWSA International Students’ Representative Group, spoke at the meeting and argued that international students were being treated as cash cows, and referred to both the $1000 fee and the ten per cent increase in international LLM fees as evidence of this.

The University says the ten per cent increase “is proposed to reflect the ranking of the Law

School.” Quitales said there was “no clearer evidence” of international students being treated as cash cows – “that’s just saying, let’s milk these people dry.”

Current international postgraduate Law fees are $26,850 a year, second-lowest in the country; this increase will bring the course up to just below $30,000 a year, third behind the University of Canterbury and the University of Auckland.

beneficial for both Māori and non-Māori students to be educated by Māori academics, and the job losses “might raise questions about the school’s commitment to equity in both learning and teaching, and the Treaty of Waitangi.”

The Tertiary Education Union echoed these concerns, with TEU Tumu Arataki, James Houkamau, saying they understood the University’s “process has been terrible.”

“It’s a move that seems to go against the strategic directions that are set out for the University in terms of the importance of Māori and Pacific people’s contributions to the University and its programmes.”

Earlier this year, the Social Policy major was downgraded to a minor following a review of the programme. In 2011, the University closed the Gender and Women’s Studies programme.

The International Issue10

News

JONATHAN COLEMAN TO BE APPOINTED NEXT HEALTH MINISTER.

40%

TE URUROA FLAVELL TO BE APPOINTED NEXT MINISTER OF MAORI AFFAIRS.

67%

GRANT ROBERTSON TO BE NEXT LABOUR PARTY LEADER

66%

STEVEN JOYCE TO BE NEXT NATIONAL PARTY LEADER

35%

iPredict is a market-based political and economic prediction market owned and operated by Victoria University of Wellington. Visit www.ipredict.co.nz to get involved. Probabilities are correct at time of publication.

TERRACE-FIRMANEW BUILDING PURCHASE ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE

by Simon Dennis

Victoria University has purchased the earthquake-

prone Gordon Wilson Housing New Zealand Complex on the Terrace.

The flats were once home to 131 people. The 87 flats were evacuated in 2012 due to safety concerns around the concrete façade of the building.

Engineers found that it was prone to collapse in an earthquake or strong wind.

Victoria University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Grant Guilford, said that the site was a part of future development projects that the University was planning.

“We’ve got a lot of work to go through, but you can imagine some of the possibilities and we’ve got a number of things in mind.”

Professor Guilford also proposed that the site could serve as a safer alternative to the Boyd-Wilson path.

“You could possibly have a series of buildings stepping up to the Kelburn campus, bringing students safely through from the Terrace.”

Safety is a primary concern to Victoria University, and demolition of the unsafe building is a possibility.

“If the consensus of the community was that the building shouldn’t be there, it would certainly suit our views.”

Director of Campus Services, Jenny Bentley, said “the site spans the slope between the Terrace and the Kelburn campus, making it a potentially important part of achieving the University’s strategic goal of being more connected to the city of Wellington.”

Other projects that the University is undertaking will take priority.

A new School of Biological Sciences building will be constructed at Kelburn Campus.

According to the University website, the new building “will encompass modern teaching and research environments that are designed for the digital age.”

The other major building project is the development of Rutherford House at Pipitea Campus.

Rutherford House will provide an informal learning area for students at the Pipitea campus, and will use “the success of the award-winning Hub at the Kelburn campus as a model.”

All of the projects are subject to a variety of funding and building approvals.

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NEWS OF THE WORLD

Sure, your dishwasher DOES your dishes, but only the washing and drying part: you still have to painstakingly load and unload it, losing countless minutes that you could spend re-watching season one of The OC. Luckily, a team of scientists at the University of Birmingham has solved this last problem of capitalism, building a robot named Boris who can load and unload dishwashers without breaking any of the dishes. Now we just need a robot to get the dishes dirty too and humans can finally die out.

In other terrifying robot news, a shipbuilder in South Korea is experimenting with super-strength robot suits, giving workers a hydraulic exoskeleton they can use to lift heavy objects and deflect bullets from law-enforcement officials. The battery only lasts three hours, though.

As Invading Iraq 3: This Time There Won’t Be Any Ground Troops, We Promise heats up, Australian police have carried out a string of terror raids in Brisbane and Sydney, thwarting a planned beheading attack. As you would expect, some on the right are using this to justify the recent GCSB/NSA revelations. I don’t really have a joke for this.

In other terrifying news, a dedicated group of alt-bros in London are using ‘rogue taxidermy’ to create mixed-species abominations. We’re talking three-headed turkey-cats, winged guinea pigs, squirrels with crab claws; these guys are just begging to be cursed. Taxidermy is creepy enough. Stop.

BY HENRY COOKE

The International Issue12

Feature

What was it that made you want to come to Uni and show the film?

I think it’s that age between 16 and 24: you guys are in that age bracket where bad things happen more. For me, the film was important so that young people could understand that where we are today, you’ve got that support, whereas there was nothing there for me back then. I also wanted to show the effects of sexual violence on a person – I’ve carried this for 30 years. As it stands, I’m hoping that you guys go out and you have a lot of fun and you don’t be afraid to have fun.

Do you think New Zealanders are better at talking about sexual violence now?

People are starting to be okay with talking about sexual violence. If you take those in my age group, the baby-boomers, it was always a taboo subject. Now, our daughters and sons and their children are growing up with this constantly on TV, in the papers, right throughout the media. So discussions need to be had around the dinner table. We’re here to help support parents and caregivers as to how to have that conversation. And it will build up.

Does our culture still blame the victim?

No, and yes. There are sadly still pockets that do, and up until the last 18 months, two years max, when we started really seeing a shift in people’s thinking and people’s attitudes. It’s about encouraging our communities to help and support our young ones. Let’s stop blaming the victim, let’s start educating society. For those who perpetrate this type of violence, it’s a choice made, so let’s help them make the right choice when it comes to relationships and being a part of society.

As a survivors’ advocate, you’ve worked on education through schools. What’s been the driver behind that?

I sat in on a class and the educators were talking about consent. At the end of that class, there was one kid there, he would have been about 14, 15. He put his hand up and said: “Miss, I think your class is really cool, and I’ve got to say thank you, because I didn’t realise I was raping my girlfriend”. And I said, “That’s awesome. What part of today’s lesson made you realise that?” He said: “that part when you fellas were talking about what’s okay and what’s not. I just thought, you know, she wanted it, because I’m her boyfriend.” There’s this whole mind-switch when you put them into scenarios and say how would you feel about that. They say,

LOUISE NICHOLAS An Interview with

Last Monday night, Louise Nicholas attended a screening of Consent, the recently released movie about her experience of the criminal-justice process, at University. The event was hosted by the University in conjunction with VUWSA, and Salient interviewed Nicholas afterwards to discuss rape culture, the media and the criminal-justice process.

by Sophie Boot

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News Feature

“Not too good.” So what about your partner? “Well, if I don’t feel good about that, she might not feel good about that either.” So this is what’s going on in their noggins. It’s getting them to that stage and then moving past that to the point of saying “That’s not okay”; it’s about starting that conversation with our young kids.

With the Tania Billingsley case, you spoke with her on how to handle the media. How well does the New Zealand media handle rape cases?

It comes down to the individual reporter, regardless of who they work for. If you’ve got someone who just wants to get that story but hasn’t done the research, it can destabilise so many survivors and it can help create the rape myths that we are trying to abolish. When you’ve got somebody that has a passion for it, that understands and has done their research, it can be a powerful tool for those who have been affected by sexual violence and those who haven’t, because they can understand the reasons why survivors of sexual violence do or don’t do what the public think they should do. What happened to Tania was wrong, both the sexual violence and politically. The sad reality is it wasn’t about what this man had done to her, it was the politics surrounding that. And that’s wrong. The media

took away the crime that was committed and put it onto a politician who screwed up. And her story was lost. Her story, being a survivor, was lost for a very long time and that’s why she went on TV. She had to bring that back. But that’s the media for you. They can be extremely helpful or they can screw it up. The media need educating: take Roast Busters, for example. I was absolutely disgusted and appalled with the way TV3 dealt with that. They knew the story was huge, they knew there would be impact. If anyone had any knowledge of sexual violence and the impact of that story coming out, they would have geared up the services, let you know you could be inundated. They didn’t, and we were. The services required by survivors spiked. We struggle for resources as it is.

Have the Police improved in their handling of sexual assault from your case to cases like Roast Busters?

They’re improving. For me, it’s always little steps are sometimes faster. I believe we will always have pockets of individuals that will screw it up. My hope is that the good colleagues stand up and say: I’m not putting up with that, the NZ Police don’t want to put up with that, so either sort it out or get out. It’s about having the guts to say it.

It’s not going to be policy and procedures recommended by Dame Margaret Bazley to be implemented by 2017. Yes, that has to happen, but it also comes down to individuals.

What came across in the movie was that it was a very aggressive court process. In your view, has that improved?

No, that hasn’t improved. I started going through the criminal-court process back in 1993; what’s changed? Yeah, no, nothing. Sadly. But I don’t want to discourage survivors from coming forward, because what they need to know is back then, in the ’90s and even in 2006, I had no court support. I didn’t have anyone standing with me who understood the system. All I had was Police, who were doing their utmost to ensure my safety and to ensure I came through the system unscathed. Well, they couldn’t prevent that because I came out feeling like I’d been through the washing machine. If I’d had someone who understood it and understood everything I was going through, I honestly believe I would have come out a better person. And that’s what you get today. I don’t want to put anyone off it if they feel they need to go through this, because it is okay.

You’ve advocated before for changes to name-suppression

law and other system reforms. What reforms do you believe should be implemented?

I absolutely believe that name suppression needs to be looked at. It comes down to the victim survivor and what they want. Some survivors feel empowered to say, “I’m not ashamed that this happened to me; I want people to know who he or she is because he or she has probably harmed others.” But when you’ve got family members involved with family members, you’ve got to tread pretty bloody carefully. It’s not about protecting the offender; it’s about protecting the victim survivor. It’s absolutely important for it to be victim-led. I’d love to see a change to the courts. I don’t want to see jurors. It’s not about a higher conviction rate – you get more convictions, you get more people in jail – it’s about allowing a survivor to speak his or her truth in that environment, and do so safely. For many, that’s all they want to do. Reform is allowing those who can make changes to courts hear from those who know. It’s got to come from those who have experienced it.

Consent was funded by NZ On Air, and can be watched on demand at http://tvnz.co.nz/consent-the-louise-nicholas-story/6030979

It’s not about protecting the offender; it’s about protecting the victim survivor. It’s absolutely important for it to be victim-led. I’d love to see a change to the courts.

The International Issue14

Sports

he year was 2009; the event a Press Cup semifinal against

Nelson. Christchurch Boys’ High School were expected to get a solid win here; as they are with most games they play. They are of course the most-successful school in South Island rugby history – perhaps even in New Zealand?

A certain 10-foot lock was in the second row for CBHS, going all out for the blue-and-black hoops as he always did. A somewhat quiet season by his own standards, his rugby career looked as if it would extend no further than the Canterbury Metro Under-18s. Brodie Retallick never envisaged he would now be one of our most important All Blacks, let alone having ever pulled on the illustrious black jersey.

Cue a phone call from the then Hawke’s Bay coach Tom Coventry. He saw something in Retallick that he desperately wanted to make better. This was something that no one in Canterbury seemed to see. In Canterbury, he was deemed unfit, too slow, his work rate wasn’t high enough and he simply wasn’t what they were looking for. Perhaps Canterbury’s biggest mistake in recent years? No hard feelings from Retallick, though. “It’s just the way sport

is these days: everyone is trying to pick the best athletes in order to develop them. I don’t hold anything against them for not picking me.” Nothing but class from big Brodie.

But Retallick liked what he heard from Coventry, and thus he made the move north. A tough and somewhat risky decision for Retallick at the start, but this would prove to be a stroke of genius by the young 18-year-old. It was in Hawke’s Bay that Retallick got himself in shape, got himself fitter than he’d ever been before, and locked down on his fundamental roles around the field.

“I guess I got to Hawke’s Bay and saw what it actually took to get there. It was a real eye-opener, and once I started, I hated coming last in anything. So I was working hard at getting fitter and stronger to become better, and it has started to pay off for me.”

Into the Hawke’s Bay ITM Cup squad went Retallick, and a place in the New Zealand Under-20 side soon followed. Everything was starting to fall into place. Retallick travelled to Italy for the Under-20 World Cup where he would continue his rapid rise as a rugby player. He was a standout for New Zealand as they went on

Sports BanterFrom Unwanted to Too Important To Lose: The Rapid Rise of Brodie Retallickby Ollie Ritchie

to claim another World Cup title.Retallick was then thrust

straight into Hawke’s Bay’s ITM Cup campaign. An opportunity he grabbed with both hands, and he quickly made a name for himself in New Zealand rugby. With that impressive ITM Cup form, things could only go up. And go up they did. A Super Rugby contract with the Chiefs was thrown Retallick’s way and he was guided by one of the best coaches in New Zealand rugby – Wayne Smith.

Along with Dave Rennie at the helm, the Chiefs began to take Super Rugby by storm, winning two straight titles. Retallick was key to the way the Chiefs became so successful, and subsequently received the ultimate reward for any rugby player.

After just one season of Super Rugby, Brodie Retallick pulled on the black jersey and ran out against the Irish for his All Black debut at Eden Park. This would be the first of many All Black appearances – they total 30 at this point. Retallick never found himself out of the All Blacks squad from the day he was first picked. Testament to the hard work he’d been putting in.

Retallick is now in his third season in the All Blacks, and has been a regular starter for a while now. He is currently rated as our best All Black, ahead of the likes of McCaw and Read. And he’s only 23. There are many saying that Retallick now holds the position as our most important All Black. This doesn’t exactly get the 23-year-old jumping for joy, however. “It doesn’t faze me, what people say in the media about how important I am or am not to the team, because I know how much it takes for the team to perform on Saturday. A lot of work goes into the team throughout the week, not just from the 23 but from the whole

T

squad, and without the high standards that are driven from everyone in the team, it wouldn’t come together on game day,” says Retallick.

Retallick’s work rate on the field is second to none, his work in the lineout is crucial – stealing opposition ball at will – and his defensive work is second to none. And he may well be the best lock in the world right now. That’s a huge call considering he’s only 23, but few people even blink these days when it’s raised over a beer.

In the space of five years, Retallick has gone from unwanted in Canterbury to the All Blacks’ most important player. That’s quite the rise for a guy who was so big at high school he couldn’t be lifted. Going into a World Cup year next year, Retallick’s presence in the All Blacks is going to be as important as ever. Don’t be surprised to hear this guy’s name in the same sentence as Brad Thorn’s shortly. He’s going to be that calibre of player.

editor@salient.org.nz 15

Sex

The BoneZoneWith Cupie Hoodwink

ey Cupie, I’m a girl who’s very much into kinky stuff

(general BDSM, D/s, DD/lg etc). I discovered all this while in a long-term committed relationship, but am now single. For my own reasons, I don’t want to look to the kink community to meet someone, so how do I find a compatible partner?

Gurl, I hear ya. Unless you’re all and only about missionary with no buzzy extras on the side, it can be hard to know how to ask for what you want between the sheets. No one wants to feel like a freak in front of their new squeeze, which means that too many of us forego being banged in the way we want to for the sake of seeming ‘normal’.

This is a damned shame. I am very much of the opinion that if we were all a bit more chill about the ways in which we explore each other’s bodies, and a little more open about what does and doesn’t make us feel awesome, everyone would be having way more satisfying sex way more of the time.

Our sexuality and sexual preferences are by no means fixed;

they are constantly changing, and are changed by the people we love and the experiences we have. When I was 15, I was so scared of sex that if my boyfriend had wanted to move beyond rubbing my boob through at least two layers of clothing, I’d decided I would suggest he hire a prostitute to satisfy those needs instead. Who would have guessed that just eight years later… What I’m trying to say is, finding a compatible partner is not necessarily a matter of finding someone who is already overtly into kinky stuff. Yes, kink has its own community, but that doesn’t mean that you’re only going to find people who are into kink or at least willing to try it within that group. After all, you discovered what you were into in a relationship, not the kink community, right?

The key, then, is to find yourself a partner who you trust and feel comfortable with. From there, you can begin to explore the things you’re both into, starting small and making sure you’re both having a good time every step of the way. Who knows, you might even discover something new!

Happy exploring,Cupie xx

In Review: Grooming: Hair, there and everywhere

As I’ve said before, how you choose to style your pubes is absolutely a matter of personal preference, and if you’re into free range, don’t let me stop you. Dudes and dudettes alike, if you are thinking of trying out a new look for summer, be warned: not all pube-removal methods are created equal.

Shaving: No. Just no. Shaving your pubes might seem like a quick and painless way to maintain your forbidden forest, but trust me: it’ll only end in itchy red bumps, super-coarse regrowth, and a razor jammed full of hair. Not even once, yo.

Trimming: If you’re keen to do a little maintenance in the privacy of your own home, trimming can be a great way to ensure ease of access to your bits and bobs if you’re blessed with luscious locks down south. If you’re going the scissor route, keep them small – you have a whole lot more control over the tiny blades of nail scissors than you do regular ones. If you’re after a more even, close cut, you can pick up a bikini trimmer for about $30 from Farmers. Most feature a safety guard to stop you from sucking your clit or scrotum straight into its battery-operated maw, which is always helpful.

Waxing: The pinnacle of pube management, waxing has its ups and downs. While it’s the fastest and easiest way to say bon voyage to every last one of your little curlers, it also hurts like hell and can lead to ingrown hairs in very unsavoury places (although, if you moisturise daily for the first week or so, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem).

Normally, I’m a fan of DIY, but when it comes to my pubes,

I would much rather pay for someone else to get rid of them for me. Sure, if you do it at home you don’t have to get your kit off in front of a stranger, but remember: waxers are professionals, which means they see this kind of shit every single day. And when it comes to tearing hair out of your most sensitive skin, it’s a hell of a lot easier to get someone else to do it than try and inflict that kind of torture on yourself.

If you’re going to try out professional waxing, do your research first – there’s huge variety when it comes to what you can do with a groin full of hair and a pot of hot wax. Whether you’re just after a cheeky bikini wax so your speedos don’t feature a black, curly frame, or all off errywhere (known as ‘The Hollywood’), it pays to know what to ask for.

Personally, I’m a fan of the Hollywood – in for a penny, in for a hairless butt, as they say. To that end, my favourite waxers in Wellington are Janine and Zoe at Pearl. They’re lovely, and their waxing is fast and as painless as possible – even if it’s your first time or you’ve let your wax grow out so long that it’s starting to look more Amazonian than Brazilian.

Sexual Connections:Got a burning question for Cupie? Ask her about all matters of the heart… and other romantic organs, anonymously, at ask.fm/CupieHoodwink

Got a burning sensation in your nether regions? Give Student Health a call on 463 5308, or pop in to their clinics at Kelburn and Pipitea.

H

The International Issue16

Politics

Ramblingsof a Fallen HackBy Jade D’HackOn Abandoning the Nation

t is odd writing a political column before an election, having no idea who will

have won by the time this is read. But while I cannot know the winner, the loser is obvious. Those struggling most, who are most in need of the collective’s support – they cannot hope to have shouted the loudest when no one thought to give them a voice. Within our ballot box hides many futures, but the ones that matter most are the ones we don’t see.

Refugees persecuted by autocracy. Other migrants just wanting a calmer home to raise their kids. The child whose life quite literally depends on a New Zealand Aid worker providing her with a mosquito net. The millions caught in the crossfires of our wars

on terror and the billions facing the uncertain horror of a warming climate. The elections we hold affect more than just us.

Some political parties treat the world better than others, but to say so misses the point. The Greens want to fight climate change and admit more refugees and increase aid spending, and National don’t – but this is coincidence. The Greens have no globalist ideology, just a particular brand of nationalism which happens to be better than anyone else’s. When what’s best for the world conflicts with what they think is best for New Zealand, the Greens choose New Zealand. Consider their ‘Buy Kiwi Made’ policy – they insist that it protects Kiwi jobs, assuming that a Kiwi job matters more than one in

China. They would happily take a job in Shenzhen and give it to Dunedin. As they told us last election, the Greens stand for a richer New Zealand.

We’re not pretending much surprise. If you can’t find New Zealand on a map, we’re not going to give you a vote, and without a vote, you will be ignored. It’s depressing, almost enough to tempt us towards the promise of a new collective. With so much suffering caused by nationalistic self-interest, of course we are tempted to abandon the nation, to lend a little more power to the WTO or the UNDP. But to abandon the New Zealand project is to miss the fundamental problem. We write our own rules because we understand ourselves best. New York doesn’t get us, and so we cannot share in its collective.

Ours isn’t the only election which won’t tell me its result. By the time you read this, Scotland will have decided whether it leaves the United Kingdom. We might think such independence would lead to a more fractured world, exacerbating nationalistic self-interest. The opposite is true. A world of small nations would be a pluralistic one, one with fewer rival blocs and less great power, governed instead by compromise and the search for common ground. The national interest will always corrupt the empathy of politics, but there is hope for a world in which nations are forced to build that empathy anew.

I

PoliticalTidbitsQuotes of the Campaign

“Feral dies in Greymouth, did world a favour.”— Cameron Slater

“The policy is a dog.” — John Key

“I was just trying to help her out.”— David Cunliffe

“We’ve never set out to be spectacular.” — Peter Dunne

“Don’t just talk it. Tick it!”— Jamie Whyte

“Fairer, greener, smarter.”— Russel Norman

“Will you rule out Winston Peters as Prime Minister?” — Mike Hosking

“If you live in New Zealand, you are being watched. — Edward Snowden

“Don’t kill the whales, but if it’s the oil in the water, ya know, scooch the whales over a little bit.”— Bella Henry

“The trick of political management is not to get this or that press release covered; it is about framing how journalists perceive issues.”— Nicky Hager

The child whose life quite literally depends on a New Zealand Aid worker providing her with a mosquito net. The millions caught in the crossfires of our wars on terror and the billions facing the uncertain horror of a warming climate. The elections we hold affect more than just us.

editor@salient.org.nz 17

Feature

The Belief Issue17

send us your artistic efforts

editor@salient.org.nz

The International Issue18

Feature

Tell us a bit about your story.

I: Originally, I’m from a country called Eritrea. A lot of people haven’t heard of it because it’s a new country: it’s only 23 years old. I grew up in the capital city, Asmara. Everything is Italian. They used to call it Small Rome. That’s where I grew up.

Once I turned 18, I had to go to compulsory National Service before I could go to university.

After that, there was a war that broke out. I meant to go to National Service for just one year and six months, but I had to go to war. We are a small country with a small population, so basically everyone had to go. I was told to go to the front and I was lucky I didn’t get hurt. A lot of my friends died.

After the ceasefire was signed, we were able to go back to study. Basically, the government is a dictatorship; we have the

worst government in the world now. The world doesn’t know much about it because it’s a very closed country: no international media, nothing. Eritrea is one of the highest refugee-producing countries in the world. If you asked a question about the constitution or democracy at university, they took you away to concentration camps. Three or four students died and a lot of people were hospitalised.

Because there is no future, I

decided to leave. My family gave me some money and I crossed the border into Sudan. There, I lived in a UNHCR [the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] camp. They interviewed me and they found my story very acceptable and they gave me refugee status.

My English was a little bit better than the others, and they were having trouble talking to refugees from Eritrea, so they asked me to help them and offered me a job. But my friends were telling me that money is no problem, we can help each other, we can go to Libya and then the Mediterranean Sea. But I knew it was dangerous. A lot of my friends died at sea.

So I took the job with UNHCR and I drove from camp to camp. Life was good. But then suddenly, Sudan began to make trouble. There was a war in Darfur going on at that time. To cover up their failures, they blame international

We all do it: complain about how hard life is. But there are people whose lives have been infinitely harder than ours. To get a bit of perspective, we spoke with Ibrahim Omer, a refugee from the country of Eritrea in Africa. His story is an inspiration. He was sent to war at age 18, escaped to neighbouring Sudan, was detained by the Sudanese government, escaped the conflict in Darfur, and came to New Zealand where he had to escape again from a gang neighbourhood. He started as a cleaner at Vic but is now a student, and an active one at that. He’s fought for and won higher pay for workers as part of the Living Wage campaign, and this year, he ran for a position on the VUWSA Executive. Despite the obstacles he has faced, Ibrahim remains upbeat and is one of the kindest humans we’ve ever met. Do yourself a favour and read his story.

HOMEA LONG WAY FROM

BY DUNCAN & CAM

editor@salient.org.nz 19

Feature

organisations and say we’re spies. There was UN pressure on them because of the war. They targeted me because they have bad relations with Eritrea. They said I had to leave the country within a few days.

If I couldn’t stay in Sudan, I had nowhere to go. The only option was to go back to Eritrea, but the police there have a shoot-to-kill policy if they find people trying to cross the border. And if I made it back into Eritrea, I would have been accused of treason. They take you to a military base and then God knows what happens. A lot of people tortured, a lot of people murdered.

I was then detained in Sudan for quite a while. The UNHCR said: give us some time, and we will find a place where we can send him. They let me go, but I was being watched and followed so I couldn’t work anymore. The UNHCR sent my file to USA and Canada, but they took so long.

Then, suddenly came New Zealand. New Zealand takes 750 refugees per year. They asked if I wanted to go to New Zealand. I didn’t know anything about the country, so I googled it. The first thing that impressed me was the safety and the peace. So I took the opportunity and came to New Zealand. I spent six weeks in a refugee camp in Auckland. I knew a guy who was sponsored by a family in Sudan and he said that Wellington is beautiful. I came here in June 2008.

My plan was to study. I passed the English

assessments very well, but then came the

difficult financial part. It’s

really hard

when you don’t have any money or any income or any support. I was on a benefit, but after paying rent and food, there is no money. So I looked for a job. The main thing about getting the benefit is that it felt like I was begging. It wasn’t very nice, so I told them: give me a job.

And then I got a security job in Upper Hutt. I was living in Lower Hutt in a place filled with gangs. They were aggressive, they’d party all the time. They were okay with me, but I wanted to move because I came looking for peace. The big drug dealer living next to me, he was always fighting and screaming. As soon as I got the security job, they followed me to my work and four huge people assaulted me, broke my nose. I talked to the Police and

the officer said to me: what are you doing living in Pomare? That place isn’t for you. So I resigned from the company and moved to Wellington.

As soon as I came to Wellington, I got a cleaning job in one of the hostels. And then came a work opportunity at Victoria University as a cleaner at nighttime. I had to work two jobs because one wasn’t enough. I saved some money for study. For a few years, life was a struggle.

Last year, we had the mayoral candidates’ debate here and I was asked to talk about the Living Wage. At the same time, I was given a supervisor position here at Victoria University and I started getting paid $18. It was a big difference. I saved some money and enrolled at Vic. It’s always been a dream for me to come study. And now all I can say is living is a dream.

This journey must have been

incredibly difficult. Yes.

At the start, people

were

A F R I C A

AND THEN CAME A WORK OPPORTUNITY AT VICTORIA UNIVERSITY AS A CLEANER AT NIGHTTIME. I HAD TO WORK TWO JOBS BECAUSE ONE WASN’T ENOUGH.. . I SAVED SOME MONEY AND ENROLLED AT VIC. IT ’S ALWAYS BEEN A DREAM FOR ME TO COME STUDY. AND NOW ALL I CAN SAY IS L IVING IS A DREAM.

A S M A R A

E R I T R E A

The International Issue20

Feature

telling me not to leave Eritrea. And then in the camps, I was crying all the time. I was young. I was 19 when I left home. I was scared of dying. You hear about the Sinai desert and smugglers kidnapping you. They hold you ransom from your families, and when they can’t pay, they kill you and take your organs and sell them on the black market. So, probably, my destiny was to be killed.

It was hard at UNHCR to be always watched by the Sudanese authorities. I didn’t know what the spying was for. Then I was detained and interrogated, asking me questions all the time, putting me under pressure, telling me if I just say yes they will let me go.

And then the opportunity of New Zealand came. It has been a challenge because it is a completely different society. Even

though the people are very

open-minded, very accepting people. It’s the massive culture

difference, and the language is hard. Even though I speak English, I struggle to hear because Kiwis speak so fast. Now I am okay, but back in the day, it was really hard. Even though I integrated fast, it was still a struggle. Everyday’s a lesson.

Have you gone back to visit your family in Eritrea? I can’t go back to Eritrea. When I came to New Zealand, we started a campaign called Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change to bring international attention to Eritrean abuses of human rights. We did a good job, and now there are sanctions on Eritrea. But because I was part of that, I am on a blacklist. Basically, once you cross the border illegally, you are a fugitive. The day you go back, you will be arrested, tortured, killed. I haven’t seen my family in ten years.

Have you spoken with

them? Yeah, I’ve spoken to them on the phone. But they have to be careful talking to me and I have to be careful about what I say.

What are you studying now? Political Science and Development Studies.

What do you want to do when you finish? I don’t know. If I want to work in New Zealand politics, it will be hard because of the language, even though I speak reasonably good English. I hope to end up working for organisations like UNHCR. I love politics. I’ve always wanted to do politics.

Can you vote in the election? I already have!

Once you stay in New Zealand for a year as a permanent resident, you are entitled to vote. So I voted this year. And I also helped Grant Robertson, who is my local MP. Now and then, I go door-knocking. I believe that Labour policy fits my aspirations as a refugee. The inequality level is getting high in NZ, the pay gap is getting high. I believe Labour’s policy can at least try to bridge that gap, while National is not even trying. That’s why I decided to vote Labour.

You mentioned the Living Wage campaign; what was your involvement in that? I was a delegate for the cleaners: I would speak for them whenever things went wrong. I would communicate to the company on behalf of them. One of the organisers asked me to come and speak at the candidates’ debate and I volunteered myself because I felt the Living Wage would make a difference to people like myself.

I was getting paid $13.75. Then, once I got paid $18, it was a huge difference. I dropped one of the jobs, and I was taking it easy to myself for the first time. Because before, I was doing 80 hours,

E R I T R E AS U D A NBASICALLY, ONCE YOU CROSS THE BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU ARE A FUGITIVE. THE DAY YOU GO BACK, YOU WILL BE ARRESTED, TORTURED, KILLED. I HAVEN’T SEEN MY FAMILY IN TEN YEARS.

Ibrahim (front right)

with fellow refugees in

Kassala Town, Sudan.

Ibrahim (right) with Eritrean

refugees in Aburakham

Refugee Camp, Sudan.

editor@salient.org.nz 21

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working six days. By the time it was Saturday at 6 o’clock, I’d come home so exhausted, crash on the couch and not wake up ’til the next day. It was really really hard. There’s no life, there’s no time for hanging out with friends or going to the movies or playing football.

I believe the Living Wage can help people to be alive, to engage as active citizens socially. I don’t have kids, I’m single, but if you do have them it is very hard for parents to see their kids. By the time they’re home, the kids are sleeping. I see a lot of families struggling.

So I volunteered myself and did a lot of work at the Wellington City Council. Mayor Celia Wade-Brown was very supportive. I worked with Rory McCourt [last year’s VUWSA President] and Rick Zwaan [next year’s VUWSA President], and they did some great work. After a lot of work, the City Council began to pay its 450 employees a Living Wage of $18.40 this year.

Before the Living Wage, I knew a man who was expecting a baby and at the same time he was working 70 hours to try to save up. He would never see his baby. But as soon as this opportunity

came, he could drop down to 40 hours and see his baby. And that’s how the Living Wage can make a difference.

The next thing is to make Victoria University a Living Wage employer. I’m a member of a number of committees that are trying to get that kicked off.

You ran for VUWSA this year: tell us about your decision to do that. It’s all politics. I love politics. I’d been doing a lot of campaigning for the Living Wage, and I thought I could bring some expertise and diversity to the organisation. A friend of mine said I should try it. I thought: “I’m not going to lose anything. If I make it, fine. If I didn’t, at least I tried. At least I tested democracy.” I didn’t do a lot of campaigning because I was tied up with assignments and other commitments, but a lot of people supported me. I lost, but it feels like a win for me. I tried. More than a thousand people voted for me.

Will you go again next year? I don’t know yet, I will decide next year.

Do you think New

Zealand does enough for refugees when they come to New Zealand? For people like me, I knew someone else, so I had the chance to integrate and talk to people and ask for a job. But a lot of people can’t do that. I know the Government is doing its best, but at the same time, I feel like not enough is being done to integrate those people into society.

We should encourage them and teach them so they can be integrated and able to be independent. I know people who have been here for more than ten years and they are dependent on the government, but they just want to be able to do something on their own in their lives. They don’t like being dependent on taxpayers’ money, but they have no choice.

Do you think taking in 750 refugees a year is too low? At the moment, yes. There is a lot of crisis around the world, a lot of war, so countries are taking more refugees. But New Zealand sticks to 750. I think New Zealand could do better. Make it at least a thousand. A lot of Eritreans are in prison in neighbouring countries when their only crime is being a refugee. I think especially we should let in more women and children. But the programme is usually very helpful for people who do make it here.

THEY SAY L IFE SUCKS, L IFE’S SO HARD. I SAY TO THEM: YOU REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE AND WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE GONE THROUGH. YOU ARE IN HEAVEN. NEW ZEALAND IS HEAVEN.

What would you say to the average student at Vic who has grown up in New Zealand? I’ve met a lot of young people who always complain. They say life sucks, life’s so hard. I say to them: you really don’t know what you have and what other people have gone through. You are in heaven. New Zealand is heaven. I believe if you don’t see anything bad, if you’ve never been through any difficulty, you don’t appreciate what you have.

My advice to young people is that you have everything, so just take advantage of it. If you want to see what people are going through, go to Africa, go to Asia, go to the places that are going through hard times. Go and experience it and come back to New Zealand and see. That’s when you will

understand what you have. Open your eyes, stop

complaining, grab opportunities and

take them.

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Feature

Contrary to popular belief, students, for the most part, are not apathetic. In fact, political dialogue on campus has never been so dynamic. With the Scottish Independence Referendum fast approaching, The Student spoke to four University of Edinburgh students to discuss their views on Thursday’s vote.

Jovan Rydder will be voting ‘Yes’. He said: “I think there are clear indications that Scotland would be economically secure post-independence. Even the ‘No’ campaign is far from declaring that Scotland would not be able to handle independence, or that it does not have the resources for it. With this in mind, I think non-significant differences in economic outcome on the national level cannot rule the decision to create such significant and permanent change. Instead, my major reason for voting ‘Yes’

will be the distorted politics of the broader UK, specifically the opportunity to properly enfranchise the Scottish population, which clearly deviates in voting patterns from the broader UK. It is a significant question whether any UK government has at all been representative of the political will of the Scottish population since the rise of New Labour.

“The expected turnout for the referendum is incredibly high, more than doubling the turnout for the European Parliament elections and by far outstripping turnout in any standard election in countries where voting is optional. I think it is important

that students vote in the referendum in order to get experience of directly taking political action for change on a national level (whether voting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’), but given the incredibly high expected turnout I think students will clearly not be missing on the voting booths on the 18th.” Rydder added, “I think having succeeded in such direct democratic action towards political change will enliven the political will of students as well as the broader population, hopefully compounding the positive impact of having national government so much closer to the population.”

There has been much controversy surrounding the legitimacy of non-Scottish voters, an issue particularly pertinent to the vast numbers of English, EU and international students currently living in Edinburgh. Rydder suggests: “Working from the more inclusive model of citizenship that does not delineate Scots based on ethnicity but rather on whether they feel like stakeholders in Scotland’s future, it is clear that it is right that voting is not restricted only to ‘ethnic’ Scots. Thus, this legitimacy comes mainly from how involved you feel with the issues at stake for Scotland.”

Third-year French and Spanish student Warren O’Donnell will also be voting ‘Yes’ on

By the time this magazine is printed, the people of Scotland will have decided for themselves whether they want to remain a part of the United Kingdom or become their own independent nation. The “Better Together” ‘No’ campaign has been consistently negative and has been unable to clearly enunciate a package that would keep Scotland part of the United Kingdom but give it greater autonomy. Conversely, the ‘Yes’ campaign has been unreasonably idealistic: it is still unclear whether an independent Scotland will keep the pound and how Scotland will survive without being propped up financially by its friends in England. Salient got in touch with the University of Edinburgh student newspaper, The Student, to try to get some student perspectives on the referendum. This piece demonstrates both the complexity and the importance of the referendum for everyone in Scotland. *

*One of the absurdities of the Scottish Referendum is that you actually have to be living in Scotland

and not just a Scottish citizen to vote. This has meant many of Duncan’s family (as an example) have

been unable to vote in the referendum even though they were born and spent the bulk of their life in

Scotland. Robbie Burns wrote, “My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go.” Go figure.

SCOTTISH STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM

BY TASHA KLEEMAN

editor@salient.org.nz 23

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Thursday. He said: “I would like to see an independent Scotland which allows the people of Scotland to build the society that they want to see, a society that works for everyone and not just the few. This isn’t about Salmond or the SNP; this is about the potential for people to take control of the future of their country.

“I feel like students at Edinburgh have a great reputation for taking action on issues they care about and I hope that whatever the outcome of the referendum, students continue to work together on issues they feel strongly about. It’s incredible that this referendum has really encouraged people to engage in debate and discuss what they expect from their country. I hope that, in the event of a ‘No’ vote, there won’t be a sense of apathy after all of this enthusiasm and hope.

“I think it’s important that students vote in the referendum as the student population makes up an important part of our society and the outcome of this referendum is undoubtedly going to have an impact on future generations of students.”

Eve Ryan is a third-year student. She told The Student: “I am voting ‘No’, to put it simply, because I think together we are a greater force for good than separately – both on a local and international scale. I agree this referendum should be a wake-up call to Westminster to increase the powers held by the Scottish government; however, I do not think we need to split in order to enable this increase, and that both parties would risk losing too many benefits from the other if we were separate.”

Eve believes that the referendum has already taken its toll and has increased tension on student life. “The media frenzy surrounding the referendum has become, on both sides, quite antagonistic in parts, and the worry that you aren’t on ‘Team Scotland’ if you vote ‘No’ is one thing that in my mind has come to the fore. There seems to be a dialogue existing whereby ‘Yes’ campaigners are emphasised as having a stronger moral compass and interest vested in their country, and this is simply

not true. Both sides possess valid arguments, both sides are equally as concerned with the needs of Scotland, and both sides want to create the most moral Scotland possible.”

Ryan added: “It is incredibly important that students vote. We are, after all, the generation who will truly feel the repercussions of this choice (especially if there are changes to tuition fees for Scottish students).”

“It is also extremely important that English students vote, as it is important that the other partner in the union has at least some representation in this matter. We will obviously feel the effects less than the Scots will, although I do wonder how English people living on the border feel given that they have no vote in this referendum.”

Macleod Stephen is a second-year Law student, who also resides firmly in the ‘No’ camp. He explains, “I’m voting ‘No’ because I strongly believe Scotland’s best future lies, in the long term, as part of a federal United Kingdom. For me, independence is not only a divisive and nationalistic act, but a massive compromise on achieving the best deal not only for the people of Scotland, but for the rest of the UK as well. Economically, Scotland would be hit very hard by independence, and while some of us are able to weather the storm, there are many people who would seriously struggle. Whilst many are taken by

the optimistic version of the future presented by the ‘Yes’ camp, for me, the reality of having no lender of last resort, a significant loss of jobs, a £6 million black hole, uncertainty over currency, increased interest rates on Scottish bonds as well as massive hits to university funding all point to a very tough time in Scotland post-independence. At the moment, we

have a real influence in Westminster through the Scottish MPs who have helped to stop a majority Tory government and to reduce the effects of the bedroom tax, amongst other things. It’s important for us to keep fighting for what’s best for everyone in the UK, and not to just cut them off.”

Macleod also sees Scottish independence as having a detrimental effect on student life. He says: “Student life would be affected materially by independence in the form of the loss of about £150 million in funding, meaning our quality of education wouldn’t be so high. Also, Scottish universities wouldn’t be able to charge students from the rest of the UK any more, so massive numbers of these students would come up north, meaning less Scottish kids are actually getting into university due to the massive competition from the UK. I think it will also have an impact on how students feel towards one another. Across the whole of Scotland, it’s been a divisive debate, and I think no matter what the result, whenever something negative happens, one side will feel very bitter. I worry it will cause arguments and bad feeling, although I hope that it won’t!”

Macleod believes voting in the referendum is of the utmost importance, and is himself travelling back to Aberdeen on Thursday just to cast his vote. He adds: “It’s so important

not only to vote, but to do a huge amount of research into the issue and come to a decision you are totally comfortable and happy with. Otherwise, after the outcome is announced, you could be left feeling that you could have made a difference, but didn’t. It’s so important because this isn’t just an election, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime vote on the future of an entire nation.”

I am voting ‘No’ because I think

together we are a greater force for good

than separately – both on a local and international scale.

I would like to see an independent Scotland

which allows the people of Scotland to build the society that they want to see, a

society that works for everyone and not just

the few.

I am voting ‘No’ because I think

together we are a greater force for good

than separately – both on a local and international scale.

I would like to see an independent Scotland

which allows the people of Scotland to build the society that they want to see, a

society that works for everyone and not just

the few.

BY TASHA KLEEMAN

The International Issue24

Feature

By Philip McSweeney

“Has it been a busy night?”

Whether you’re late to the airport, need to attend a meeting on the other side of town, like, ten minutes ago, can’t rely on a bus, even if you’re just stranded at a party at four in the morning, it’s likely you will have taken advantage of a taxi service. It’s equally as likely you will have asked the same banal questions we all ask of taxi-drivers, in an effort to get conversation flowing

but to keep it from getting too in-depth:

“What time do you finish?”

The taxi provides an indispensable function for society, and has done for a long time. In times of yore, they were called livery-men, draymen or vetturinos; though the vehicles they used were more rudimentary, the principle is unchanged. Wherever you want

to go, a taxi’s there to take you from door to door. They occupy a more curious space, too. As the pilot episode of Sherlock (BBC version, naturally) played on, taxis are simultaneously ubiquitous and anonymous in the cultural landscape.

Fortunately, many enterprising statisticians find the subject of taxiing fascinating – and not just because it’s one of those words that always looks like it’s

been spelt wrong. Among other findings, their discoveries proved the typecast of immigrant taxi-drivers correct. In the USA, 38 per cent of taxi-drivers are immigrants – but in big cities, the proportion increases to anywhere between 50 and 84 per cent.

Similar research conducted in other Western countries – Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom – supports

TAXI-DRIVERSRIDING IN CABS

WITH

editor@salient.org.nz 25

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this position. It’s a xenophobe’s, or Winston Peters’, worst, most sweat-the-bed nightmare come to life: an entire industry that relies on immigrant labour to flourish.

Another, considerably darker immigrant-cliché-turned-urban-myth was confirmed by the studies. When an immigrant taxi-driver purports to have a doctorate in mathematics or to be a skilled neurosurgeon, chances are they are not fabricating or even embellishing. In one study, only six per cent of immigrant taxi-drivers listed their field of study as “transportation services”, with others having degrees or being capable in business, architecture, engineering and design. So why are they relegated to something that is (problematically) considered ‘unskilled labour’, or at least a job that does not befit their qualifications and talents? The answer seems to be Eurocentrism. Immigrants who obtained their degrees from Western universities are more likely to find jobs in their sector of expertise than those who

graduated from universities in, say, India, Iran, China or the Philippines.

That’s the ‘why’ accounted for. Much more important is how taxi-drivers here in New Zealand feel about this, and other things: whether the standard of living here is acceptable; whether they like their job; what the difficulties are. I wanted to hear a taxi-driver’s tales unmediated, and wanted an outside perception of the New Zealand experience. I went to the Dixon St taxi belt, hopped in some Kiwi Cabs (by far the cheapest taxis in town FYI, but that’s another story. I’m not sponsored by them, promise!), asked their permissions and had a wee yarn with the drivers. These are their stories.

DAY SHIFTI spoke to Sam, an immigrant from Iraq who possesses appraising eyes and a countenance that betrays only wry flickers of emotion. He is quietly spoken,

and thought over the questions carefully before answering.

PM: So, Sam is it?

S: Yes.

PM: I was just wondering whether you like taxi-driving, y’know, find it an enjoyable job?

S: Yes. Yes, I love taxi-driving. I think that sometimes I work, in an hour, 50 minutes, and ten i’m just sitting down not working? But, same thing anywhere. In an office.

PM: What kind of hours do you work?

S: The hours I want. I mean, we can work up to 70, and some people do, but my hours are more flexible: I can work when it suits me.

PM: But you opt for the day shift?

S: Yes.

PM: Grand! So forgive me, but

I take it you’re not from New Zealand?

S: No, no. I’m from Iraq. I got my qualification there—

PM: In what?

S: I got my degree in Engineering, from Al-Mustansiriya [University]. I couldn’t find work in Iraq and I was in the army, went to the army… did my service and applied to come to New Zealand straight away. I was lucky, I got in… Do not ask me about army? I do not think I would like the question.

PM: Of course, that’s totally fine. So you like it here?

S: Oh yes, that’s why I live here. That’s why I wanted to live here. It’s very beautiful.

PM: Very different to Iraq, I imagine.

S: Yes.

PM: How long have you been living here? Your English is fantastic.

S: Thank you! I have been here for quite a while now, I began in restaurants and cleaning and – hospitality? So I picked up a lot of English. So it didn’t pay as well as the taxi, but it was very good for me: when I first came here I – my wife – didn’t know any English at all. Now I know a lot and I can talk, although I still don’t have total English or the right accent.

PM: The right accent?

S: Yes. You know, the way you New Zealanders speak.

I WANTED TO HEAR A TAXI-DRIVER’S TALES UNMEDIATED, AND WANTED AN OUTSIDE PERCEPTION OF THE NEW ZEALAND EXPERIENCE. I WENT TO THE DIXON ST TAXI BELT, HOPPED IN SOME KIWI CABS (BY FAR THE CHEAPEST TAXIS IN TOWN FYI, BUT THAT’S ANOTHER STORY.

I’M NOT SPONSORED BY THEM, PROMISE!), ASKED THEIR PERMISSIONS AND HAD A WEE YARN WITH THE DRIVERS.

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PM: I guess I haven’t noticed it really. I can totally, uhh, understand you.

S: Drunk people can’t.

PM: So you mentioned a wife before; did your family come with you from Iraq?

S: Yes, I have a wife and a young daughter.

PM: Congratulations!

S: Thank you! She has an accent even though she’s spent most of her life here [laughs]. A big Iraqi accent!

PM: So do you want to get a job in engineering? Is it annoying, y’know, not having a job in your degree? Sorry, I hope you don’t mind the question…

S: No. No, I like being a taxi-driver, and learning English and seeing New Zealand way of life, because I had to. I’m so lucky to be here… do you understand? I am lucky, lucky, lucky… where should I stop along here?

NIGHT SHIFTI also spoke to Sandip*, a former resident of Mumbai, India, who works mainly night and graveyard shifts. He is youngish, impeccably dressed, clean shaven and subtly cologned, and pauses often during our conversation to take sips from a coffee cup or take a bite of a Whittaker’s slab.

PM: Hi Sandip! Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s pronounced ‘Sahn–deep’, is it not?

S: You got it first time!

PM: Thank heavens, that could’ve been embarrassing. How do you like the taxiing business, Sandip? What kind of hours do you work?

S: It’s fine, I drink a lot of coffee and there’s not much sleep… On Sunday, I finished at six in the morning, woke up at 11 to take my daughters to a festival. I think the customers, in general, are very nice, very polite, but sometimes they try to run away without paying

or they’re very drunk. Women and men too. They’ll say things like “Ooh, currymuncher”, or y’know...

PM: Gross.

S: Yes. Gross. But as I say, most are very friendly, not too insulting.

PM: So what kind of hours do you work?

S: Monday to Friday, I start at five, finish at around midnight? Saturday, I start at 11 [pm] and go through until seven, but it’s not set in stone. Sometimes, I’ll pick up extra shifts or not work some days; it’s flexible. I support my wife and children, though, so I like to work as much as I can.

PM: Understandably! And without being too intrusive, the, err, the pay—

S: Is good. Very good.

PM: Fantastic, as it should be! So I gather you’re not from New Zealand but India, right? Which part of India?

S: Mumbai, which is not very well known but is bigger than Delhi and Bangalore!

PM: I think I had a tutor from there once! Is it very different?

S: Yes, especially on the road – it’s crazy, no rules! Also, much harder to find work, get a good job, support family.

PM: I can imagine. So did you study?

S: Yes, I studied. History. Masters at the University of Mumbai.

PM: Far out, that’s awesome!

S: What do you study?

PM: English Literature.

S: Ahh, there is some crossover then! With Philosophy too! And Politics!

PM: Exactly, very versatile subject. Anyway, do you ever miss Mumbai? Do you ever wish you had a job at my university, say?

S: Ahh, I miss family but not Mumbai: very crowded, not a place for girls to grow up. My children love school – at Island Bay – and I am happy to see them happy. I know I cannot get a job here, even with my qualifications, but this? This is the price I pay.

PM: Surely it doesn’t have to be that way?

S: Perhaps not, perhaps yes. It’s not in my control.

PM: Should New Zealand make room for more immigrants – up their quota? Give them more support when they get here?

S: I don’t know. You have a very special place here, very special. I am happy to be a part of it. But could I be a part of a History department? Definitely. Your students would find what I have to say interesting. Then – I am happy. I am happy here. I like driving and it is not too hard. I don’t know.

S: Is here okay?

PM: Perfect, thanks.

I THINK THE CUSTOMERS, IN GENERAL, ARE VERY NICE, VERY POLITE, BUT

SOMETIMES THEY TRY TO RUN AWAY WITHOUT PAYING OR THEY’RE VERY

DRUNK. WOMEN AND MEN TOO.

*Name changed upon request.

editor@salient.org.nz 27

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I LIKE BEING A TAXI-DRIVER, AND LEARNING ENGLISH AND SEEING NEW ZEALAND WAY OF LIFE, BECAUSE I HAD TO. I’M SO LUCKY TO BE HERE…

DO YOU UNDERSTAND? I AM LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY…

WHERE SHOULD I STOP ALONG HERE?

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HI WINSTON, THANKS SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS. When are you publishing

this issue?

IT COMES OUT ON MONDAY MORNING, BUT WE ARE PUBLISHING

THIS INTERVIEW ONLINE… Monday week?

THIS FOLLOWING MONDAY, THE 22ND.Next Monday, today being Tuesday, next

Monday?

YES, THAT’S IT. Well sorry, guys: forget it. I’m not having an interview for a publication coming out

after the election.

WE’RE PUBLISHING IT ONLINE TOMORROW. Yeah, but it’s not coming out until Monday. I don’t know what sort of party you think we are but we don’t put up with this sort of shilly-shallying around.

The next six minutes of our 15-minute time slot was spent trying to convince Winston to do the interview that we had arranged. This included him telling us that he had been to our offices in Dunedin and we should have spoken

WINSTON PETERS HAS DOMINATED NEW ZEALAND’S POLITICAL LANDSCAPE FOR THE PAST THREE DECADES. HE STARTED AS AN MP IN THE NATIONAL PARTY IN 1978, BUT SPLIT

OFF TO CREATE NZ FIRST IN 1993 AFTER BEING SACKED FROM CABINET. THREE YEARS LATER, NZ FIRST WON 17 SEATS AND EVERY MĀORI ELECTORATE, WHICH MEANT THAT NO PARTY COULD GOVERN WITHOUT IT SUPPORT. HE WAS MADE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER BY JIM BOLGER,

AS WELL AS TREASURER (A POSITION CREATED JUST FOR HIM). HE WAS SACKED AGAIN IN 1998, THIS TIME BY JENNY SHIPLEY, AND SPENT SEVEN YEARS IN OPPOSITION. IN 2005, HE ONCE AGAIN HELD THE BALANCE OF POWER. THIS TIME, HE SIDED WITH HELEN CLARK’S LABOUR PARTY AND WAS MADE MINISTER OF FOREIGN

AFFAIRS. HE’S BEEN IN OPPOSITION SINCE JOHN KEY WON IN 2008, BUT IT’S LIKELY THAT HE WILL ONCE AGAIN BE KINGMAKER AFTER THE

ELECTION. AFTER MUCH CONVINCING, SALIENT HAD A CHAT WITH HIM OVER THE PHONE. BOY IS HE COLOURFUL.

WINSTONAN ARGUMENT WITH

editor@salient.org.nz 29

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with him then. It’s hilarious – you can check out the full transcript online at www.salient.org.nz.

[Winston cackles] Alright, let’s go.

WHAT ONE THING WOULD NZ FIRST DO TO CHANGE THE LIVES OF THE AVERAGE STUDENT? The biggest thing to change the lives of the average student in this country or anyone’s life is to run a sound, thriving economy that is far far wealthier than it is now, that has triple the exports it has now, so they can stay in their country with real opportunity at the end of their studies to get real jobs with First World paychecks and First World opportunities to be promoted further up their careers if they have got the talent.

MANY STUDENTS INTERPRET NZ FIRST AS A RACIST PARTY… No they don’t. Let’s squash that right now. In a country that’s taking 104,000 immigrants in the last report of two weeks ago, net 41,000, heading to record levels, there’s got to be a debate when we’ve got so much unemployment in this country and such a housing shortage in Auckland.

JUST SO WE CAN BE ON THE SAME PAGE: YOU THINK IT’S OKAY TO PRIORITISE THE INTERESTS OF NEW ZEALANDERS HERE OVER IMMIGRANTS FROM OVERSEAS WHO MIGHT GET A BETTER LIFE FROM BEING IN NEW ZEALAND? Absolutely. Because this is a democracy and our duty is to respond to

the democratic wishes of New Zealanders. I was the Minister that increased foreign aid to the highest level since 1973. And that’s my response to people who say that. And if we bring people here, it must be because they fill the skills gaps that we haven’t filled. We should never use immigration as an excuse for failing to train, educate, upskill and employ our own people first. I see that totally negated by a ramshackle immigration policy.

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE CURRENT INFLUX OF AUSTRALIANS INTO NEW ZEALAND, OR ARE YOU ONLY CONCERNED WITH IMMIGRATION BY PEOPLE FROM ASIA? Well, of course I’m not happy with the influx of Australians into New Zealand in circumstances where our people over there as a result of our ramshackle policy has seen the shutters go up to New Zelanders so they can’t even vote, can’t gain access to universities.

TREVOR MALLARD SAID RECENTLY THERE IS A WORRY THAT WE ARE TOO SOFT ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS, AND OUR TERTIARY-EDUCATION PROVIDERS WILL GET TO A PLACE WHERE WE AREN’T PROVIDING CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS FOR THESE PEOPLE AND WE WON’T BE PROVIDING DEGREES THAT WILL BE RESPECTED AROUND THE WORLD. Well, Trevor Mallard is 100 per cent right on that matter. But then again, he wasn’t the first one to say it. What we’ve got is a concept which New Zealand has embraced, which is called export

education. I was the person who signed off the student-visa agreement with China in 1997. That agreement was for export education, and they asked me to solemnly pledge on behalf of the people of this country and the Government of NZ that when they graduated they would be returned home. Here’s the point though. Now we’ve got this export-education policy, it’s absolutely perverted and distorted to the effect that you’ve got 79,000 students work visas in New Zealand. Tell me how that export education works, when our economy is now paying for a substantial part of their being here.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS DO PAY FULL FEES (TWO TO THREE TIMES MORE THAN NZERS) WHEN THEY COME HERE THOUGH, ISN’T THAT CORRECT? Yes that is. But their living costs are funded, tens of thousands of cases now, by the NZ economy.

SORRY, CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW IT IS THAT THE TAXPAYER IS PAYING FOR THESE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS STAYING HERE? No, the taxpayer’s not; the economy is. The idea of export education is that Economy A pays Economy B to educate, at their cost, the total cost, of their students being in Economy B. But in Economy A in this case, and there’s numerous of Economy A–type students around the world, where much of their living costs are supplemented by our economy.

RIGHT. WE’LL MOVE NOW TO THE ELECTION: YOU’VE RULED OUT WORKING WITH RACE-BASED PARTIES LIKE MĀORI AND MANA; WHY NOT? They’d be a disaster, for Māori people in particular, and second for the people of New Zealand in general. More importantly, the Māori are starting to realise that. That’s why the Māori Party is in such trouble this campaign, and so is Mana.

BUT YOU’RE HAPPY TO SUPPORT, SAY, LABOUR WHEN THEY IMPLEMENT POLICIES THAT PARTICULARLY TARGET MAORI AS A RACE? Nope. When I

gave confidence-and-supply to the Labour Party, they did no such thing for the three years that the agreement held. They gave assistance to people on the basis of need, not race.

BUT WHAT ABOUT TREATY CLAIMS? Treaty issues are different, because it crosses the political divide as a historic settlement process and is not to be conceived in the same way as frivolous policies like Whānau Ora, which arose from a report where there was not one piece of empirical or analytical evidence, purely anecdotal, which would be the worst kind of background paper for any public policy whether it be for business or whether it be for government.

YOU’VE DOMINATED POLITICS FOR DECADES; WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR LEGACY TO BE FROM YOUR TIME IN POLITICS? I’ve changed things. There will be a whole lot of students at your university around this country that are beneficiaries of free medicine or free doctor’s visits because of us. But those who conduct their political life for a legacy have simply not got the priorities right. It’s not about them; it’s about service to one’s country.

AND YOU’RE DEFINITELY KEEPING MUM ON WHO YOU’RE GOING TO GO WITH AFTER THE ELECTION? Well, you say who are “you” going to go for. NZ First is a democratic party. We conduct democratic decisions of the full caucus and of the full board and after we’ve known all of the facts that are available to make a decision. The rest make a decision before the campaign starts. How you can make an academic case for that, I don’t know, but we don’t.

SO IT’S PROBABLY GOING TO BE LABOUR THEN? What’d you say?

WE WERE KIDDING. I know you’re kidding, because unlike you guys, we don’t know how to play cards without seeing them.

WE SHOULD PLAY CARDS SOMETIME. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.

WELL, OF COURSE I’M NOT HAPPY WITH THE INFLUX OF AUSTRALIANS INTO NEW ZEALAND IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE OUR PEOPLE OVER THERE AS A RESULT OF OUR RAMSHACKLE POLICY HAS SEEN THE SHUTTERS GO UP TO NEW ZELANDERS SO THEY CAN’T EVEN VOTE, CAN’T GAIN ACCESS TO UNIVERSITIES.

The International Issue30

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ast fall, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid released a promotional video targeted at prospective applicants to the College called ‘Anything Could Happen at Harvard’.

Scene by scene, the 16-minute video paints a cheerful and diverse image of an undergraduate experience rife with possibility. Once you are here, the video suggests, the broad spectrum of Harvard experiences is yours for the taking, no matter your background.

Yet, for those who come from low-income backgrounds, not all elements of the undergraduate experience are as fully accessible as they are for their wealthier classmates, in spite of the College’s recent efforts to open its gates to an increasingly diverse group of students.

Ten years into an initiative that has made Harvard’s the most robust financial aid program in the country and likely contributed to the matriculation of the College’s most diverse classes in its 377-year history, the gap between Harvard’s poor and its overwhelmingly affluent student body has become a pervasive part of undergraduate life.

Class background – while no longer as significant a factor in the ability to afford a Harvard education – still plays a large part in determining students’ experiences on a campus dominated by peers far wealthier than the average American. Socioeconomic status subtly shapes undergraduate life in

a myriad of ways, as personal finances and class background influence students’ abilities to join student groups and otherwise partake in the experience idealized in brochures.

Many students from low-income households say that the financial barriers they bump up against everyday influence their sense of belonging at an institution that prides itself on inclusiveness.

Students rich and poor describe a reality that contradicts the message Harvard broadcasts to prospective applicants when it claims that anything, for anyone, can happen here.“‘Anything can happen at Harvard’ – that is such an empty statement to me,” says Keyanna Y. Wigglesworth ’16, who says that she receives significant financial aid from the College. “That’s such a Harvard thing to say – ‘anything can happen here.’ No, it can’t, because people come from all different types of places in the world and walks of life.”

Harvard’sIncomeGap

Harvard is undoubtedly a national leader in offering financial aid to its undergraduates, a fact well-broadcasted both within its gates and beyond them. Launched in 2004, the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative today gives 20 per cent of undergraduates

– those with household incomes less than $65,000 – the chance to attend the College almost for free, with no expected parental contribution.

Administrators tout the program as key to promoting class diversity at Harvard. And as the University celebrates the initiative’s ten-year anniversary, it also prepares to welcome its most racially diverse class of students ever to campus this fall.

“Harvard is much more diverse today than it was even a few years ago and we continue to bolster our efforts to make Harvard even more diverse in the years ahead,” Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 writes in an email.

Indeed, Harvard goes beyond any legal obligation in providing financial assistance to its students and promoting accessibility to its educational resources. Even so, despite the rise in socioeconomic diversity the College has seen since starting the Financial Aid Initiative a decade ago, its student body today is still far from representative of the country’s income distribution as a whole, as Harvard students are disproportionately upper class.

In The Crimson’s 2013 survey of the Class of 2017, 15 per cent of respondents reported an annual family income of less than $40,000 – a much smaller proportion than the US as a whole. Meanwhile, 14 per cent of respondents reported family incomes of more than $500,000; by contrast, fewer than one per cent of American households fall within this range.

Even Harvard’s middle-income students earn at least two and a half times the amount that the median American household brings in during a given year, the survey shows. About 70 per cent of respondents said their family income was over $80,000. The median household income in the US, by point of comparison, was just $51,371 in

As we continue to tackle issues of accessibility and inequality here at Vic, it’s useful to look outwards to other universities and their efforts to deal with these problems. The Crimson is the student newspaper at Harvard University. Salient got in touch with them for this issue. This piece, originally written for The Crimson, provides fascinating insights into both the inequities at Harvard and the novel ways in which Harvard has attempted to deal with those problems.

GATES WITHINTHE

By Madeline R. Conway & Steven R. Watros

L

editor@salient.org.nz 31

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2012, according to the US Census Bureau.Those statistics offer a glimpse of a

freshman class disproportionately filled with students from upper-middle and upper-class households, and comparatively few on the other end of the spectrum, leaving disadvantaged students to navigate a campus dominated – statistically, at least – by peers who hail from backgrounds more affluent than their own.

Throughthe GatesWhen prospective students, no matter their socioeconomic status, receive letters informing them of their acceptance to Harvard, for a moment they hold in their fingertips the ticket to all the resources and opportunities that a Harvard education has to offer. And when generous financial aid packages enable them to accept that offer, students from low-income backgrounds can look forward to four years at an institution that for most of its history has been reserved for society’s socioeconomically elite.

The College supplements students’ financial aid packages with a number of programs to help them buy and rent winter coats and computers, respectively, and advise them on available resources to aid them in their transition.

Even before students arrive on campus, administrators in the Freshman Dean’s Office will have prepared to facilitate a comfortable transition for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, creating socioeconomically diverse entryways and making sure not to pair a student who receives no financial aid and a student on “extreme aid” together in a two-person room.

But even as administrators sort students into residential settings over the summer, students have already begun sorting

themselves along class lines.While wealthier students are free to

spend their summer traveling the globe or diving into internship experiences, for those facing serious financial constraints, delaying the arrival to Cambridge can be out of the question. Where the rich can choose from a range of pre-orientation programs in the arts, outdoors, or service, for those who need to earn money, there is often only one option. The chance to earn

a few hundred dollars before the term begins can be difficult to pass up.

Regardless of whether or not they participate in pre-orientation programming, students from low-income households arriving on campus for Opening Days may find that interactions with their wealthier peers can amount to a culture shock, creating, for some, an early sense of alienation.

“My freshman year, I was just really acutely aware that I didn’t belong with the overwhelming majority of people that were here,” says Cody R. Dean ’14, who arrived in 2010 from a low-income household in West Virginia.

Matthew Wozny ’14 says that coming from this sort of background can put students at unease among wealthier individuals whom he saw displaying a sort of “etiquette” he had not seen before. As a result,

he felt that he spoke in a way that some classmates did not find appropriate.

Jesse G. Sanchez ’14, a first-generation college student from San Diego, was surprised by the way students dressed at Harvard. In preparation for his freshman year, he purchased a number of large, unmarked, colored T-shirts – called “club pro” or “shocker” tees – to convey a sense of seriousness about his schoolwork. He planned to iron them each morning before class.

When he came to campus, however, he found that his style set him apart from peers he saw wearing collared shirts and brands such as Ralph Lauren instead. Sanchez says he felt out of place at first – and an interaction with a classmate early on that year only served to exacerbate that feeling.

“I think that there are these small moments where you realize, wow, I really stick out,” Sanchez says. “I think moments like that are very eye-opening.”

In preparation for his freshman year, he purchased a number of large, unmarked, colored T-shirts – called “club pro” or “shocker” tees – to convey a sense of seriousness about his schoolwork. He planned to iron them each morning before class. When he came to campus, however, he found that his style set him apart from peers he saw wearing collared shirts and brands such as Ralph Lauren instead.

The International Issue32

Feature

PinokioBy Adam Ben-Dror & Shanshan Zhou

Pinokio is a ‘living’ Anglepoise

lamp that is aware of its

environment. It runs on algorithms

that are carefully designed to

simulate life-like behaviour.

Pinokio was originally created

by Shanshan Zhou and me for

a “physical computing” class

run by Douglas Easterley in the

Media Design department. This

year, under the watchful eye of

Walter Langelaar (Media Design

faculty), we built two new Pinokios.

We have shown one at a robotics

exhibition in Moscow called Bal

Robotov; the other, in London at

the Barbican Centre as part of the

show Digital Revolution. Pinokio

in Russia is being crated as we

speak, ready to be sent back to

New Zealand, while Pinokio in

London is being packed up ready

to be sent to Sweden – the next

stop of the show.

editor@salient.org.nz 33

Columns

Conspiracy Corner“Postmodern Warfare”

By Incognito Montoya

WeirdInternet ShitBy Henry Cooke

thought I’d use this week’s theme to take a shot at what some

believe is the fastest way to deal out justice – the gun. To Americans, easily the most targetable people in rhetoric and practice, ownership of a gun is a right second only to

am standing on a street staring at the screen that tells me I have missed

my bus. I am staring at the street on the screen and trying to work out which number I am near. I am staring at the screen and it is showing me a car drive slowly towards me, a smiling face and licence-plate number just below. I

free speech. Meanwhile, Europe and the Eastern world exercise the understandable restraint one would require when using firearms, and look on the US like trigger-happy cowboys. Your exposure to guns may only extend to yelling expletives when somebody no-scopes you in Call of Duty, but to make sense of America’s almost mythic idealisation of guns, it helps to contrast how other cultures understand weapons and warfare, such as Japan’s.

Japan’s martial philosophy is derived from Shinto and Buddhist principles, and its view on conflict formed from the upper-class samurai. Weapons are simply tools, which must be carefully and rigorously mastered with full purpose of body and clarity of mind, a philosophy that predates the advent of firearms. Today, the only guns available to purchase in Japan are handguns

am staring at the screen and rating the driver out of five.

You can always find a cab in Wellington, always get a ride from the depths of any suburb with little more than a cellphone signal.

Yet even with cellphones, even with digital meters on electronic cars paid for by mobile EFTPOS machines, this isn’t enough. You have to talk to someone. You have to fish your wallet out of your pocket. You have to leave your driver entirely unquantified, anonymous and random, with every chance that you’ll never see him again, or see him in your next cab. It’s all very old-world. Enter Uber.

Uber is an app that books cabs for you. You check if one’s available, it gives you an estimated fare, and then you watch your driver approach on a map. The fare is automatically deducted from your debit or credit card,

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and air rifles. Gun-owners are registered with the police, rigorous background and mental health checks are undertaken, and owners must take a test every three years. On average, Japan has as few as two gun-related deaths per year.

America, by contrast, was founded upon the Enlightenment values of the Founding Fathers, emphasising a desire for personal freedom above all else. The nation was made and won by guns, and as such, any hard-working American can own a firearm as quickly as possible. Guns are seen as empowering, not constrained to training or class, and capable of making you a do-gooder, a hero.

We need only look at the recent news to learn how this mythologisation can be taken to extremes. Consider the militaristic police response to the events in Ferguson, Missouri, or the death of Trayvon Martin,

in the name of doing right and stopping conflict. In 2011, 11,068 homicides were attributed to firearms, or 3.6 deaths per 100,000 in the population. Film critic Roger Ebert, a man who knows a narrative when he sees one, criticised the media for drawing attention to school shootings; “When an unbalanced kid walks into a school and starts shooting, it becomes a major media event. ...The message is clear to other disturbed kids around the country: If I shoot up my school, I can be famous.”

I am by no means aiming to soapbo x this issue; I aim to educate, not to advocate. But I do ask: is justice being dealt here, or is the capacity to use violence misconstrued as justification to use violence? Give some thought to it next time you’re mowing down soldiers made of zeroes and ones in Modern Warfare.

then you get to rate the driver and the driver gets to rate you. It just launched in Wellington.

Taxis are already such a weird form of capitalism. You pay someone else money for private freedom of transport, usually to a man who clearly needs the money much more than you need the ride. The imbalance is palpable, especially when you’re jumping drunk into a cab after a night of fun and they’re just getting into the middle of their horrid 12-hour shift, a shift that could easily net them very little money.

Uber makes taxis even weirder, even more impersonal. It was my driver’s first day when I took a ride with him – he was apprehensive but intrigued, fumbling at his loan-iPhone every time we paused. He already had more jobs lined up than his regular cab service would have, but was a little worried about paying for petrol,

as he wouldn’t receive his Uber pay until the next week.

Online, uber-Uber users are already begging for a tick box that says “I don’t want the driver to talk to me”. It’s probably not far off.

Uber is neoliberalism in its purest form, efficient and horrible, both utterly indifferent and slavishly subservient to the needs of the individual. Uber is probably exploiting its drivers, if international evidence is anything to go by, and is using irresponsible venture capital to knock out the competition. We were probably exploiting them under the old system too, but at least then we had some semblance of regulation.

That said, if you use the code ‘9850t’ when you sign up, we both get a free $10 credit. Embrace your contradictions bb!

The International Issue34

Food

o mark the end of root-vegetable season, try this spicy salad. It’s inspired by the Chow pumpkin salad and it tastes just as good (if I do say so

myself), and it’s very easy to make. With seeds, nuts and lots of fresh ingredients, it’s perfect energy food for this stressful tail end of the year. All of the fresh ingredients (lemongrass included) can be sourced at the vegetable markets.

Method:Remove the skin and centre of the pumpkin and chop it into 2-inch chunks. Rub it with olive oil, the chilli powder, half the quantities of cumin seeds and coriander seeds, and salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 180 °C for half an hour or so, turning every 10 minutes, until cooked through.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool. After removing the outer leaves, chop the lower part of the lemongrass stalk (or grate if you find that easier), and put in a frying pan. Add the garlic and ginger (fresh is best but not essential) to the pan, along with both measures of seeds, peanuts, the other measures of cumin and coriander seeds, and two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Cook, stirring often, on a medium heat for 3–4 minutes or until the pan is very fragrant, the garlic is cooked, and the nuts and seeds start to go golden.

Tear the coriander and mint leaves, mix with the pumpkin, and pour the seed-and-nut mixture on top.

I served mine with a Thai noodle salad with julienned raw vegetables, sesame oil, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and lime juice.

Meals andFeelsSpicy pumpkin saladby Eve Kennedy

T

lthough Wellington has a plethora of takeaway sushi establishments, there are relatively few Japanese restaurants.

Luckily, we have Arashi to make up for it. Situated in the middle of Courtney Place, with an extensive menu, and moderately priced, Arashi is a great option for a dinner, BYO or not.

When I got to Arashi at 7 on a Monday night, the restaurant was already half full. The service was fairly quick and the décor light and interesting (although I was slightly disturbed by being seated at a table pressed against a large mirror: watching myself struggle with chopsticks and long noodles after a few glasses of wine isn’t ideal). The menu is wide-ranging and all looks delicious. Even as a vegetarian, there were plenty of options and I struggled to choose one. If I’d been a meat-eater, I’d probably still be there.

I ordered the vegetarian tempura soba, with teriyaki sauce on the side, which was $16.50, plus an extra $2 for the sauce (so worth it: treat yo’self). It was pretty spectacular, notable in that every bit of the dish was delicious. I normally find that one bit of a meal is by far the best, but here I couldn’t decide what I liked more. I love soba noodles (Japanese thin noodles made with buckwheat flour), and the broth they were served in was superb. The tempura was good – light, hot and crispy – although I wasn’t wild about the piece of onion tempura, which tasted slightly fishy. Dipped in the teriyaki sauce, it’s basically perfect.

I’d definitely recommend Arashi: the food is great, service proficient, and the location very convenient. It’s not really a place for large groups or very rowdy BYOs, but for any other occasion you wouldn’t regret it.

by Julia Wells

A

ArashiArashi

Location: 41 Courtenay PlaceCuisine: JapanesePrice: ModerateBYO: Yes ($5 corkage)

Filling:¼ of a pumpkin3 tablespoons cumin seeds2 tablespoons coriander seeds2 handfuls of fresh coriander2 handfuls of fresh mint 2 teaspoons chilli powder 3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds3 tablespoons sunflower seeds 3 tablespoons unroasted, unsalted peanuts 1 stalk of lemongrass1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger 1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic salt and peppervegetable oil

editor@salient.org.nz 35

Columns

C B Tby Jane T

Māori MattersNā Te Po Hawaikirangi

his instalment of CBT was brought to you by We.

CBT tells us that cognitive distortions are caused by both internal and external influences.

CBT tells us that distorted thinking can be subverted through therapeutic work.

CBT, however, does not often tell us that ‘distorted’

thinking can be the result of a disempowering external social world.

I am sitting on a step on Cuba St near buskers badly playing music, and my friend is getting food. My friend is now sitting across from me ripping a sugar sachet telling me how she is feeling because I am asking her how she is feeling because she had to have a procedure because she didn’t want to have a kid. She is telling me she is fine and I am thinking that this is good and I am thinking about how she holds herself in a nice way, and then she is telling me about how she got yelled at the other night by rugby men and now I am thinking about my school friends who had bits of their person quietly extracted from them by boys in high school. I’m thinking of my friends who became acclimatised to too much cortisol before they were six, due to too much father shouting. The mood I am

ia ora whānauThis week we have a few pānui: this is for

all tauira to get involved.

1) Each day, Ngāi Tauira will post a kupu o te rā (word of the day) themed around Te Kupu o te Wiki (word of the week). This is to promote Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori

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K

feeling is like scared and worried and like I am going to scream at the buskers and my thoughts are like why are you so defensive about these issues, you are safe. And my thoughts are now like well now, ultimately, Jane, we are an amalgam of your brain chemistry, your family history, and the assumptions you hold about yourself and the world that were taught to you by an inhospitable environment which hates you, because you are a woman. My thoughts are like please excuse us but do you expect us to be relaxed? My mind remembers my mouth and now I’m speaking and I’m saying to my friend (who is asking me if I have any ‘CBT tips’ as to how she can calm herself when she is walking in the dark) that you can learn all of the tips and do all of the things to take back your body from worry but know that ultimately you are perfect. It is not solely your responsibility to change the external conditions which render your internal life really

shitty. I am saying to her that you and me and we have a power, the source of which is inaccessible to those fixated on blaming us alone for our anxieties and our distorted self talk. I’m saying that we need to be this power as Beyoncé suggests in ‘Grown Woman’ but we also need to know that we cannot do just ‘whatever we want,’ even now, still. We cannot CBT out of everything. My thoughts are really, real gently like: because of this, sometimes we must be patient with our frightened minds. Our pathologies should not be solely ours to carry.

Feminist therapy tells us that individual pathologies must be seen as situated within our disempowering social world.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talk therapy used to treat disruptive thinking as well as mental illness. Each CBT patient will use it in their own way, and students who think it could help them can visit Student Health.

Language Week) initiative. If you like us on Facebook ‘Ngāi Tauira - VUW Māori Students Association’, you will be sure to get our updates on a kupu o te rā.

2) As of this week, on Tuesday we will be starting a kapa haka / tikanga hour in the NT common room at 5.30 pm (42 Kelburn Parade). We will be learning waiata/moteatea/karakia etc depending on numbers; if there is anything in particular that tauira want to learn, let us know so we can try to organise something. ALL are welcome to come along.

3) Every Wednesday starting this week, the NT Office and common room will be rumaki reo, nō reira kia kaha ki te hāpai i te kaupapa whānau mā. Also starting next week, there will be kapu tī available in the NT office on Wednesdays as well.

The International Issue36

Sonya Saysby Sonya Clark

VUWSA President

Exec ColumnCaroline Thirsk

Education Officer

ast week, the University Council voted to increase the majority

of tuition fees by four per cent. For the first time in recent memory, the gallery was not just full of VUWSA, Salient and student protesters, but a notable cohort in the front row of international students from the VUWSA International Students’ Representative Group. The VISRG, as they are known, are a new representative group set up this year, and they’d come along to support President Ramon Quitales. Ramon spoke to the Council about a recent report they’d put together on international students’ concerns and what they’d like changed.

International students have been at Victoria for a pretty long time now, but I think that the presence of VISRG at the fees meeting marked something pretty significant. There are thousands of international students at Victoria, and as the University aims to grow its student numbers, it has signalled pretty clearly that the number of international (read: full-fee-paying) students needs to grow too. The rapid growth of the international students’ rep group shows that international students want a real say in their experience at Victoria, and want value for money for their $20–30,000 in fees.

I said to Council that for

immigrated to New Zealand with my family at the end of

December 2012, so I have been in New Zealand for less than two years. Before I came here, however, I spent two years at university in South Africa, so I have a different perspective on some things than many people here.I really enjoyed the Great Political Debate that was hosted by VUWSA in the Hub, and was impressed with how many people turned up and the important issues that were raised, especially around student funding and tertiary education, as that is particularly important in my role at VUWSA. Although the issues that were raised were very important and needed to be discussed, I found it a bit sad that nothing positive was said about the tertiary-education system in New Zealand.Let me put it into a bit of perspective for you. In South Africa, 67 per cent of matriculants (equivalent to Year 13) passed their final year. This may sound good until you know that in order to achieve that percentage, government lowered the pass rate to 33 per cent. It gets worse when you factor in that that only accounts for 23 per cent

many students, the debates about whether tuition-fee rises were right or wrong isn’t really up for debate any more, especially when the Government has frozen a lot of the funding for universities. Many of us have accepted the constant rise of fees, because it always happens. If this is the case, then as students, we should be negotiating with the University about what the exact value is that we get for continual fees increases.

Whether it’s ensuring tutorials don’t grow in size, or the creation of an International House to ensure international students have a place for cultures to be celebrated, I want to see a shift in the narrative so that we talk value for money. I want international students to feel that the education they receive at Victoria is one they are proud to carry for the rest of their lives. And that that will happen when international students have a genuine voice in the decision-making of this institution, and feel that the spending of their huge student fees is a transparent and accountable process. As a student on University Council, I am committed to improving this. It can feel pretty disempowering to receive the papers that recommended the fee rise just a week before the meeting, and to not have had input into most of the fee-setting process.

Earlier this year, you may have filled out the ‘budget simulator’, an interactive tool to help you decide where your student-services money is spent. What similar things could we do for student fees? Let’s make the process a whole lot more productive by focussing on what can we achieve. I think we owe that to our international students, who have no choice but to pay huge amounts of money to access a Victoria education.

Sonya ClarkVUWSA PresidentM: 027 563 6986 | DDI: (04) 463 6986 | E: sonya.clark@vuw.ac.nz | W: www.vuwsa.org.nz

of the population completing matric. Of those, only a further 23 per cent (comparatively, New Zealand’s level is 49 per cent at a far higher pass rate) have actually qualified for university and even less than that can afford to go. There is no such thing as an interest-free student loan or a student allowance in South Africa, and fees are astronomically higher in comparison. This makes tertiary education available to very few people.So why am I babbling on like this when we are in New Zealand and not South Africa? I know that Student Loans can very quickly reach alarming heights and that many students are in very difficult positions and are struggling. I know that tertiary education is not available to everyone, as it ideally should be. I fully agree that we have the responsibility to constantly try to improve things and should not settle for the status quo. However, I also think that, every once in a while, we should take a moment to sit back and be grateful that, comparatively, New Zealand does a pretty good job and that we are fortunate to be able to study in such a country – whether we have lived here all our lives or are here just for our university years.

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Your students’ association

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editor@salient.org.nz 37

Columns

Shirt & Sweetwith Eleanor Merton

Articulated Splinesby Carlo Salizzo

That Wizard Came from the Moon

ur generation, Generation Y, Generation Y are we here, Generation Y did

our parents fuck everything up so much, Generation Y bother, are often told that we are global citizens. The first generation of true *global* citizens. And yes, we all know how to spell

s I write this, there are two hotter-than-hot stories in the gaming

press. First of all, Destiny recently hit the shelves and it seems like everyone is already bored with it. Secondly, Minecraft – indie gaming’s blockbuster hit – has just been sold to Microsoft for an ice-cold US$2.5 billion. So, in the Old El Paso spirit, why not touch on both?

‘globalisation’ (sometimes we even spell it with a ‘z’ because compression of time and space means that America is always riiiiight there leaning over our shoulder, reading our emails and changing any ‘s’ to “zee”. Interestingly, if you google “how to spell s”, you get heaps of results on how to cast magic spells. V useful!) But this does not mean that we’re global citizens. In fact, most members of our generation are still just as hopelessly racist and ignorant as their racist and ignorant parents. This is why you have to work out:

How to not assume that you’re a global citizen even though you keep getting told that you are just because you’re this generation.

As a launching pad, read LIFE magazines from the ’60s. Gain perspective. Make a photo

Destiny is Halo-studio Bungie’s latest effort. It’s a genre-bending sci-fi epic, an MMO released exclusively for console (so far) and the spiritual successor to Halo’s epoch-defining space shoot-’em-up dynamic. It’s also kind of dull. Reviewers all over the internet have heaped criticism on the weak story, difficult interactions and dearth of engaging content. Not to mention the fact that the competitive multiplayer dooms you to frustration until you can attain a superior level. Bungie has hit back with claims that it all gets better with level 20 endgame content, but reviewers find that hard to accept.

And I have to agree. Admittedly, I’ve only played the beta (and on last-gen, no less), but I was disappointed to note the same old sterile environments and interactions I was used to from my World of Warcraft days in 2006. Without a keyboard, it was hard to find any kind of

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from LIFE magazine your cover photo on Facebook. Drink your Fairtrade coffee and feel good about your social consciousness. That’s cute. But do also realise that the world is not your oyster. Other cultures are not there for you to wear so you can give your look some weird truncated and hyphenated name like ‘boho-chic’. You are not special and unique. There are seven billion other people with the potential to get up in your space. Seven billion other people with equally detailed lives and complex histories and fucking annoyances with the other people up in their space who are not just inconveniences or ‘ghetto’ or bad drivers or whatever it is that you’ve been bred to think about them. Acknowledge that these people make you better. Interacting with them makes you better. Better than you could ever be if you were

a monochromatic, genetically homogenous and intellectually stunted ‘global citizen’.

Hence, I offer a number of different buzzwords and phrases that you can use to describe your identity instead:• ‘consciously uncoupled’• ‘clicktivist’• ‘selfie-curator’• ‘hate-watcher’• ‘anti-fracking’And perhaps, if you really do want to push your postcolonial positioning, you could make ‘soft-internationalist’ happen. Or ‘globe-core’. But do remember that the only surefire way you can really show off your international awareness to your friends is by leaving a piece of the body of your enemies on every continent. Prominently displayed in the most romantic tourist destinations. Tastefully presented with ribbons.

‘community’, either. Combat was great, but boss battles were a drag – it was pretty irritating to come up against formulaic missions and bullet sponges, particularly from the Halo studio.

I blame the committee. Erasing individual passion because it’s risky, and sticking to what focus-tests as popular and inoffensive. Sure, people will play it, because the MMO is a finely tuned Skinner box by now, but I’m still grumpy. It bites that there was no real story, because that’s what makes the good games work. Titanfall was okay, but its story was garbage, whereas most of the CoD family have at-least-strong narratives to augment their multiplayer – and (immature community aside) which one do you honestly prefer?

But, hey. They’re promising a ten-year development cycle, so maybe they’ll deliver something that isn’t plot-by-committee later. Individual, unique story

is important in those kinds of games, and hopefully they realise that now. On the other crude segue, there are games where story literally does not matter: enter Minecraft and its enormous price tag. Big bucks, yada yada yada. What matters to me is the other side of the story.

Notch, mythical creator of the game itself, has resigned. And why? Because he’s afraid. He’s seen the abuse of other figures in the industry, and it has come dangerously close to him with the cash-for-perks server controversies. He doesn’t have a massive corporate entity to protect him, so he got out. Can anybody rationally blame him for that?

It’s a scary time to be in indie development right now, and I for one hope that it changes soon. Otherwise, we’ll end up with fewer labours of love like Minecraft, and more corporatised bullshit like Destiny.

Your weekly column on how to be annoyed but still cute

The International Issue38

Columns

Bentby Jonny Abbott

ey everyone! UniQ has been quite busy lately. We had our AGM and

now have a new Executive to take us through next year, but alas, you haven’t quite gotten rid of me yet! I’m not your Communications Officer next year, but I still have a few weeks to keep you all entertained and informed!

This week’s Salient, if you couldn’t tell, is the International edition, and I thought I might educate you enlightened scholars about where it is, or rather isn’t, legal to be a homosexual (or LGBT*). I know you might be thinking that making it illegal to be queer is an outrage and only some far off countries do this, but did you know that in many countries in Oceania, being queer is a crime?

New Zealand recently had its first year of legalised marriage equality for all. We legalised male/male sexual relationships in 1986, thank you former Labour MP Fran Wilde! Females were never criminalised.

There are 81 countries in the world where it is a crime to be queer in some capacity. 16 countries have allowed same-sex marriage; yay New Zealand!

Oceania has a few countries outlawing queer relations (mainly M/M): countries such as Palau, Nauru, Tonga and even Samoa

are living in the Dark Ages with their laws against homosexuality, but the most shocking, in my opinion, is the Cook Islands. Why are they shocking? Every Cook Island citizen is a New Zealand citizen, so that means that for a whole bunch of New Zealand citizens, being gay in their home country is a crime that could result in a prison sentence up to seven years. SEVEN!

Sure, their government has the independent right to choose, and our government has some sway, but you would think that, as the country that has responsibility in the way foreign policy and defence is managed, we would have some ability to create a place where basic human rights are respected.

Some of you might be thinking about how you control laws against queer people, because it’s not obvious if someone is LGBT* or not. Most of the laws are specifically about “consensual sodomy”, meaning sex rather than just ‘being’ a homosexual, but look at the ramifications of these laws. You can’t meet people in a gay bar who you could be attracted to, because any such place could be raided by the cops; you face discrimination and constant fear of being caught and imprisoned; you will probably end up marrying a woman who you don’t love, resulting in an unsatisfactory relationship.

A whole life that, with a little bit of freedom and basic human rights, could be so much happier and more prosperous.

Do what you will with this information, but I implore you to stay informed about queer rights and never ever let people’s humans rights be taken away or repressed. Even in modern society, there is discrimination, and it’s not as far from New Zealand as you might think.

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editor@salient.org.nz 39

Feature

How are you? Good! Good! A wee bit groggy after celebrating the EP release last night.

What was working with Shapeshifter like? Have you done stuff with them before? We have kind of worked with them in the past; on their last album, Delta, we were kind of brought on as producers and engineers for that. It was back during those sessions that we came up with the idea that maybe we could do a 50/50 kind of Upbeats/Shapeshifter thing. So, then, a few months later, we got in the studio and made it happen.

How do you think drum ’n’ bass is doing? There was a time in high school where everyone I knew was either thrashing Pendulum or hating on Pendulum and

thrashing Binge Drinka live at Dargaville—

Wicked.

—but then other aggressive electronic music kind of took over, and it seemed to fade from the public consciousness a bit. Yeah, there was definitely that moment where things blew up a bit, and there was a lot of commercial crossover; then it died off a bit and things went underground again, but that’s kind of the ebb-and-flow: like, it going down a bit produced a whole lot of interesting music, produced a lot of interesting stuff and different flavours. Then, lately, I feel like it’s on the upswing again; you know, guys like Rudimental and DJ Fresh pushing something that’s a bit more drum-and-bass-like, well,

pop. Then, like, worldwide for us, touring Europe right now, it seems so strong, it’s awesome; then the States, it’s always been a bit of a struggle, no one quite understands it, but it’s picking up momentum; then in New Zealand, it just never seems to die. It’s the cockroach of dance music: it just keeps going.

So how did The Upbeats start? Right back in high school, me and Jeremy used to surf together, kind of buddied up doing that. He was really into his drum ’n’ bass, and was kind of pushing that onto me although I wasn’t really having a bar of it to start off with. Eventually, I came round to it, we started writing tunes, sneaking into parties when the drinking age was still 21 or something like that.

How has your songwriting

Newtown has a new music venue! Your Music Editor made it there for a Mermaidens show.

• This is so handy to my flat! This is so handy to my friends’ flats! This is so handy to my friend’s flat that drunk patrons have been vomiting on her stairs!

• Sold out on the first night? Of course! Sold out on the following weekend? Zeitgeisty!

• It feels like everyone under 35 in Newtown is here. When it was Bar Edward, it felt like everyone in Newtown over 35 was here, so this is good.

• The place is split into two long interconnected rooms, with one dominated by the stage and ‘pit’ (??) and the other housing the bar, toilets, and a little bit of away-from-music seating, which is hella appreciated. The bathrooms are fine.

• Mermaidens sound pretty good. Mermaidens always sound pretty good, but the acoustics and stuff in here seem to work. Now – it took them a few tries to start because of sound issues, but teething issues seem natural, especially with a $10 cover. ($10 is low! Read Blink’s book.)

• It’s packed and people are dancing and yeah this is cool it isn’t Puppies but it is pretty cool.

• Like any bar with wood panelling in Wellington, the tap-beer range here seems extensive, at least according to the people I know who drink beer. The tap cider is hella good and reasonably-ish priced.

• The aesthetic comes on a bit strong – think diner stalls, steampunk sculpture, lots of arcade games. Kind of feels like Laserforce.

• This place isn’t going to realign Newtown as the new Cuba St or anything, but for a suburban bar, it’s got a whole lot going for it. I suspect I’ll be here far too often.

process kind of changed since then? We still jam out and have fun in the studio. Nothing’s too serious. But, of course, we’ve stepped it up a little bit.

On the drinking age – there’s this little debate in NZ right now that Blink’s book just spawned, about the paucity of underage venues in New Zealand. Do you guys find yourself playing to under-18 crowds very often? Unfortunately not. I mean, it’s kind of hard with what we do – it’s not hard, but it’s really kind of tailored towards the late-night club scene. We’ve done a couple over the years, but we’ve got so many younger fans that we don’t really cater to, yeah.

Thanks so much for your time, man!

Notes On MoonNotes On Moon By Henry Cooke

Dylan Jones of The Upbeats Dylan Jones of The Upbeats Interview with

by Henry Cookeby Henry Cooke

Arts If you want to write about the arts, or think there is something we should review, email arts@salient.org.nz. Music

The International Issue40

Feature

The International Issue4040

ach Braff managed to raise $2.4 million for his latest film Wish I Was Here

through crowdfunding in the space of 48 hours. The internet is up in arms. How dare the infamous and filthy-rich Scrubs actor ($US350,000-per-episode-for-nine-seasons filthy-rich, to be exact) request money from innocent fans for a film they desperately want to see. The opportunistic publicity stunt is just unbelievable. After having to talk about it about “400 times” already, the man himself is also a little infuriated (plus would probably like said critics to imagine themselves in his shoes and assess whether self-restraint with that kind of money is even possible). It’s gotten to the point where he’s telling interviewers to google other interviews. Googling ‘crowdfunding’ immerses you in an overwhelming number of

‘How to’ guides. Learn from the example of Minecraft: The Story of Mojang by 2 Player Productions, for example. With the help of 10,000 backers, the creative licence is unlimited. Through crowdfunding, Zach Braff claims to strive for maintaining control over the casting and final cuts for independent films in defiance of the profit-desperate ‘money-people’ who think sexy pool scenes are more popular than Comic-Con. He didn’t want to just make a sequel to Garden State or a rom com. Fair enough? Following the inspiring story of the crowdsourced Veronica Mars movie, Braff has spent over a decade trying to get the film to take full flight. It was through an enthusiastic engagement with his fans that the project, with a highly impressive soundtrack ft. The Shins, gained momentum. In return, Braff pledged to reward the dedicated fans, depending on the size of the donation. For $10, you could get a copy of the script, or for

$10,000, the chance of sitting next to him at the premiere, possibly including his hand on your knee. It doesn’t seem like a filthy rich Hollywood star thieving money off poor innocent fans? A little less self-righteous cynicism could be healthy for everyone. So what if some hardcore Garden State enthusiasts put their own hard-earned money into a follow-up of one of their favourite films ever, by the star of their favourite-ever TV show? Maybe the fans who contributed a couple of dollars simply wanted to feel like they personally helped the creative process, fuelling their profound love for Zach and his comic genius. Just maybe, it is also an inspiration to other independent filmmakers in need of a kick-start. Or maybe that’s all just far too boringly idealistic.

by Charlotte Doyle

The MovieThat Zach BuiltThe MovieThat Zach Built

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Following the inspiring story of the crowdsourced Veronica Mars movie, Braff has spent over a decade trying to get the film to take full flight. It was through an enthusiastic engagement with his fans that the project, with a highly impressive soundtrack ft. The Shins, gained momentum.

In other film news:

A woman has married a cardboard cut-out of Robert Pattinson. The deep love she formed for the book character Edward Cullen in the Twilight novels was transposed onto the actor the moment she saw him embodied as the lusty “quiet and mysterious, superhuman and invincible” vampire. The lack of loving reciprocation simply forced said woman to think a little more creatively, getting married to a cut-out in Las Vegas. The honeymoon was in Los Angeles, which was apparently perfect apart from the

fact that she had to carry him up to

the Hollywood sign; but as she so poignantly

muses, “everyone makes sacrifices for the

man they love, right?” The obsession with Pattinson aside, I just want an answer to the question of how someone can legally marry a really thick piece of paper.

Be warned: it has been confirmed there will in fact be a 23 Jump Street. Coming soon.

FilmArts

editor@salient.org.nz 41editor@salient.org.nz 41

Please Handle this Poem with CareBy Nina Powles

his year in Salient, I’ve forced a lot of poetry on you. I’m not ashamed. Poetry deserves to be read by more

people. It longs to be read by young people just like us.

And there’s so damn much of it being published in New Zealand right now. How amazing is that? We’re a little country whose Prime Minister puts himself on the cover of rugby magazines and tries to talk in rugby metaphors – and yet! We have independent publishers like Victoria Uni Press, Auckland Uni Press, Hue & Cry Press and Compound Press, who have been churning out luscious new poetry books all year. Not to mention all the literary journals and the tiny boutique publishers providing new platforms for new poets.

If you’ve got an open mind, there’s a poem for you out there somewhere. But reading a poem is a complex, nuanced exercise, and they don’t come with instruction manuals. Feel free to use this guide below as you see fit.

Before reading:• At first, approach a poem from behind

with a fire extinguisher ready.• Do not read a poem in a boat on a lake

during a thunderstorm.• Do not open a poem near an active

volcano or live electrical wires.• Do not leave a poem untended at night

on the full moon.

After reading:• You may feel like there has just been an

earthquake.• You may feel like you’ve just been jolted

from a dream in which you were falling.• You may realise nothing in life is certain

and we will all die one day. • You may sense a ghost in the room.

Poetry is very much alive and kicking in

New Zealand at the moment. Especially in Wellington, where it roams the streets at night terrorising bros walking home from town. If you’re kind-hearted and courageous (it senses fear), you can approach it. Just be wary of the fact that you will likely never be the same.

love it when a new poet publishes their first collection and it

scatters itself all over the place. Some might say this is the mark of

an immature poet, but I disagree. Frances Samuel is an adventurous poet.

Almost all her poems exist in this weird and colourful in-between space between reality and unreality. ‘Routine Magic’, a title of one poem, is an apt way to put it.

Some of the poems transport us to strange but slightly familiar places. Like recognisable dreamscapes. Some are exercises in time travel. And some poems prefer not to take us somewhere new, but stand perfectly still.

The quotes at the back of the book characterise it as a book of journeys. This is only half the story, but it’s a good place to start. The first poem ‘Sleeping on Horseback’ blends mythology with the everyday. The narrator has the kind of voice that you remember and want to keep following: vulnerable but plucky, quiet but perceptive.

The collection is divided into four sections, which helps you get your head around all the journeys being taken and all the objects being found along the way. In ‘City of Red’, we’re riding an elephant painted vermilion and blue. In ‘Vending machine’, a girl floats on a walnut boat down a riverbed of lights, plucking letters of the alphabet from the sky to make a starry haiku. In ‘The forest of things’, a bushfire burns through dangling objects left by people wanting to forget them. The writing is brightly lit and cinematic.

Sleeping on Horsebackby Frances Samuel

Sleeping on Horsebackby Frances Samuel

But the poems that pack the most punch don’t start appearing until over halfway through. These are the ones that don’t try to negotiate wide-open spaces or fantasy worlds. They’re in the same book, but offer something completely different. ‘Anorexia’ is so good I had to instagram it. Just five words long:

electric doorsdon’t sense her

It hits you like a ton of bricks. Samuel can

do so much with so little, just as she can write poems that sprawl. I wish this sheer force of language would come through more often. That said, there’s such variety that everyone will find a poem they like. Samuel has an uncanny grip of what scares us and what amazes us. Each step of the way, she collects up forgotten objects along the path and spins them into something slightly magical.

Some of the poems don’t move with such sure footing. The collection could have been shorter and more punchy. But the ones that don’t fit anywhere are also my favourite. This debut collection is the beginning of something big, but doesn’t try to overstep itself. The last few lines of the poem ‘A memoir’ have a lovely new rhythm that isn’t found anywhere else. I wish this one were the very last poem, because it offers up a perfect ending for the whole book:

I reached upwards and found myselfelbow deep in flowers.Annabel, I said, Annabelbut the windows became windblew the petals away, stalkshanging from the ceiling.Five minutes have passed since thenI have no idea about my next move.

by Nina Powles

IT

BooksArts

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t is good and okay to be very sincere. In her essay on awkwardness, Elif Batuman charts the latter half of the 20th century as a collapse

into irony; from capitalism as Christian morality in the ’50s, to countercultural resistance in the ’60s, moral bankruptcy in the ’70s, to capitalism as faith unto itself in the ’80s, to the vague disingenuousness of the ’90s. We are living now, according to Batuman, in irony’s wake. And it expresses itself ungracefully.

There’s a perverse comfort in situating my own social ineptitude within a wider historical narrative. But this isn’t about me (he lied).

The Peter McLeavey Gallery lacked nothing in sincerity. It lacked, rather, the self-confidence to commit to its own project. It so insistently advertised itself as belonging to somewhere else. The descriptor of “industrial, New York style” gallery felt a little embarrassing. As if everyone involved still considered themselves parochial in relation to the metropole. And we do, but that’s not the point. The point is that, to a degree, they were right. Spaces like that – high-ceilinged, wide, airy, concrete-floored spaces – don’t really exist in Wellington.

Consider This an Offering takes place in such a space.

The exhibition, which is being staged by four final-year Massey students, describes itself as a “playground for mindfulness” and features four installation works as well as a screening room displaying video work.

At the opening, about three drinks in, I made a note on my phone which read, “David Koch’s sponsorship of the Met is not killing art. Pirate costumes, tie-dyed baggy pants, and animal pants ruin art.” Provided one enters the exhibition at the right time, one is first met with projectiles, bouncy balls, ricocheting off the ground, the walls, other bodies. For all its playful violence, Louise Rutledge’s piece operates most effectively as an interrogation of public space and its uses. The piece’s most interesting element is not its tactile nature, nor in the negation of the commodified art object in the presentation of something so easily dissolvable (and stealable, not that I did), but the ways in which interaction with the object, and the object’s relation to the space, is mediated by one’s comfort in the space. Hence the pirate-costume man, and the tie-dye-pant man, both of whom seemed so jubilous in their attacks by virtue, perhaps, of their existing eccentricity. Rutledge’s object does encourage the momentary dissolution of

social order, yes, but it does so in a way that reveals the ways in which breakdown is mediated by gender, by costume, by an awareness of other bodies in a space, and by the lack of awareness of one’s own among others.

Ruby Joy Eade’s billboards, as an anthropological exercise in scavenging disembodied text from break-up forums, can be hostile. There’s a risk that their presence in the gallery space is malicious, ironic, a snide laugh at an abstract other without the right of reply. I choose to believe, however, that there is nothing disingenuous about them. (Full disclosure: I may be biased; I’m friends with the artist’s friends. Ruby and I once yelled at each other at a party. I think about Adorno, or my iPhone. I can’t remember.) They position themselves closer to Miranda July, Jenny Holzer and Koki Tanaka’s unapologetic earnest faith in humanity. There’s something almost invasive in their banality. The profound sadness of decontextualised clichés – “take me back”, “i feel lost and confused”, “it’s tough seeing him so cold” – from a speaker both incorporeal and undeniably present. Eade has previously sewn phrases to garments in op-shop changing rooms, and erected billboards next to election

campaigns. All contexts alarm, but in different ways. In a gallery, they offer a sense of the uncanny, born from the ambiguity of the text’s source; it’s unclear whether they act on the presumption of universality, or in the conquest of pathos towards an absent speaker.

The other two works in the show operate both architecturally and ritually. On one side, Elisabeth Pointon’s piles of salt arranged in a circle (the remnants of a performance I missed); on the other, a large sandpit with a rake presented by Robbie Whyte. They’re quieter than the other works, allowing for meditation in the small rearrangements of existing objects. Accompanying the exhibition is a selection of books and zines from Art Print Space, relics of the artists’ research process. The exhibition, more than anything else, is generous, not just for its invitation to participate, but in the ways the works correspond with each other, and the ways in which the additional content provides many different points of entry simultaneously.

PS I rearranged your books so that Alain de Botton was hidden from view. Love your work, sorry.

Consider This an Offering is on display at 24 Marion St until 24 September.

By Simon Gennard Pictured Work by Ruby Joy Eade

A VAGUE AWKWARDLY EXPRESSED HOSTILITY IS FUN FOR A BIT BUT THEN IT GETS OLD

A VAGUE AWKWARDLY EXPRESSED HOSTILITY IS FUN FOR A BIT BUT THEN IT GETS OLD

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Arts Visual Arts

his is another British show, aired by the BBC from 2011–2014. Which is three

seasons, for those who aren’t arithmeticians. Don’t think it’s received any critical attention – probably because it’s not such a great show, all things considered. However, personally, I found the first season to be an absolute banger.

Sadly, I also think the show succumbed to the second-season curse, which is another thesis/mockumentary I’ve been working on in my brain for a while now.

It’d probably be helpful if we discussed what the thing’s actually about. There’s a reason I said some things before saying what it is…

It’s a legal drama, guys. Concerning the day-to-day hustle and bustle of Shoe Lane where barristers abound, clerks dive and dodge, and judges run amok. I’m not exactly, precisely sure, but it seems like writing this in the uni library instead of in the safety of my own home is making things a bit weird with the prose in here. The judges don’t run amok. If anything, the show starts off reasonably seriously.

In fact, the first few episodes do some interesting character stuff regarding the intensity of the workload of the people moving in this industry. Maxine Peake does a pretty nice job on Martha Costello, a tenacious defence lawyer of great principle. (I’m really not sure why this is so facetious. Not trying to be.) Her accent is absolutely outrageous as well, fuckin’ awesome Northern shit. Which is normally a pretty filthy accent, in all likelihood.

Anyway, this is one of those shows that isn’t going to change your life, but it is going to do the business when you’re hungover on Saturday or Sunday or Tuesday and you need to load up like ten episodes of something and just starfish for a few hours. Notably, it’s a good thing to watch if you’re into periodicals: there’s a new case which is argued each week (Martha almost always wins. And even when she doesn’t, she gets the moral victory, you know?), and throughout the first and second season, there’s a bit of trouble brewing with a local gangster, trouble which eventually comes to a head.

These aren’t spoilers, by the way. Don’t think the point of the show is for it to be mysterious and unpredictable. It’s familiar and cosy and there’s a quote about

how language is the weapon of the arena of the courtroom which stuck in my mind.

So if any of this sounds boring to you, then don’t watch it. The legal-drama bit is actually pretty good, I think. Doesn’t have the latent misogyny of Suits and Boston Legal and stuff, which, if that’s an issue for you, then this show might be okay. I haven’t rewatched it so it’s possible/very likely I missed some stuff. However, generally, I think Silk seems to deal with those ‘edgier’ subjects with nice sensitivity. There might be some trouble with race, actually...

Anyway.

Created by Peter Moffat. My research actually tells me this show has been described as a “disappointment”. Perhaps we should see about some more of that guy’s stuff. There’s some good attention to office politics and morality throughout the first season of this show, however, which regrettably does regress somewhat in the later seasons.

And yeah, on that second-season curse. I’d say there’s this thing that happens with TV shows where they have a banger of a first season – heaps of time to conceptualise and write and

develop and etc – and then second season comes along and there’s a lack of coherent content left, and the show just gets a little silly. Indeed, Suits did that. Which really might be why Boston Legal just started silly, because then you can continue with silliness, never worrying about second-season curse. Anti-silliness is tricky and seen by many as ultimately boring, and that’s why sometimes, TV producers should just cut drama shows off after a season.

Or you have to really commit to the periodical and do Law and Order or CSI or something, with outlandishly good-looking police characters that an audience can really Come To Love. Realistically, the balance between authenticity and cash might be quite complicated. Cf the music industry... okay, enough of that.

Probably not such an intelligent idea after all, actually.

But to conclude: I’d say firstly, if you’ve made it this far through the review, then congratulations. Additionally, if you’re into episodic drama, then give this a shot and see how you go. There’s also heaps of workplace sex, which is something people seem to really get into. Cool beans.

By Michael Graham

TSilkSilkArts TV

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Music:I Killed The Prom Queen with The Ghost InsideThe Ghost Inside let you hang out with them after the show for like half an hour, and even let you ask questions about all the metalcore-celebs they know.Zeal, $60Tuesday 23rd, 7 pm

Julia Deans with Nadia ReidSt Peter’s Hall (that’s in Paekakariki), $20Fri 26th, 8 pm

ShlohmoGonna be huge.Bodega, $49Fri 26th, 9 pm

The Shocking Pinks (DJ Set) Bodega, $10Sat 27th, 8 pm

The NomadBoat Café, $25Sat 27th, 9 pm

Theatre:Boys In a flat in Edinburgh, four friends face the end of their student years together. But the future, jobs, relationships, and certainly cleaning out the fridge, can all wait – there is always time for one last massive party.17–27 September at Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee StWednesday 17th to Saturday 20th at 7.30 pmTuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th at 6.30 pmThursday 25th to Saturday 27th at 7.30 pm

WhoreContemporary, topical, true-life-based monologues told by six characters: ‘Married Woman’, ‘Underage Sex Worker’, ‘Illegal Migrant’, ‘Rent Boy’, ‘Refugee’ and ‘Transgender’. This work is a collection of stories about street sex workers in Auckland,25–27 September, 6.30 pm at BATS Theatre

Lashings of Whipped CreamFor a very special hour, the theatre becomes a bondage and discipline dungeon, and the audience a block of prospective clients as ‘Mistress Dominique’ shares the dirty secrets of her profession. Hilarious, sexy and surprisingly tender, Lashings of Whipped Cream is a theatrical close encounter.18–27 September, 8.30 pm at BATS Theatre

An Unseasonable Fall of SnowWritten 15 years ago by 2013 Playmarket Award recipient Gary Henderson, the themes interwoven throughout the play are as relevant now as then, with issues faced by those marginalised in modern society prevalent in the media along with IT whizz kids and whistleblowers bringing down the credibility of corporates and political regimes and the global economy in decline.24 September – 4 October at Circa TheatreTuesday to Saturday 7.30 pmSunday 4.30 pm

RiotA free-for-all that is free for all, THEA 304 presents a raging RIOT, 14 different plays over four crazy nights. From BC to not very PC, musicals to Māori, futurism to flies, there’ll be plenty of mayhem to experience.24–27 September 93 Kelburn Parade at 7 pm (Meet at 6.45 pm)If you would like any more information, please contact Jake Brown: jacobelliottbrown@gmail.com

Books:Writers on Mondays at Te Papa29 September: A Home in this WorldIan Wedde, Stephanie de Montalk and Helena Wiśniewska Brow talk about home, exile and character in

What’s OnWhat’s Oncreative non-fiction. 12.15–1.15 pm, Te Marae, Level 4 of Te Papa. Free entry.

Film:ReleasesPlanes: Fire and Rescue – spinoff of Pixar’s CarsThe Boxtrolls – family stop-motion animated filmThe Equalizer – thriller starring Denzel WashingtonThe Mazerunner – dystopian thriller

The Film ArchiveFarewell: media gallery exhibition, until 29 November. Free admission.The Pa Boys: 7 pm, Wed 24, Thurs 25, Fri 26, Sat 27 September. Also 4.30 pm, Sat 20 and Sat 27 September. 93

min. $10.

Visual Arts:Embracing DiscomfortMassey graduate exhibition featuring work by Hannah Beattie, Chelsea Gooch, Kelsey Woodford and Franky Quinn.232b Left Bank, Te Arountil 23 September

Breckon and Shaun Waugh: Two PhotographersEnjoy Gallery, until 27 September

World of Wearable ArtsTSB Arena, 25 September – 12 October

Hany Armanious: SelflokCity Gallery, until 30 November

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noticesThe Shoestring Theatre Challenge!In a small group (or as an individual), you will produce an original 10–15 minute performance piece (or artwork thing), spending a maximum of $20 on materials, props, costumes, anything that can’t be begged or borrowed, etc. You will have one month to produce this piece. This includes the time it takes to devise/write, rehearse, and tell all your friends because... The pieces will be performed/exhibited on Saturday 15 November at The Fringe Bar as a free, one-night-only event, and all your friends and family are invited! For an application form/more information, please email: shoestringtheatrechallenge@gmail.com. Applications due midnight Friday 10 October. Past groups have participated for fun, practice, and to test ideas and excerpts. The timing is great for shows working towards Wellington Fringe!

Love cocktails?Ever wondered if there is more to a bar then vodka sodas? What the difference is between a Manhattan and a Margarita? How to make the perfect Daiquirí? A student among you is representing Wellington in the national Bacardi Legacy competition. In three months’ time, she will be competing against two Aucklanders, for the chance to go to the global finals in Sydney, Australia.What can you do to help?Go to www.facebook.com/moonlightsonatacocktail and hit like. There will be events, cocktail classes, stories and, of course, rum – all happening within the next three months.Get involved.

Pipitea ToastmastersPipitea students – communicate with confidence! Toastmasters helps you improve your communication and leadership skills in a supportive learn-by-doing environment. Now Toastmasters is at Pipitea Campus for the first time. Develop your skills along with fellow Pipitea students

– increase your self-confidence, become a better speaker, learn to run effective meetings, and add essential experience to your CV. Find out more at our regular meetings every Tuesday, RWW 310, 5.45 to 7 pm. All welcome.

Business Investment ClubThe Business and Investment Club (BIC, www.bic.org.nz) invites you to the following events:- Monday 22 September 4 pm @ RWW501 – AGM 2014; and ‘Nailing the interview: recruitment tips’ by CareerHub recruiter Millie Douglas. Come and learn how to nail your job interview and make the recruiter hire you straight away! Millie will discuss most frequent questions used by recruiters and how to properly answer them, what to expect from an interview, how to prepare and what to ask in return. RSVP essential via bic.org.nz/events.- Monday 29 September 4 pm @ RWW501 – ‘Sport is a serious business’ by Carolyn Young, CEO of Netball Central Zone. Hard work on and off the court, sport isn’t just a hobby! Gain an insight into what it is like to operate in a sporting business environment. Building lasting relationships and securing sponsorship is a vital part of any business. Netball Central Zone and Haier Pulse CEO Carolyn shares her experiences managing a non-profit organisation as well as a thriving sporting franchise right here in Wellington City.

Careers and JobsApplications closing soon… Organisations: Closing DateCiti: 22 SepeCoast: 25 SepModlar Limited: 25 SepEndace Technology: 26 SepNZX Limited: 26 SepIntegrated Control Technology Limited: 27 SepHewlett Packard: 29 SepMetService: 29 SepCommunication Agencies Association of New Zealand: 30 SepSkope Industries Limited: 30 SepNew Zealand Law Society: 30 SepAsia New Zealand Foundation: 3 OctCompac Sorting Equipment: 3 OctPowerco: 3 OctVynco Industries: 3 Oct

Izon Science: 6 OctOssis: 10 OctWestpac: 10 OctAlltech: 31 OctMcKesson New Zealand: 1 NovTorque IT Solutions: 2 NovPacific Door Systems: 1 DecMagritek: 2 DecPacific Door Systems: 5 DecCheck details on CareerHub: www.victoria.ac.nz/careerhub

Vic OE – Vic Student Exchange ProgrammeDeadline for Tri 2, 2015 exchanges is 1 December.Why not study overseas as part of your degree?!Study in English, earn Vic credit, get StudyLink and grants, explore the world!Weekly seminars on Wednesdays, Level 2, Easterfield Building, 12.50 pmWebsite: http://victoria.ac.nz/exchangeVisit us: Level 2, Easterfield BuildingDrop-in hours: Mon–Wed 1–3 pm, Thurs & Fri 10 am –12 pm

Live Below the Line for TEAR FundThe Live Below the Line for TEAR Fund team has a bunch of upcoming events that we’re running in conjunction with LBL week in October. Come check out a debate on the issue of supply and demand in the sex trafficking industry on Monday 22 September, 5.15 pm in CO304. We are also selling copies of the TEAR Fund cookbook One Helping and holding a photo booth in the Hub on Friday 30 September, 12.30–1.30 pm. Come and get amongst!

ProLife Vic Speaking Tour 2014Abortion is often presented as being about choice, but what if women’s choices are actually being limited or even denied because they aren’t getting the full story about abortion, its potential harms and the other alternatives that are available to them?On Wednesday 24 September, 7.30 pm in SU217, ProLife Vic is hosting a public meeting featuring Debbie Garratt of Real Choices Australia, talking about abortion risks, the problem of coercion and why many women never experience true informed consent when it comes to

their abortion choice.All welcome, free pizza.

International Day of PeaceTwo major international youth organisations, UN Youth and AIESEC, are coming together this year to celebrate the International Day of Peace. We extend our welcome to all students to celebrate this day with an event: ‘The Progress of the World Towards Peace’. Come join us today at 1 pm for an hour-long event in SU217, and share ideas about New Zealand’s and the world’s prospects for world peace.

If you want a notice in Salient, email us at editor@salient.org.nz. Notices must be sent to us by Wednesday 5 pm for the following week’s issue, and must be fewer than 100 words in length.

giveawaysCOMEDY TICKETS

PlayShop LIVE is Wellingtons late-night improv comedy show. Every Friday, 10 pm at Paramount Cinemas, it brings the laughs with a troupe of trained performers transforming any suggestion to life on stage. If you like Whose Line is it Anyway? you’ll love this show. A rotating cast of 39 members means every week is different.Send us your favourite joke to win a double pass valued at $26 to next week’s show!

EVERYTHING IS SURROUNDED BY WATER

DATES: 30 Sept – 4 Oct

WHERE: BATS Theatre

TIME: 9 pmWe did this show in people’s houses earlier this year and now we are bringing it to theatres. It’s about Uther’s soul and how he got it back. It’s changed a bunch, but it’s still the same weird, beautiful, funny, kinda sad story. We think you’ll really like it.Win 1 double pass for the opening night, Tuesday 30 September.Send your name to Hannah Banks – bankshann@gmail.com to go in the draw!

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contributorse d i t o r s : D u n c a n M c L a c h l a n & C a m e r o n P r i c e

d e s i g n e r : I m o g e n Te m mn e w s e d i t o r : S o p h i e B o o t

c r e a t i v e e d i t o r : C h l o e D a v i e sc h i e f s u b - e d i t o r : N i c k F a r g h e r

d i s t r i b u t o r : J o e M o r r i sf e a t u r e w r i t e r : P h i l i p M c S w e e n e y ( c h i e f ) , P e n n y G a u l t ,

w e b e d i t o r : D e x t e r E d w a r d sn e w s i n t e r n s : S i m o n D e n n i s , S t e p h Tr e n g r o v e

a r t s e d i t o r s :N i n a P o w l e s ( B o o k s ) , C h a r l o t t e D o y l e ( F i l m ) ,

H e n r y C o o k e ( M u s i c ) , D a v i d Wi l l i a m s ( Th e a t r e ) , S i m o n G e n n a r d ( Vi s u a l A r t s ) , M i c h a e l G r a h a m ( Te l e v i s i o n )

C o l u m n I l l u s t r a t i o n s : P h o e b e M o r r i s

g e n e r a l c o n t r i b u t o r s :

J o n n y A b b o t t , A d a m B e n - D r o r , S o n y a C l a r k , M a d e l i n e R . C o n wa y , Te P o H awa i k i r a n g i , E v e K e n n e d y , Ta s h a K l e e m a n ,

M o l l y M c C a r t h y , E l e a n o r M e r t o n , G u s M i t c h e l l , O l l i e R i t c h i e , S o f i a R o b e r t s , Z o e R u s s e l l , C a r l o S a l i z z o , C a r o l i n e

Th i r s k , Wi l b u r To w n s e n d , S t e v e n R . Wa t r o s , J u l i a We l l s , S h a n s h a n Z h o u

c o n t r i b u t o r o f t h e w e e k

I b r a h i m O m e r

A d v e r t i s i n g M A n A g e r

t i M W i l s o n

s A l e s @ v u W s A . o r g . n z

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F u n d e d b y v i c t o r i A u n i v e r s i t y o F W e l l i n g t o n s t u d e n t s , t h r o u g h t h e

s t u d e n t s e r v i c e s l e v y

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