Tag: Education

The Definitive Guide to Crying on Campus
October 16, 2022 7:24 pm Comments Off on The Definitive Guide to Crying on Campus

Everyone needs a cry once in a while. And whether you’ve failed your supplementary exam, your ex has started dating someone else in your pod, you’re drunk and Kebaba is closed, or you’ve once again forgotten to check the prices at Harry Hartog’s before reaching the register, there’s plenty of reasons to cry on campus. So, we’ve teamed-up to provide you with our hard-won knowledge, rating places to cry on campus. While the first two criteria, ‘privacy’ and ‘cleanliness,’ are self-explanatory, the third – ‘vibe’ – is about the je ne sais quoi of a spot. An inexplicable warmth or cozy comfort; the feeling you could be watching yourself cry in a movie; that you’re somehow suddenly connected to a hidden beating heart of campus; or that you’ve become a character in a Donna Tartt novel about to experience an eerie, irrevocable epiphany…

ANU Sport

It’s been a bad week. Uber eats and energy drinks have done little to stave off crushing feelings of emptiness. Hot girl summer seems a million miles away. With great (and admirable) mental fortitude, you wrestle on a sports bra and source a pair of questionably clean leggings. You head to the gym in a monstrous mood, trying to sell yourself on that whole ‘happy workout endorphins’ thing. You shuffle a playlist and pray for the runner’s high to take the pain away. And then, because you couldn’t change the song in time, you find your eyes streaming, running at 13 speed to Death Cab For Cutie. On the upside, if you go hard enough, people will just think you’re like, really sweaty.

Privacy: 1/5
Cleanliness: 2.5/5
Vibe: 3/5

Marie Raey Gender Neutral Bathrooms

While (in)famous for their use for sexual activity, the Gender Neutral Bathrooms are incredibly flexible due to their privacy and equal accessibility. Indeed, you could say they are well-suited and flexible for excreting all kinds of bodily fluids.

Privacy: 5/5
Cleanliness: 2.5/5
Vibe: 0.5/5

An Undisclosed Abandoned Building at an Undisclosed Location on Campus

It’s the third day I’ve slept less than three hours. The sun is starting to peak over the horizon. It’s been another all-nighter. Two science students are hunched over desks in a shabby, musty-smelling classroom of a building constructed in the 70s—an architectural dark age. You wouldn’t even notice it even if you walked straight past. The hideous building is a haven for a tiny group of poor students working at cursed hours of the morning with alarming regularity. The blue glare of a computer screen lights up my gaunt, mascara-smeared face. My thesis remains unwritten. It is due in three hours. Another tear rolls down a well-worn path on my cheek.

Privacy: 5/5
Cleanliness: 3/5
Vibe: 5/5

Sullivan’s Creek Table

Monday Week Eleven. A shit weekend with your not-boyfriend is followed by an even shitter day full of text message arguments and watery eyes. You agree to meet up, to talk things through. Between listening to him (“I don’t like when you tell me that I hurt your feelings”) and speaking yourself (“but this is how you made me feel”), walking becomes too great a challenge. You sit down at a table, one of those generic forest green ones found in all public parks.

He finally says he’s sorry for trying to ditch you to go meet his mates at the pub immediately after you have sex. He’s sorry he made you cry after he’d been away for two weeks and he’s sorry that after meeting your father for the first time he sought to use your home and bed (and body) as a hotel room. Then he says he knows now why he did these things. He has no feelings for you: he never has and he never will.

At the table with attached wooden chairs you tuck your knees up to your chest and stare at your feet. He tells you that it’s not your fault, that you’ve been perfect to him and you are perfect, but that he just doesn’t feel anything. You cry. Then, two hours later, you attend a study session for your exam tomorrow. Then, after that, you finish writing a paper. Then you go home and cry again.

Privacy: 0.5/5
Cleanliness: 4/5
Vibe: 3.5/5

Chifley Library

No matter the floor, Chifley Library should be avoided by crying aficionados. While at first glance promising, the bookable study rooms are too fishbowl-ey for proper privacy. And the bathrooms are too dirty for comfort. Their only positive feature is the motion-sensored lights which allow you to cry to your heart’s content, perched in a dark cubicle, warning you to muffle yourself with a wad of toilet paper when the lights flicker on as another patron enters. (But you haven’t known pain until you’ve left the bathroom and run into the cleaning staff who’ve patiently been waiting for you to finish your teary sesh.)

Privacy: 1/5
Cleanliness: 0.5/5
Vibe: 0/5

Australian Centre on China in the World Gardens

The courtyard of this building is so lovely. So peaceful. So tranquil. It’s the perfect place to sob while listening to Sufjan Stevens. It’s far enough from Daley Rd that if your friends see you on snapmaps they’ll be concerned, but not concerned enough where they feel the need to start checking up on you. At night there is just the right amount of lighting, enough that you feel safe but still dim to hide how tragic you look when you inevitably cave and post a crying selfie on your private story. Refreshments are provided by the sprinklers that are running 24/7. The mindfully designed feng shui puts your mind at ease. On the walk home you’ll be so distracted by passels of possums that by the time you get to your res hall, you’ll have forgotten about why you were crying in the first place.

Privacy: 4.5/5 (sometimes couples come here to make out)
Cleanliness 5/5
Vibe: 4/5

Uni Ave

Nothing beats a full blown tanty in the middle of Kambri. Lose the inhibitions and let the people know you’re crying. Dress the part by letting your mascara run down your face! You’re in the middle of all the hustle and bustle and you get to enjoy Telstra Tower and the mountains in the background—what could be more fun!? Anyway, no one will notice anyway because they’re busy running to their next class or paying for a $6 coffee.

Privacy: 0/5 or 5/5 depending on your showmanship
Cleanliness: 5/5
Vibe: 4/5

Various Authors
Road to Nowhere – Part I
April 11, 2022 4:36 pm Comments Off on Road to Nowhere – Part I
In 1853, one of the more flamboyant Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, Benjamin Disraeli, described the ideal university as a place of “light, liberty and learning.” Commenting on the legacy of this quote more than one hundred years later, Disraeli’s biographer remarked that “it has not become such a truism that we can afford to forget it a century later.” Looking at the state of tertiary education in Australia today, I would say we forgot those words a very long time ago. Today, tertiary education resembles little more than any of the other flashy little shops which decorate Northbourne Avenue. We are programmed rather than taught, manufactured rather than inspired and pushed into a competitive and toxic world with little more than a participation ribbon. Many of us are saddled with debt which we will carry with us well into adulthood. Some of us are even bankrupted.
And for what? A degree is no longer the ticket to employment it once was for our parents. It does not even guarantee an interview. The ugly reality of our time is that it is now what the student is born into rather than what they create which determines their future. Our universities make the mistake of assuming that every student has access to the same resources and that they will succeed or fail on the basis of their academic performance. But even if academic performance is the great equaliser, how are these abilities tested? Through useless lectures and unimaginative tutorials? By writing dull essay after dull essay about a topic nobody cares about? By learning how to perfect the mediocre arts of copying, memorising and reciting the same thing over and over and over again? Our universities are no longer just insufficient or unsuitable, they are punishing and reductive. They turn enthusiasm into boredom and discriminate against imagination in favour of mediocrity. All in the name of “efficiency,” “productivity” and “learning.”
I did not always believe this. I, like many of you I guess, came to university full of hope and excitement. Finally, I thought, I can learn about stuff I really care about and I can study the things which I’m actually interested in. Due to my interest in government, I thought a Law/Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) degree would be perfect. What could be better than a degree which combines law with politics, philosophy and economics? How wonderful! … I thought. Almost four years on, after I realised what PPE really is, after I realised how much of the law is really broken, and after I realised that HIRAC (Heading, Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion) and not imagination was the key to HDs, my enthusiasm was no more.
I can only speak from my own experience. But I hope by sharing some of it, you might see where my disillusion began and why this system needs to change. I thought that my degree would give me the freedom and the passion to make a contribution to my community. I’ve always tried to be conscious of my privilege and rather than just doing what I thought the world expected me to do, I thought that a degree would give me the tools to help others. Naïve I know. Fanciful even. Maybe just stupid. I probably should have known that I was entering an institution which had more in common with Waystar/Royco from Succession than the library of Alexandria. There were two moments when I seriously considered changing my degree and doing something else. One pre-pandemic and one during the second ACT lockdown. I told myself that I stuck with it in the hope it would get better. But if I’m honest with myself it was probably because I didn’t know what the ‘something else’ was. Should I change degrees? Should I change courses? Should I drop out? I had no idea.
My first flirtation with disillusion was in one of the early PPE integration courses. It was so worthless I genuinely cannot remember anything else we learnt except one particular topic. The course (I think?) focused on the politics side of the degree. One day we were presented with the ‘voting equation’ a mathematical formula which was supposedly designed to determine if and how someone would vote. I was paralysed by a mix of shock and incredulity. I thought to myself, what the fuck? Does any voter anywhere in the world sit down at the voting booths and work this shit out? Is this what Antony Green programs into his computer every election night? For fuck’s sake! At this point, I realised that PPE was not a convenient and elegant combination of three crucial disciplines into one, but was instead its own ideology, and not one I found interesting, useful or factual.
But, I told myself, there is still hope for the law. Even if PPE is just a solution in search of a problem, or an extended TEDtalk in search of an audience, all change starts and ends with the law. Surely, I told myself, studying the law must also include evaluating the law, learning if and how it works, by what principles and importantly, for whom. Of course, I was wrong.
Throughout my entire law degree, I have done two subjects which fit that description. Every other course has been either interesting content taught by dull people, dull content taught by dull people, or amoral content taught by interesting people. There was one course where I had another what the fuck moment. Generally I thought Equity and Trusts was taught well, but the law itself made me sick. There was one case I will always remember – Re Diplock. The children of a deceased man sued a hospital for refurbishing its children’s ward with their father’s trust money. A children’s ward. I thought to myself, is this what I’ll be doing in 10 years’ time? Helping dickheads sue a children’s hospital? And yet, during the entire course, no one ever asked if the law was just. Not once.

Originally published in Woroni Vol.72 Issue 1 ‘Evolution’

Another Disillusioned Millennial
The Cost of Not Educating Girls
October 19, 2020 8:26 pm Comments Off on The Cost of Not Educating Girls
At a time when Australian universities are facing devastating budget cuts, taking a closer look at the long-term consequences of directing funding away from education is essential. Investing in education secures the future economic health of a country. Although slashing university finances may seem a tempting option to save money now, the cost of making education inaccessible, particularly to women, will likely be detrimental for decades to come. Australia may not immediately incur the worst consequences of limiting access to education, but the sobering realities currently playing out elsewhere around the world should serve as a stark reminder of how much we stand to lose.
October 11 marked International Day of the Girl Child. This year, it was a day of especially solemn reflection. The World Bank estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic will push an additional ~100 million people into extreme poverty in 2020, causing concern that global poverty will increase for the first time since 1998. Consequently, girls from poverty-stricken families are being forced out of school and into marriage or work—to the extent that 25 years of progress towards ending child marriage threatens to be undone by COVID-19. The United Nations expects an additional 13 million child marriages to take place over the next decade as a result of the pandemic. Indeed, this ramification of COVID-19 is one of the most dire and severe.
Worldwide, more than 130 million girls are out of school and two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women. Educating girls not only changes the lives of those girls—it also uplifts their families, communities, and countries. Prioritising girls’ education has a ‘multiplier effect’, ensuring women are able to lead safer, more autonomous lives, increase their earning potential, and invest in their children and communities by encouraging the cycle of education to continue. It is widely acknowledged that educating women is the most powerful way to address poverty, but ironically, poverty remains the most critical factor in determining whether a girl will have access to education.
For every extra year of education that a girl receives, her earning potential increases by 10-25%, and an educated woman invests nearly all (90%) of her income into her family and community. Increasing the proportion of educated women has shown to encourage economic growth through increased incomes. Having millions more educated women means having a stronger workforce, with the potential to add up to $12 trillion USD to the global economy. Furthermore, educated girls are healthier citizens who raise healthier families. As such, educating girls contributes to reduced rates of maternal and infant mortality as well as reduced incidence of malaria and HIV/AIDS.
It may interest Australians that supporting girls’ education in developing countries is of global benefit. The consequences of unequal access to education are not issues only affecting far-away, low-income nations. Educating women has a positive impact on agricultural production, thereby increasing global food security. That the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the World Food Programme is evidence that combating hunger is currently one of the most pressing international concerns. Conveniently, it is yet another issue that can be mitigated through educating girls. When women are included in a country’s policy-making process, decisions in the interest of mitigating climate change are more likely to be made. Unsurprisingly, the Brookings Institution has identified high school education for girls as the most cost-effective strategy to combat climate change.
Educating girls has also been suggested to increase a country’s resilience against natural disasters and public health emergencies. This year we’ve seen that countries with female leaders (e.g. Taiwan, New Zealand, and Germany) have been significantly more successful in addressing the challenges presented by the current global pandemic. Certainly, this is an excellent demonstration of what happens when women are given equal opportunity to learn and to lead.
Nevertheless, in many countries, particularly in South Asian and African countries, biases against girls are rife in schooling systems. This is largely a consequence of deep-seated cultural perspectives on gender roles. In many societies plagued by poverty, traditional values emphasise a woman as the homemaker solely responsible for caring for her children. Again, there is irony in the fact that these cultural norms making women the bedrock of society—and therefore, causing a woman’s level of education to more strongly influence the prosperity of the next generation than a man’s—actively discourage girls from attending school. An educated mother is more than twice as likely to send her children to school than a woman who was denied an education. Other factors hindering girls’ access to education are period stigma and lack of information about menstrual hygiene. Even when girls are educated about their periods, sanitary products are often unaffordable, forcing girls to skip school while menstruating.
As students at ANU, most of us acknowledge how lucky we are to have access to the exceptional opportunities and the world-class education we enjoy—even if 2020 has brought significant challenges and endless Zoom meetings. Nevertheless, we can simultaneously be angry and concerned about the wide-reaching damage that reduced funding to universities will cause, particularly given that the students who will suffer most are those who are already significantly disadvantaged.
With the end of semester drawing closer, bringing with it the stress of final exams and consecutive deadlines, we should still take the time to remember how many girls are denied even the chance to finish high school simply because they were born female. I encourage everyone to channel the frustration this should stir in you into action that advances the education of those denied the opportunities we enjoy as students in Australia, while also advocating for the protection of our own education system. Indeed, education should be a right, not a privilege.
If you want to learn about what Australian charities are doing to prevent girls from being locked out of education and how you can help, have a look at the work being done by some of the below organisations:
One Girl Australia: https://www.onegirl.org.au/
School for Life Foundation: https://www.schoolforlife.org.au/
Share the Dignity: https://www.sharethedignity.org.au/
Room to Read: https://www.roomtoread.org/

Think your name would look good in print? Woroni is always open for submissions. Email write@woroni.com.au with a pitch or draft. You can find more info on submitting here.

Ruth Purcell
This is an Outpouring: An Open Letter to the Education Minister
August 13, 2020 9:18 am Comments Off on This is an Outpouring: An Open Letter to the Education Minister
To Dan Tehan, the Education Minister,

You have deemed it permissible to increase the student contribution for the humanities by 113%. That is why we find ourselves here, rallying our anger and thoughts into these words. We ask that you stop and listen.

In congratulating yourself for benefiting 60% of young people entering universities, you are failing to include the remaining 40%. As a representative in our Federal Government, you have a duty to 100% of students who choose to enter tertiary education.

A 113% hike in fees actively disadvantages future students by enforcing a monetary blockade to their desired education. You are signalling to past, present and future arts students that their degrees do not hold value, that employment opportunities for arts graduates will be dismal, and that young Australians should reconsider their pathways. You reinforce a state of psychological turbulence. You tell the 40% of university applicants that their degree is of lesser value to society and therefore they must pay this difference from their own pockets.

COVID-19 has been an incredibly taxing period for all. A myriad of studies highlight the concerning effects of isolation on mental health, particularly amongst young people. Rather than kicking young Australians while they’re down, you need to support and enable them to excel in the areas that they are passionate about, not those that you have deemed valid.

You are fixated on the economic value of jobs. In multiple government releases, you have asserted that this decision is vital to Australia’s economic recovery from COVID-19. The assumption that Arts degrees and economic growth are incompatible is flawed and wholly unsubstantiated. As a 2019 Graduate Outcomes survey reveals, Arts students are more likely to get jobs than Maths and Science graduates. This study shows that three years after graduation, 91.1% Arts graduates were employed compared to 90.1% of Science and Maths graduates. Three years out, Arts graduates were on average earning $70,300 to the $68,900 of their counterparts with Maths and Science degrees.

You refer repetitively to a toolkit of skills, asserting that the fee changes will “provide our young Australians with the skills they need for the jobs of the future”. Here you imply that the skills taught in Arts degrees are not those of the future. Yet an analysis of your own government’s publication of the ten attributes that employers of the future will be demanding throws these statements into serious doubt. Amongst these skills are creativity, originality and initiative, analytical thinking, complex problem-solving and emotional intelligence. These skills form the backbone of Arts degrees. These are the skills which prepare students for a future where technological advances, shifting knowledge landscapes and globalisation ground work spaces within endless uncertainty and fluctuation. Moreover, these skills are transferable between professions and industries. As a 2018 Deloitte Access Economic report reveals, transferable skills are the key to the future, where Australians are projected to have 17 different employers, and five to seven career changes over their lifetimes. What future workplaces demand, Arts students will supply.

Evidently, the rhetoric around this new policy has been purely framed in economic terms. Yet in making this argument, you forget that tertiary education centers around the flow of knowledge. With your suggestions and its consequences, this flow has been hardened, an economic transaction now replacing the once fluid interactions between a university and its students.

You yourself must know and cherish the role of the Arts, having studied this degree at Melbourne University and later pursuing further studies in foreign affairs and trade. Without it, any understanding of the world is rudimentary and obsolete, a testament to humanity’s devolution, not its evolution. But you seem to have forgotten its intrinsic value to our society beyond a monetary figure.

Let us remind you.

Driving, walking or biking to university and work, we listen to the news, audiobooks, music and podcasts. We engage with global and diverse voices, listening to their thoughts and absorbing new information which shapes our understanding of an ever-shifting cultural, political and social landscape. In snatches of free time, we devour books and avidly consume TV-shows. These are physical and digital channels of the Arts that have been a vital component of getting millions through lockdown periods across the nation.

We sit in the tutorials, or more recently, tune in over Zoom, to debate with and listen to our fellow students. Together we navigate the cavernous intersections of politics, economics, international affairs, defence, all ensconced within an ever important subtext of gender, class and race.

During Parliament Q&A or watching the 7:30pm news, the knowledge grounded within our Arts degrees helps to explain the complex and changeable power dynamics of parliament — of the seats that you hold and of the trust that our society places within you.

Raising our signs during a protest, joining thousands in a social movement, we question this power that you have been gifted. It is only through the Arts that we can challenge failing institutions and policies, resulting in a better understanding and connection to all the diverse individuals who call this place home.

Sitting across from culturally and linguistically unique people, whether it be in a restaurant, library table, family dining room or Zoom tutorial, the Arts underpins the basic empathy and understanding we need to honour Australia’s multicultural society.

Travelling overseas to our neighbouring countries, the interconnections and relationships that we study in our Arts degree are key to building long-lasting and genuine connections to our neighbors in the Indo-Pacific, and to cement Australia’s role as a global leader in this region.

The Arts enables us to question the mundane, the everyday, the norms taken for granted within society. It informs and nourishes. That is why we exist within a functioning society today. It ultimately encompasses all foundations and functions of our society; history, culture, politics, the fine arts and this, we argue, should be accessible to all. Not just the few. A future where 40%of students risk losing this accessibility is no future at all.

We ask you to propose policy that seeks to unite rather than fracture our society.

We ask you to propose policy that recognises the value of an education in the humanities. An education that fills the demand for transferable workplace skills and supplies our society with vital channels of criticism, debate and empathy.

We ask you to propose policy that looks beyond an economic lens, beyond a vision of universities as generators of productivity and money. We ask you to acknowledge that Arts degrees exist not only in terms of economic transactions, but within thought and cultural economies.

We ask you to propose policy that listens to our criticisms, absorbs our demands, and addresses our deep-seated concerns.

Sincerely,
Two Arts students studying at the ANU and Melbourne University

Think your name would look good in print? Woroni is always open for submissions. Email write@woroni.com.au with a pitch or draft. You can find more info on submitting here.

Queenie Ung-Lam
There’s No Such Thing as an ‘International’ Student
April 18, 2019 12:56 am Comments Off on There’s No Such Thing as an ‘International’ Student
During my time on residential leadership we ran events hoping to involve international students in our hall’s community. These events, however, were run based on the presumption that all international student experiences are the same. They are not. A locally educated student from Japan, for example, is different to a western-educated student from Myanmar. Grouping ‘international students’ as if they are a unified, cohesive community misinforms our policies for inclusion. It is time we step away from this overly broad term and recognise these students as who they are: a diverse group of people with different needs and challenges.
According to the Australian government, the term ‘overseas student’ refers to students studying in a foreign institution who are not Australian or New Zealand citizens or Australian permanent residents. ANU, Australian National University Students’ Association and the International Student’s Department use the term ‘international student’ to the same effect. This is an accurate label when it is used solely to describe the legal and fee-paying status of the student. The problem arises when the term ‘international student’ moves past this narrow definition.
Few, if any, ‘international student’ identifies as such. Instead, they see themselves as who they are: a citizen of their home country. They are more likely to relate more with others from their country than with other overseas students. This is why cultural and country-specific clubs are so popular at ANU: they create a place for ambitious overseas students to cut one’s teeth in student leadership – sometimes after being rejected from college leadership.
Within the microcosm of overseas groups at ANU, we see reflections of the same stories and tensions back home. Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, and Singapore students are all generally seen as ‘Chinese’, yet the level of wealth, education, English language proficiency skills, and cultural upbringing varies. Ethnically homogenous China with its ‘new rich’ and rising middle class differs from the racially diverse Singapore, where English is the vernacular for many of its citizens. Yet, even these simple descriptions hide the complexities and contradictions of these places.
These complexities manifest more clearly when we ask a person to represent the ‘international community’. When there is only one international representative on a resident’s committee, the workload of dealing with overseas student engagement falls largely onto them. While it’s admirable for student residences to put on cultural events to engage both Australian and overseas students, a Chinese dumpling making event, for example, does not necessarily appeal to South Asian students as it would to East Asian students. This is exacerbated when you continue to see events that continue to borrow upon one cultural region over another
Even the very role of international representative limits the potential of international students to engage in their community. I have spoken to many who were hesitant to run for any other position on their residents’ committees because they felt that they didn’t ‘fit’ into the role as well as they would as an ‘international representative’. Conversely, I have heard students not vote for international students for other roles because they believed they were better suited for being an ‘international representative’.
So, what can we do to be more inclusive to international students? As student leaders in colleges, a good start is to triage. Some students are here to study and are content to be with one’s own. Others have a western background or education and the English and social skills to integrate successfully. The priority, instead, should be on the students who are in between, who want to be included into the community but are struggling.
These students are the ones who show up but need encouragement. It may be their lack of confidence in their English skills, their lack of understanding on Australian college life or it may be their unfamiliarity with the Australian social culture and norms that make conversations difficult for them. By supporting these students early on we enable them to participate in college culture. I have seen many students who, after a few weeks of constant struggle, give up from engaging all together. It is up to all of us to be more inclusive and welcoming.
But institutional change is also needed. ANU should step up in providing training to its student leaders and residential staff to effectively understand the legal, cultural, and socioeconomic barriers overseas students may face. I have seen Senior Residents and other leaders of the community pass judgements about a student’s fashion sense or behaviour which in the context of their home culture is the norm. We cannot expect the one international representative to educate a college on various cultural practices. That is everyone’s responsibility
ANU also needs to be more transparent in its policies for international student integration in residences. Many student leaders and Senior Residents I have spoken to have expressed cynicism about ANU’s uneven allocation of international students into various student accommodations. Likewise, despite international students making up a significant portion of the hall, many of them are left wondering why Senior Resident teams are largely made up of domestic students. We need more transparency around these decisions to have a fruitful and informative debate on overseas student integration into halls.
Finally, we must acknowledge the rising xenophobia around the term ‘international student’. Australian politics and discussions at ANU increasingly use ‘international student’ as a thinly veiled reference to new, rich generation of Chinese students – or as one student leader brazenly said to me, “Chinese spies”. Because of this, we must be careful of how we use language to refer to overseas students. They are people to be respected for their cultural diversity and humanity, not threats to our way of life.
The author served on the Bruce Hall Common Room Committee as Media Officer in 2018.

Kai Clark
Diversity in Tertiary Science Education
September 23, 2018 4:49 pm Comments Off on Diversity in Tertiary Science Education
Is science truly a meritocracy? A system in which the best ideas and thinkers rise to the top, like Brainiac sea-foam? Or do people from underrepresented minority groups – such as disabled females – face substantial systemic barriers that make their journey a bit like playing Fortnite in Battle Royale mode?
Research over the last decade tells us that diversity improves science. Most Australian universities have a defined list of policies, priorities and actions available to all staff and students that promote diversity. Indeed, many even develop initiatives that specifically target, recruit and enrol these students. On paper, it seems that diversity is encouraged, lauded and well-supported by both government and institutional policy and infrastructure. However, how well do these initiatives translate into the student experience?
A 2017 survey of underrepresented minority (URM) students say: not well. Appearances can be deceiving when it comes to gauging actual student experience – a bit like opening a $200 bottle of Bollinger only to discover that the wine is corked. Well, our initiatives are corked. So where is the disconnect? Why do diversity initiatives fail to reach the students they were designed to recruit and assist? For starters, the disconnect is not often academic in nature. The less tangible elements of the student experience –those not documented in university Subject Experience Surveys for example –are the ones that predominantly hinder women and other minorities in their academic journeys.
So, let’s look at diversity. The term merely describes differences within a group. Inclusion, in comparison, is about how these members are treated and how they feel. Emphasizing diversity without institutional, cultural inclusion merely increases the number of diverse scientists. It does not foster equity within the scientific or academic community.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is definitive in its assessment that ‘there are not enough services available to students with a disability to match the requirements’. Despite this, according to Universities Australia, there has been as 94% increase in enrolments by students with a disability over the last decade. As you would expect, there are reams of policy documents addressing both initiatives and codes of practice for universities. The Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 says that active measures must be taken to identify and remove barriers to learning that are reasonable and that do not impose unjustifiable hardship on the organisation. The Students with Disabilities Code of Practise for Australian Tertiary Institutions insists that (under section B1-6) ‘they (disabled students) will be treated with dignity and respect’, and further (under section H2e) that staff are ‘able to respond appropriately to the requirements of students with disabilities and call on timely specialist advice as required’.
Here’s how it translates into reality. A young woman with congenital distal spinal muscular atrophy is studying her undergraduate science degree at one of Australia’s most well-known regional universities. Due to her condition, she is reliant on her wheelchair, and hence she chooses to complete most of the program via distance education. However, Australian Qualifications Framework requirements mean that she must fulfil specific requirements for laboratory hours and face-to-face teaching hours via compulsory residential school sessions. Again, in line with the research, she does not face academic challenges – she is a multiple-time recipient of the Dean’s List academic recognition.
Her challenges are instead practical. The ageing laboratory facilities were not designed for wheelchair accessibility. This leaves her stuck out the front, unable to participate in experiments. Despite booking her accommodation at 9.01am on the day reservations become available, she arrives to discover that the one suitable accessible room out of all the university residences has been allocated to someone else…an ambulatory someone else at that. She is now in a room that doesn’t fit her wheelchair hoist, and in which she cannot shower for the four days that she is required to attend classes. She has little option for recourse. Residential schools often run over weekends, and as a result, there is no one around to fulfil the (H2e) codes of practice. In these circumstances, she is expected to both fully participate in class activities and complete a stressful mid-session examination without the basic human dignity of being able to shower or toilet safely.
Now, this university talks the talk. They value equity diversity. They are about ‘creating a fair and inclusive environment in which students and staff from all backgrounds can flourish’. They have contacted the student in question and have determined to rectify their residential accessibility allocation policy…at some point. But, ask the student how ‘flourishy’ she feels right now. Go on. What are the chances that she’ll be inclined to subject herself to more of the same at a postgraduate level? How can she be expected to ‘bloom’ when her environment is not nurtured? The absence of practical inclusion strategies – for example, having access to more than one appropriately equipped residential room – means that in this case, some of the best ideas, the best thinkers, have very little chance of competing or rising to the top in this supposed ‘meritocracy’ of science. She is playing the same game as her cohort, but in Battle Royale mode. Until diversity initiatives come hand-in-hand with institutional practical inclusion strategies, ‘valuing diversity’ is nothing more than politically correct point-scoring.

Catherine Lockley
ANU Student Rebecca Beath Joins NRL Touch Premiership
June 28, 2018 9:36 am Comments Off on ANU Student Rebecca Beath Joins NRL Touch Premiership
ANU Engineering and Science student Rebecca Beath has made it into the NRL Touch Premiership, playing for the Parramatta Eels Women’s team. I asked Bec a few questions about her experience as a student athlete after she won her first game in the competition earlier this month.
How long have you been playing touch and what drew you to the sport? Can you tell me a bit about your involvement with ANU Touch?
‘I’ve been playing touch since I was 10 years old. I always enjoyed running around with the footy at recess and lunch throughout primary school, and from there I made my first ACT rep team and haven’t looked back since! I think I got drawn to touch because I always wanted to be like my big brothers playing footy, but was never a fan of the contact involved in tackling, so touch was a great middle ground! I got involved with ANU Touch in my first year of uni (2013) when I signed up for Uni Games. From then I’ve made my best mates at uni through the Touch Club, and was President from 2014-15 as well.’
Has ANU played a part in shaping you as an athlete?
‘ANU has played a part in my athletic career by offering awesome facilities to train in, and the elite athlete program run by Billy Mason. I’m not involved with the program any more due to time constraints but it is an awesome way to get the guidance needed in the gym to achieve great results! Support from lecturers and tutors has always been great too, they’ve always been understanding if I miss a class or need an extension due to my sporting commitments.’
How did you become involved with the NRL Touch Premiership?
‘I play Touch football up in Sydney for the Manly Sea Eagles, and also for the Alliance at the Elite 8 competition. When the Premiership was announced, players from NSW were selected into squads for the three NSW teams, and I was lucky enough to get picked in the Parramatta Eels side!’
What has it been like balancing commitments to study and work with playing professional-level sport?
‘It’s been really difficult, but with strict time management it’s possible! Travelling to Sydney twice a week takes its toll, but by preparing early and knowing what I have coming up, I can make sure I get all the work done that I need to.’
What advice would you give to ANU students who are aspiring to achieve similar heights in their athletic careers?
‘I would say don’t be afraid to approach lecturers and tutors if you need a little extra help! It’s always hard to manage both study and sporting careers, but when plenty of notice is given, lecturers can be quite accommodating and do all they can to help you out. Depending on your sport, elite level opportunities may not come around too often, so be sure to take them when they come!’
Are you feeling optimistic about prospects of winning the Premiership?
‘I think we have a really good shot at winning the Premiership. We’ve got a bit to work on from our first game, but if we play the best touch we can I know we can get a win on the 30th and then in the final up in QLD. It’ll be tough against some of the best players in the country, but hard work can get us there.’

Alisha Nagle
Quidditch Crash Course
April 2, 2018 5:53 pm Comments Off on Quidditch Crash Course
Upon mentioning quidditch to the uninitiated, there are two questions that a player always receives. The first is, “wait, do you fly?”, and this is easily answered: “No. Sorry”. The second is, “so then – how does the Snitch work?” This, I will explain in due course, for there is much more about the game that must be explained first.
Quidditch is a full-contact, mixed-gender sport. What does that really mean? It means that women, men, and everyone in between play on the field together. Gender inclusivity is literally written into the rulebook: no more than four players (on a team of seven) of the same gender may be on the field at once. These players may play one of three positions: Chaser/Keeper, Beater and Seeker.
Chasers and Keepers have a very simple goal: put the quaffle (a volleyball) through the opposition’s hoops, and stop the other team from doing the same to them. The ‘quaffle game’ might be likened to basketball or rugby, and each goal is worth 10 points. There are three chasers and one keeper in a ‘quaffle team.’
Beaters, unlike Fred and George, do not hold bats – instead, they hold bludgers (dodgeballs) that they can throw at any member of the opposition (just like dodgeball). Getting hit with a bludger is called getting ‘beat’ and knocks you out of play until you can run back, touch your defensive hoops and re-enter play.
Seekers, again, play an entirely different game. The tiny, shiny, Golden Snitch from the books is represented in real life by an oz-tag style tag on the back of the shorts of a Snitch Runner who really, really doesn’t want you to pull it off them. The Seekers have the unenviable job of running to and fro across the pitch after the Snitch Runner, and once they catch up, they must then wrestle the Snitch Runner to pull off the tag, earn 30 points for their team, and end the game.
And just in case that wasn’t enough confusion, quidditch also incorporates a handicap. In basketball, you must bounce the ball. In soccer, you can’t touch it with your hands. In quidditch, you must have a stick (PVC pipe or wooden dowel, not an actual broomstick) between your legs at all times. In addition to looking a wee bit silly, it throws in the twist of making the already complicated game now, essentially, one-handed.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re now asking yourself why on earth anyone would play such a complicated, confusing game. However, the chaos of quidditch is in many ways its primary attraction – it’s simply FUN. In a game where you’re running around with a stick between your legs and balls are flying everywhere, it’s impossible to not smile. That being said, the sport isn’t rapidly growing by merit of its ridiculousness alone. Many female players leap at the opportunity to play quidditch simply because it’s mixed gender and full contact – in what other sport is a woman going to have the opportunity to square off with a male as an equal? While feminism continues to rise and women are gradually being offered more opportunities in the world, sports at large are lagging behind the trend, with segregation of both play and pay still prevalent. Quidditch provides an opportunity for people of all genders to come together and make a difference on the pitch. I really do mean it when I say that the largest, strongest man and the smallest, daintiest girl (or the other way around) may be equally as effective on pitch. Quidditch is a sport that, due to all its complexity and chaos, rewards a good thinker just as much as it rewards physical prowess.
“So then, what about Harry Potter?” you say. Well, he’s not really in the picture anymore. Quidditch has rapidly matured away from the glorified roleplay it originated as in 2005. People who first hear about quidditch may mock its players as ‘a bunch of book nerds’ but will very quickly retract the statement after watching a match. However, the essence of the world and the sport that Rowling dreamed up still remains; for so many of our generation, the world of Harry Potter and quidditch represents a safe space where individuals and groups have the opportunity to prove themselves despite adversity. That has certainly been my personal experience as a quidditch player; while I discovered my own drive, fitness and enthusiasm for the game, and formed friendships and team bonds, the ANU Owls team has progressed up the ranks, rising to the top of the NSW state league.
Not only is there league-level play; Quidditch Australia annually hosts a State Shield competition (akin to NRL’s State of Origin) where the best from each state face off to play the highest-level quidditch in Australia. Last year, seven members of the ANU team were involved in the NSW state representative team. And yes, there is even a World Cup for quidditch, just like in the books. It’s held biennially, and in 2016 James Mortensen, ANU’s coach, captained the Australian team to victory in Frankfurt, Germany. This year the World Cup is being held in Florence, Italy, and one of ANU’s long-time members, Danny Fox, is leading the team as assistant coach. While quidditch on a global scale is accessible for any player to pursue, the game still comfortably accommodates everybody: competitive or not, big or small, athletic or slow, thinkers and doers alike.

Sophie Hyland-Fitch
Term One Interhall Sports Preview
March 1, 2018 11:28 am Comments Off on Term One Interhall Sports Preview
Term one is jam-packed with Interhall Sport. Social lawn bowls the first event of the year, taking place in week one. This is followed by, Frisbee, Touch Football and Road Relay; with Volleyball finishing off the term in place of tennis (which will now be played in term four). Interhall Sport is built upon sportsmanship, a culture of friendly rivalry and everyone having a go, which makes you all so essential to it running smoothly and successfully! I look forward to seeing you all out on the field again after such a long break, and next up are the college previews.

UniLodge
After last year’s victory for the men and the strong performance for the women in touch football, the Vipers are confident. With the superstars Pat McCallum and Teddy Johnson leading the line and Polly Sayers taking charge, they believe they have a great chance of taking home the big win. Unilodge can only go upwards in its quest for the top spot this year, having come seventh on the shield in 2017. With ex-private school captain of volleyball Will Noonan leading the team, this may be their year. After a while on the sidelines over the holidays, Lodge is ready and raring to get some distance in their legs. With runners like Isabel Marsh and Jon Settle, Lodge is sure to produce some strong competition in Road Relay.

Burgmann
Burg’s disc team is aiming for nothing lower than the top spot however they must face an incredibly tough pool in order to get there. Coaches Edward Treloar and Tash Salisbury are confident their team has what it takes. In the volleyball, no doubt superstar Margaux Huey will be an asset for the girls team and they are looking forward to seeing Seb Szambowski graduate from star player to coach. The new residents program is already unveiling some keen touch players who will no doubt boost the college’s performance. Rumours are also circulating that boys touch coach Nick Finney’s search history is filled with nothing but touch footy videos. The college expects big things from its Road Relay team in 2018. The college has again made special room changes to place star runner Josh ‘Stevo’ Stevenson in a top floor room, aka ‘the 3B altitude chamber’.

Griffin
Under the watchful eyes of coaches Keny Arcangeli and 2017 Best & Fairest winner Kimberly Dunbar, the Griffin Volleyballers now have plenty of players, among them Maddie Kibria and Michael Liang with match experience, looking to get some massive kills. In Road Relay, expect another Griffin win this year as running away from their uni work has only made the team faster than last year, led by star runners Jonathan Fearn and Jess Ronan. The Griffin Touch teams have only improved on last season with key players Monica Pascoe and Angus Proudfoot returning for this year’s tournament. Building off a close final loss last year, the Griffin Frisbee team is still one to watch out for with a lot of strong additions to the team, guided by key player returning from injury, Chris Jende.

Ursies
Ursies will have all the halls quaking in their boots this term. In Road Relay, the team is keen to improve on our finish of fifth last year, with Tom ‘the Tuckwell Triathlete’ Driscoll leading from the front. Yet to discover a new handler after their star American import left last year, the Frisbee team will be reliant on a great intake of first years to beat more teams than just Fenner this year. Moving on to Touch, the men’s team is eager to get a win this year, which should be possible with the crucial input of Reg Wintle and Zac Duchen. The girls are looking to better their sixth place finish in 2017 and will be guided by Nila Norbu. Volleyball is also looking promising this year, with ex-ressies Gaia Ewing and coach Marcus Dahl key to their success on the court.

Bruce
The combination of experienced coaches Dawn and Broden, with a hoard of new energy-filled first years, should lead to a steady improvement in Volleyball for Bruce this year. With an all-star disc team (literally the majority of ANU Ultimate) ready to whip incoming first years into shape, coaches Maya Suzuki and Patrick Phillips are confident in Bruce’s ability to continue last year’s legendary undefeated season. Players to look out for include Rosie Happ and Pat Phillips. Bruce Hall will also be a force to be reckoned with this Touch season. With the girls’ placing a record second last year, they are hungrier than ever to be named this year’s champions and hold the trophy high. The men’s team will see the introduction of rugby prodigies amongst the first year cohort, with some returner talent being formidable as ever.

Fenner
After a huge Frisbee season last year, this Fenner side is ready to return to winning ways, with Kelvin ‘The Hawk’ Cui’s rapid speed their primary offensive weapon. They will continue to prove themselves in volleyball, as Maree Armstrong’s tenacity and awe-inspiring jumping technique will strike fear into the hearts of the opposition. Fenner Touch will look to improve on previous seasons, as star player Lachie Jones and the teams will raise their hair game, as well as their A-game. Road Relay will be very competitive this year, serving as a prime IB scouting opportunity, with Maddie Wait being the engine of this quality machine.

Johns
Johns has a strong team for Volleyball this year, with Ruairi Biollo looking sharp for the boys team, and Bella Happel for the girls. Last year, Johns trained hard for Road relay coming out with a placement of fourth. They will train harder this year with a team of true athletes, led by Jess Raupach and Yoann Colin. The Johns girls are aiming for their 10th consecutive win in touch this year, and the boys are keen to do better than last year’s second place. Watch them come out firing, with Claudia Hodge and Sean Slocombe ones to watch. Johns will make your heads spin with the fresh talent they are bringing to disc this year. Watch out for devoted returners like Mimi Hall playing alongside first years just as eager to take out the title!

B&G
Get ready for another nail biting term ahead for B&G! With a promising new pool of ressies and fiery returners, B&G will put up a fight. Keeping the momentum of volleyball in 2017, D’arcy Taylor and Zoe Oldfield will not back away from the net. Turning up the heat in touch, look out for Brooke Farr and Angus Headon to continue their consistent play on the field. Yet again, B&G will bring their A-game with the likes of Mambo Wiya and Alice Patterson-Roberts defying wind in Ultimate Disc to lead them to success. Pushing through the very tight finish from last year, B&G Road Relay team is looking straight to the finish line with the likes of IB go-getter Kieran Casey.

Tommy King
Why Is The State of Origin So Successful?
October 5, 2017 8:09 am Comments Off on Why Is The State of Origin So Successful?
The State of Origin is without a doubt the pinnacle of rugby league. The annual best-of-three Australian rugby league series involves two rival states, NSW and Queensland; the Blues and the Maroons; the cockroaches and the cane toads.
The popularity of this state versus state contest is unique to rugby league and largely unparalleled across Australian and international sporting competitions. Of those attempts to emulate the formula, none have even come close. No other sport sees international players, such as New Zealand’s Josh Hoffman or Papua New Guinea’s Adrian Lam, publicly expressing a wish to play not only for a foreign nation, but for a foreign nation’s state. By way of example, imagine an All Black expressing a strong desire to play in an NSW v Queensland rugby union match. It certainly seems unlikely.
In direct comparison to other sport’s non-international all-star or representative games, the State of Origin is on a different level. Players routinely miss up to three regular season games over the course of the year, thus significantly weakening their respective club’s performances in those weeks. In other sports, such as football, representative games are played on stand-alone weekends while, Australian-centred sports such as Aussie Rules, tend to leave international fixtures until the post-season. Yet, in this case, tens of the best players in the game take a week off from playing for their clubs to play for their state. No other sporting code deals with such a concern.
The dominance and pull of the State of Origin are borne out by the facts. Attendance during the second game of this year’s series broke records, with 82,259 people attending Sydney’s ANZ Stadium. 185,189 people attended the three games combined, and game three was the most viewed television event of 2017. Now, compare these figures with those of international test matches this year: when Australia played New Zealand in Canberra, 18,000 spectators watched on; 72 per cent of the stadium’s capacity. During Origin, it is an utter disappointment if the games do not sell out.
So, this begs the question, how can a state rivalry garner greater regard than international fixtures and, in the process, be allowed to strip the national club competition of its best players for at least three weeks every year?
One reason is the formation and structure of Australian rugby league. The success of NSW and Queensland’s clubs has seen them rise to be the two most dominant states in the league for more than a century, with the State of Origin existing as a formal competition for almost half that time. The NRL itself primarily operates in NSW and Queensland, with only three of the sixteen teams located outside these two states. Hence, any other sporting code’s attempts to create a similar series would be met with less complication for the domestic competition as, in the case of AFL for example, players originate either from Victoria (who would most likely dominate an Origin-style competition) or a variety of other states. A two-team state versus state rivalry is not so organic there. In other codes, such as union, cricket and football, players not only develop in different regions of Australia but around the globe. A state versus state rivalry would seem even more contrived in their case.
In addition to the historical development of Australian rugby league, there is another factor that truly stands out – the enjoyment of the game that it brings. Though to the frustration of week-in-week-out rugby league supporters, the State of Origin, as the game’s showcase, attracts everyday viewers around the country. The build-up lasts for weeks, the contests are heated, and the players’ skills are apparent. The enamoured fan will travel hundreds of kilometres to games, buy hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise (jerseys can sell for $160, if not more) and spends countless hours re-watching highlights and analysis. It is an economic boon for the NRL and a unique experience for the rugby league fan. Though one of the most popular sports in the country (on the east coast, it’s the preferred), the experience of sold-out stadiums and elite-level football are reserved largely for the State of Origin, the finals or the odd domestic game. Of these, however, only Origin produces this with almost certainty.
Origin is a fascinatingly unique part of rugby league in this country and unparalleled globally. While some things remain the same – fans will watch the game with interest, complain about the opposition and the referee – something makes Origin particularly special. As the rugby league season comes to an end, it’s particularly telling that the thing many fans look most forward to next year is not the new NRL season, it’s the thought of their respective state getting over the line and winning the State of Origin shield. That’s what makes Origin so distinctive.

Nick Benecke