SHpULaMELBOURNE ^* TOST fHE - Monash University Research

Transcription

© Monash Student Association (Clayton) Incorporated (MSA). Lot’s Wife is published on behalf of MSA. All enquiries about the
reproduction and communication of material from Lot’s Wife should be directed to MSA.
SHpULaMELBOURNE
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1996
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Edition 6, Editorial number 6. We feel it is finally time to comment on issues on campus, rather than simply begging for help around the office. You should
all know by now that we need help, and if you want to pop in anytime, you are more than welcome.
So, now on to the real stuff. It seems that some departments of the Monash University Union are operating undemocratically.
Take the (Mature Age and Part Time student department (MAPS) for example. Four times since the beginning of 1989 MAPS have used their newsletter
to promote political candidates. MAPS is a Union department, and, as such, is funded by every students amenity fee. Whilst this is not objectionable in
itself, it is outrageous that these funds are being used to promote political candidates preferred by the Executive.These are not necessarily the preferred
candidates of all mature age/part time students. Why are there no safeguards on this practice?
This situation occured in 1989 during the MAS annual elections, when the Alert team placed a full page advertisement in the MAPS newsletter. This was
posted to every MAPS member (at the expense of the Union, and thus from your money). The MAPS committee was reprimanded by the Returning
Officer, Thomas Lumley, and the Union Board at the time.
Now we find MAPS is up to the same tricks again. The latest edition of the MAPS newsletter promotes a candidate for the upcoming University Council
elections. MAPS cannot plead ignorance again - they have been warned that this behaviour is totally unacceptable. The Union Board should launch a
full, independent enquiry into this matter and ensure that it does not occur again. We cannot allow this misappropriation of money to continue.
Another questionable facet in the administration of MAPS is the fact that the department is continuing to function with the same Constitution under which
it operated when it was a Club. Why was it possible for MAPS to change from being a club, to being a fully fledged department of the Union, without
having to update their constitution?
Whilst it may seem insignificant that MAPS have not yet managed to revise their Constitution to meet the needs of a Department, this is not so. Their
recent Annual General Meeting clearly illustrates this. The attendance at the meeting was a mere 52 members (approximately 1.4% of the total
membership of over 3,500). Nominations for the Executive and Committee closed before the meeting - a fact that was not widely publicised. The elections
were not by secret ballot, and preferential voting was not employed. This is not acceptable behaviour for a department of the Union.
Another department in the Union which allows questionable procedures to continue is the Monash Postgraduate Association (MPA). MPA held their 1990
Annual General Meeting (AGM)-at6.30pm at afunction which cost $15.00 to attend. Thecost of this evening may well have prevented many postgraduates
from attending, and thus from exercising their democratic right (a poll tax at Monash?).
The meeting was in fact attended by only 39 memt)ers. From this a committtee of 15 was elected to supposedly represent a//postgraduates on campus.
A possible solution to the obvious problem with the elections would be to combine the MAPS and MPA elections with the MAS elections in September.
This would ensure that an independant Returning Officer oversees the election. Additionally, there is more opportunity for members to vote. Polls are
open for 5 days, and late on two evenings. Postal votes are also available, further increasing the numbers of members able to vote. MAS elections have
the largest percentage participation rate of any student elections on campus.
If you think this is not relevant to you, then think again. You pay $299 every year, and this is being pilfered by undemocratic processes. Act now — call
upon the Union Board to immediately instigate a full independent enquiry. Help make this Union more democratic, accountable, and financially responsible
to its members.
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Lot's Wife Staff
Contents
Editors:
• Geoff Drechsler,
• Sarah Porritt,
• Helga Svendsen
Deputy Editors:
• Kathleen Irish
• Susie Pavlidis
Publication Secretary:
• Sandy Guy
Advertising Manager:
• Neill Campbell
Typsetters:
• Derek Bumell,
• Anne Lynn
Proofreaders:
• Yvonne Murdoch,
• Marlene Ryzman
Graphics Librarian:
• Kim Davies
Photography:
• Justine Copley
• Rui De Lemos
• Peter Jeans
EDITORIAL
2
NEWS:
First Impressions
Faculty Board Elections
Youth Building the Future
Beware: Assault
Kidney Fun Run
In the Library
Tenants Privacy
Changes to Workcare
Representation in a Student Union
MAS Transport Campaign
Mayday -100 Years of Workers Struggle
The Law and Incest
4
4
4
5
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
FEATURES:
Why Bother?
It's up to You
Amnesty International
Daiquiries, Lamborghinis & Orgasms
Running Rings Around Melbourne — Olympics 1996
10
11
12
16
17
Typists:
• Nathan Morrow
• Matthew Walters
• Susie Pavlidis
INTERVIEWS:
Comedy Comes of Age — Wendy Harmer
Bill Says it's as Good as Gold — Bill Deveney
14
20
Graphics:
• Luke Harris,
• Adam Parker,
• Ben Aveling
Editorial Page Graphics
• Tanith Guy
COLUMNS:
Postgraduate Association
Conservation Group
Monash Film Group
Arts and Crafts
Completely Left
Liberal Students
Completely Right
Labor Students
Club-on, Chill Out
Back Cover:
• Damien Connellan
• Mikaela Power
• Chris Buckingham
Layout Crew:
• Gilla Grosinger,
• Kathleen Irish,
Elisse Baitz,
• Clare Carney,
• Sussie Pavlidis,
• Ben Hider,
• Dimitri Serghis,
• Michael Gardner
James Back well,
Mark Schumacher,
• Mark Picton,
• James Harrison,
• Peter Jeans,
• Tim Johnston,
• Josh Guy,
• Tanith Guy,
• Alexis Diamond,
• Rui de Lemos
• Samantha Freis,
• Tony Banks,
• Jan Morphett,
• Gabrielle Hodson,
• Chris Skala.
Thanks to Nicola Seaman for
driving to Shepparton.
Lot's Wife is published by the
Monash Association of Students,
and is printed by Newsprinters,
Shepparton.
21
21
21
21
22
22
22
23
23
REVIEWS:
Art
Books
Films
Comedy
Records
Resturants
25 &28
26
27
27
28
28
SPORTS:
Baseball
Golf
Triathlon
33
33
34
LETTERS
CREATIONS
CROSSWORD
COMPETITION
CLASSIFIEDS
WHATS ON
29
24
13
13
34
35
,
'.
\r^z.Ws
First Impressions
By Susie Pavlidis
F
irst impressions . . . you know the
ones that last forever! The ones that
scar you in such a way, and grasp
you so, making sure you don't ever forgeL
Well, these are the one implanted upon me
from the Lot's Wife gang.
I know you're probably wondering what
on earth that crazy, unpredictible, insane
group of so-called journalists did to m e . .
. well... they took the boredom out of my
Easter holidays, which would have been
spent at home glued to the every day
mind-boggling soapies — "Days of Our
Drearies" and the "Bald and The Boring"
etc. etc., and placed me in ilieir tiny itsy
bitsy little mad house, which I soon became accustomed to — if that's possible.
Watching lOOO's of people running,
walking, skipping in and out in all kinds
of amusing fashions. Just sitting there,
trying to put names to faces and faces to
names was enough to send anyone up the
creek! From the lOOO's of faces and
names thrown at me, there were a few I
caught, and came to know quite well.
All in all, I had a RAGE. I was able to
write an article (which you are reading), I
was able to watch and learn how to
develop photos, I was given the privilege
of typing, typing and tyyypppiiinnnggg
articles. Overall, I was able to watch the
coming togcdicrof this newspaper, which
was an experience in itself. I'll tell you
something - it sure beats the soapies!
Faculty Board Elections: Arts & Economics
Arts Taciilty Roard
Nominations have been called for the
election of three undergraduate students
to Uie Arts Faculty Board.
Nominations should be lodged with the
Assistant Registrar, Arts Faculty, by
Thursday May 3.
If more than one nomination is received.
a ballot will be held on Wednesday 9 and
Thursday 10 May, from 9.00 am to 1.00
pm and 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm.
The successful candidates will hold ofilcc
untU 30 April 1991.
Economics and Politics Faculty Board
The following undergraduates have been
nominated for three vacancies on the
Ecops Faculty Board: Richard Backwell,
Suzanne Branton, Jason Byrne, Catherine
Dunlop, Chris Jones, Dean Kennedy,
Eugene Kinnimonih and Mark
Schumacher.
A ballot will be held in the Ecc^s Faculty
Office on 26 and 27 April between 9 am
and I pm and 2 pm and S pm. All students
enrolled in the degree of Bachelor of
Economics are entitled to vote.
The successful candidates will hold office
until 30 April 1991.
Youth Building the Future
fey Suzy Rae
Y
outh Building the Future (YBF) is
a world network of students and
youth from all disciplines who
keep in regular contact because of a
common concern for the environment,
peace and social justice. Throughout the
year, YBF groups in more than 20
countries work to bring together existing
information from organisations in their
respective countries to exchange with
other youth around die world. The aim is
to make peace, human rights, women and
environmental movements sU'onger and
more effective, principally by the dissemination of information.
Each year a different country hosts the
annual YBF conference. Between 50 and
90 students from about 20 counmes attend
to talk about global problems. The confcrenue is structured, with "expert"
speakers in die morning and workshops in
the afternoon. There is plenty of opportunity to speak and have real input
In 1989, the third YBF conference was
held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was
the first time the conference was held in a
"Third World" counU7 and, as a consequence, the discussion was more analytical and defined. The topics included The
Scientist's responsibility above the arms
race and environmental conservation and
The concept of common heritage to
humankind. We also discussed human
rights and education for peace. Antarlica
was probably the biggest issue of the
conference, and one where concrete
action evolved for delegates to continue
working in dicir own countries.
As always at conferences, the best and
most valuable discussions happened over
dinner and in the hotel. The concept of
"one world" was developed, and cultural
exchanges became one of die most important features of the conference.
In mid-1990, the fourUi YBF conference
will be hosted in Caiio, Egypt. AusUalia
hones to send two Australian delcgaies,
ana delegates from the Philippines and
Papua New Guinea. It is hoped that there
will be a day for delegates to give reports
about their own country at the next conference, therefore we would like delegates
to know or be prepared to learn about
organisations and actions in Australia.
(For example, the problems facing die
Aboriginal Community in Melbourne,
taking information and advice from the
Koori Information Centre and Fitzroy
Legal Centre, etc).
Of course, you will not be aware of every
issue, but it would be good if delegates
were able to focus on one or two areas that
they feel are high priority. We are looking
for delegates widi a good knowledge
and/or a genuine interest in problems
facing die world. Any person can apply to
be an Australian YBF delegate.
The flight to Cairo,and food and
accomodation for the week long conference are fully subsidised. As the "Cultural
Nicht" is a big feature of the conference
delegates would need to vvork out a
routine lliai reflects Au.strr.lia. Don't be
put off and diink you're not experienced,
active or knowledgable enough to apply
for this. We encourage everyone, as
preference will go to those who haven't
had an opportunity like this before. If you
play a musical instrument, speak
another language, get on well with
people, etc. you should apply!
I'or more information, please contact
Peter Jordan on 628 5633 (BH) or Suzy
Rae on 660 2551, 660 2055. A written
application is required to apply for die
position of Australian delegate. This
doesn't need to be a thesis, just tell us
about yourself and what you are doing
and/or what you are involved in. All
applications must be received by 5 pm,
Friday May 18. Please send or deliver
your application to:
Suzy Rae
CI-RMIT Union Information Centre
CPOBox2476V
Melbourne Vic 3001
U^v/S
Stop Press Stop Press Stop Press
Kidney Fun Run
BEWARE
ASSAULT
by Kerren Clark
Central Services reports that an attempted
assault on a female student took place at
approximately 8.50 am in the South West
Car park (near the Vice Chancellors'
residence) on Wednesday 11 April. The
attacker reportedly asked the victim to
help him attend an injured person.
Take care — Monash is not the safe haven
that we would like it to be! This attack
by Peter Jeans
Men s
^ • • ^ n e Tuesday a few weeks ago,
I
l o u r talented Medical students
V ^ ^ organised a fun run to raise
money for the Kidney Foundation.
Despite the lack of advertising,
approximately 70 competitors turned
up, and managed to crawl around the Ring
Road twice (4 kilometres) for a charge of
$2. Some joker with a megaphone
commented on anything that came to his
brain, and basically those that made the
run had plenty of fun. The positions are as
follows:
took place in broad daylight, at one of the
busiest limes of day. It is a sad indictment
that we cannot trust odiers' intentions
when they ask for help, but for your own
wellbeing, it is safer to contact the
Gatehouse (ext. 3333), or the Police, who
can provide the necessary assistance.
Don't be fooled into thinking that it can't
happen to you, or that it wouldn't happen
at Monash. This is simply tempting fate.
1st;
2nd:
3rd;
4 th:
5th:
6lh:
IanLeitch(14ml2s)
Clinton Baxter
Lee Settle
D.Thek
R. Campbell (onya Rich)
Andy Borseraan (first Med student
home)
Isf
2nd;
3rd:
Kylce Lucas
Carolyn Russell
Kelly Vlamarkis
In the Library
plicating matters; wiring for exu^ computer
terminal has not been completed.
So what is being done to help? For a start,
f you've run into a few problems in the the library will be closed on Saturday 28th
Main Library lately, you may be com- April, and staff have been invited in to sort
forted to know that you're not the only and shelve the books. Extra staff have
one. But before you barge into the library, been employed, and are working exua
whining, complaining and generally weekends. As well, MAS is organising a
making a nuLsance of yourself, spare a volunteer system, so there will be extra
thought for the people whose job it is to people to help shelve the books. And there
serve you, and keep the library running in is a lot you can do to help too. When
an orderly fashion. The Main Library con- you're in the library, remember you're not
tains about a million books, and it's an the only person using it. Be patient and
extremely hard task to keep them in good considerate. Don't hide, steal or deface
condition on the shelves. Most of the books, and don't put them back on the
problems that have cropped up stem from shelves after using them: chances are
the 21 (X) extra people compared to last you'll put them in the wrong place. Also,
year walking through the door every limit your time if you're using the comweek. Every one of these people needs to puters; there are always peoplfe waiting to
be served and attended to, and, to make use the terminals. You can also make
matters worse, there has been a 30 per cent things a lot easier for yourself by borrowing
decrease in shelving staff due to illness. books in advance rather than trying to find
This has now been partially rectified. For them at the last minute. Finally, if you
all those who don't realise it, that means really want to help, MAS is organising a
an extra workload for library staff whose system of volunteers to shelve books. If
hours are already very long. As well as you're interested, ring James Backwell,
that, there are several unseen delays com- on extension 3141.
by Kim Davies
I
46
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THE PARTY TO END ALL PARTIES!
$16 Buys you the BEST b a n d ,
beer, wine and spirits; w i t h
ji
a
Ne€ Classiciue
LIVE!
MORE FUN T H A N LAUGHING!!
AINIMUM
AGE FOR E N T It r IS 18 YEARS
P H O T O ID. M A T
BE
REQUESTED
Lots Wife Thursday 26th April, 1990 page 5
U£W5
1 enants^
Privacy
To do a general inspection,
which cannot be more often than
once every six months.
fey Helm Svendsen
The law relating to privacy for tenants
leaves a lot to be desired. Regular or unannounced visits from the landlord, the
agent, or anyone acting for them (eg,
trades-people) however, can be
prevented. The law is that owners and
agents must:
give 24 hours written notice of
their intention to visit, stating the
reason for their visit
"
Changes to
visit within 7 days of serving the
notice, or it expires,
restrict their visits to between the
hours of 8 am to 6 pm
not visit more often, or stay
longer, than is necessary
may not enter without the tenant
being present
If they turn up without giving proper
reason, send them away! Unfortunately,
there are not immediate fines for a
landlord who enters a tenant's home
illegally. If you are constantly annoyed in
this way, you should:
Change the locks. It is actually
illegal not to give a key to the
owner, but the worst that can
happen is that the Tribunal may
order you to give one to her/him.
In any case, the owner will
usually only know that you have
changed the locks if she/he O'ies
the door illegally, and this could
look pretty embarrassing for
him/her at the Tribunal!
Apply to the Tribunal for a
"restraining order" which will
ban the owner from entering
your home for a set period of
Workcare
ByNUuferGunay
Last year the Cain Government passed
radical changes to the Victorian Workcare
legislation, despite vigorous campaigns
and demonstrations by unions. These
changes became effective on March S,
1990.
The changes will mean many alterations
to the way claims are made, decisions
lime. If you are being seriously
reviewed and the amount of money
threatened, you should apply for;;
workers get paid. Below is a brief outline
an urgent hearing. If the owner;.
of how the changes will affect workers
ignores the restraining order,*
and uade union workers.
she/he can then be fined up to
$500.00.
1. Weekly Payments
If you have been badly incona. For the first S2 weeks, woilcers will
venienced by the landlord comreceive 80 per cent of their pre-ining in illegally, you should apply
jury weekly earnings. This does not
for compensation.
include provisions in awards for
This information was provided by the
make-up pay (most employers are
Tenants' Union of Victoria. If you have
required to pay make-up pay for a
any other tenancy -jueries. contact either !
period of up to 39 weeks or 52 weeks
the Tenants' Union, or local tenants ad- !
— that is the difference between the
vice services.
award wage and the Workcare rate).
They must also have good reason, which
must be one of the following:
where a notice toend the tenancy
has been served, to show
prospective tenant through,
* where the property is to be sold,
to show prosepective buyers
through,
to carry out theirduties under the
Act (repairs, etc)
'
for valuation,
* to investigate only where the
landlord had reasonable grounds
to believe that the tenant has not
complied with his/her obligations, or
Deluxe Driving
School
Patient & Experienced
Male & Female Instructors
Expert & Friendly Tuition
* 4 Lessons $10.50 each
for Total Beginners only
Also Student Discount *
569 9647 Anytime
'
-•>>•'-, / ^ * ' '
r'H'i-*" ^ i : * ' . ' - ^ ' i : i > . : i . . ; .
.^^
^ j
b. Workers who receive workcare for
52 weeks or more who are not total 1 y
incapacitated, or are considered
under the regulations to be less than
15 per cent impaired, will be given
three months notification of reduction of their weekly payments to 60
per cent of pre-injury earnings.
c. For the first 52 weeks, workers with
earnings on partial earnings of light
duties are entitled to 90 per cent of
the difference between their current
earnings and their pre-injury earnings.
d. Workers on remm to work, partial
earnings or light duties, after a
period of 52 weeks will receive 80
per cent of the difference between
pre-injury and current earnings.
Note: T h e r e is no minimum
amount that a worker can be paid.
2. Supplementary Benents
Workers with dependent children whose
gross total family income is less than a
specified figure (determined by the
number of children) and who do not
receive make-up pay will be eligible for a
supplementary payment. Forms to claim
supplementary benefits arc available from
Post Offices and Claims Agents.
3. Initial Determination ofa Worker's
Entitlement for Compensation
The ACC (Accident Compensation Commission) has 28 days to accept or deny a
claim. If the claim is denied then the
worker will be notified in writing. This
will include reasons for the decision.
The worker must, if she/he disagrees with
the decision, request a review by the Appeals Board. The Appeals Board has 28
days in which to make a decision.
This is replacing the Arbitration Division
of the Tribunal and is independent of the
ACC and Claims Agents. The ACC,
Claims Agents and employee will be able
to make written submissions to the Board
within I4daysofnoticeofappeal. Acopy
of this will be forwarded to the worker.
Workers must make a written submission
to the Board within 21 days after the
application has been lodged.
The Board may decide in favour of the
worker, however if they are not prepared
to make this decision, a Full Board must
called to meet the worker in person.
workers may seek assistance and be accompanied by a friend; union or legal
adviser. Further, if required the Board
must provide an interpreter.
5. Medical Board
A new Medical Board has been set up
which can give an opinion on a medical
matter if requested by Appeals Board.
6. Termination and Suspension and
Reduction of Payment
The ACC has the power to terminate,
suspend or reduce payments. It will be the
responsibility of the worker to appeal
the decision. This must be done within
60 days. Workers remain on benefits if
they appeal within 21 daysof notification.
7. Conclusion
Under the changes to Workcare, the
responsibility of appealing unfavourable
decisions is up to the injured worker.
If you receive a letter from workcare
denying liability, querying your claim,
reducing, terminating or suspending your
payments, you should contact your shop
steward or your Union office immediately.
|/l£.W5
Representation in
a Student Union
by James Bactcwell
T
here is one common denominator
to all at Monash — whether undergraduate, postgraduate, overseas
student, mature age student. Law student,
Science student or students widi purple
hair and one leg — we are all students.
Many issues are relevant to us all —
Union fees, tertiary fees, the quality of our
education and more.
Unlike the current Monash University
Union, a Student Union would be
democratic and representative. When
considering the issue of representation,
two major goals must be achieved:
Firstly, definable groupings of students,
who have special interests, must be represented. Groups such as Overseas
Students, Mature Age and Part-Time and
Post Graduates students experience
problems and pressures at University
peculiar only to that group. It is my contention that any Union that does not
properly represent these groups is
unrepresentative and does not deserve
the support of its members. The current
Union, because of the exclusion of the
' Overseas Students on Union Board, is one
such Union.
Secondly, in considering representation,
the interests of the minority special-interest groups must not dominate the interests
Selecting Representatives
its own statute within the University.
Because of this, they should have a representative elected by its own constituency.
That representative, however, should be
elected by the most democratic process
possible.
having a vote on all issues concerning
•students, are primarily there to protect the
budgetary intc^^sts of C&S. They should
perform no olher representative function.
The representative role on, say, educational or service issues, is the role of
Student Association.
Representatives of all of us, ie general
members, should be elected by a majority
of students who vote. I believe that to
ensure a proper democratic election
voting should be by an optional, proportional representation system at annual
elections.
All postgraduates have the right to
participate in the selection of their representative. The most democratic way is by
annual election and by optional preferential voting system.
Internal Election of Special Interest
Representatives
As C&S currently has representatives on
the Union Board, they should continue to
enjoy such positions. However, the selection of such representatives should be by
general election, rather than by the Clubs
In selecting representatives of special interest groups, many arguments may be
run. In my opinion, because these representatives will be making decisons
beyond the ambit of their own interest
groups (for example ihey will be part of
the decision-making process on budgets),
they must have the electoral support of the
majority of thii student voting body.
Internal election of any representatives
from special interest group can not occur
at annual general meetings or internal
elections. The vast majority of the
constituents are not in a position to be able
to attend and vote. Voting prxxedures in
such elections have been notoriously
fixed by using first past the post voting
and unsecret balloL
The last MAPS
AGM, according to Mr Ben Hider iaLol's
Wife, displayed very undemocratic
processes. We can be thankful that they
were not selecting their Union Board Representative.
of the majority. If special-interest group
representatives have disproportionate
numbers in relation to general members,
decisions may bemade that do not lake the
whole picture into consideration.
However, as only special interest groups
members can truly represent the interests
of Uiat group, only members of these
, groups should be able to stand for these
positions.
The Case of the Monash Postgraduate
Association (MPA)
The Case of Clubs and Societies
MPA is a unique body in die Monash
University Union. Like the Monash Association of Students (MAS), but unlike
other definable interest groups, MPA has
Clubs and Societies (C&S) perform an
entirely different role to that of special
interest groups. The current C&S representatives on the Union Board, while
and Societies executive or council. This is
for the reasons of consistency and
democracy. Anyonefroma Club Executive
could run for the positions and thus
represent the interest of C&S. The reality
should be that the results are the same, or
is the current C. &S. process of
representative selection not truly
democratic?
A new union, whatever its final shape,
should attempt to redress the current
d e m o c r a t i c i m b a l a n c e s that we
experience. While it may be idealistic to
talk of concepts of rcprescnlation and
democracy, they are visions we can
indulge in at university, not for intellecUJal
masturbation, but for equity and fairness.
A yf A Q Transport
i V l / \ 0 Campaign
by Jan Black & Kate Creif^hton
MAS Transport Officers
Carpooling
Over 200 students and staff are already
advertising to share cars — and we've
been operating for only 2 weeks! The
response to the MAS Carpooling Service
have blown apart any suggestion that
"people will never share their cars."
It's obvious that we do have a sense of the
waste of resources and environmental
damage connected with bringing empty
cars day after day.
We have Ufts being offered and wanted
from as far away as Warburton and from
as close as Clayton South. People are sharing
petrol costs and reducing the number of
cars coming to Uni.
How can you help? See us at the MAS
Carpooling Service — outside the Union
Building,
Cycling
The chronic parking situation is strong
encouragement to get the bike out of the
shed and give cycling here a whirl. 6,000
of us live within 5 km of Uni and we ought
to be cycling.
To help overcome some common
apprehensions, MAS will be organising
free lunchtime sessions tiiis term on setting up your bike and riding in Uaffic.
Watch out for the Get on Your Bike
sessions — free for staff and students.
S(lAlt\ - UStÂifc^ .
(TSTVIU-C iu.
\^
Transport Ideas
The recent Student General Meeting reaffirmed our commitment to developing environmentally responsible transport
altemati ves S Indents and staff are conveying many good ideas including:
•
establishing a "city via Sthfastem
Freeway" hitching post;.
compiling a map of shower
facilities for cyclists;
•
getting the 630 Elwood bus
linked to SL Kilda services.
To help improve the transport alternatives
at Monash, make contact through die
MAS Office—North West Ground Floor,
Union Building, or sec us at the Carpooling
Service — outside the Union Building.
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100 Years of
|
Workers Struggle
MAY DAY
by Geoff Drechsler
WORKERS -WORLD!
The May Day March this year is of particular significance. The reason for this is
that this y e a r ' s march marks the
hundredth anniversary of the celebration
of May Day as a show of solidarity by the
international working class. This year's
logo is 700 Years of Workers Struggle
Against Exploitation and many special
events have been planned to ensure a
memorable May Day.
The celebration of May Day began last
century and is very much related to the
struggle for the eight hour day. The idea
itself was concieved in 1894 at 2C conference of the Federated Trades and
Labour Unions of the United Slates and
Canada. The conference decided to
launch an intensivecampaign for the eight
hour day which was to culminate in
widespread actions on May 1 1896. This
led to a bitter struggle in the McCormack
Agricultural Machinery Works in
Chicago where twenty workers were
killed and others were later hung.
In 1889 delegates from the United States
to the International Labour Congress in
Paris were part of the push for May 1 to
become an international day of woiking
class solidarity, partly in recognition of
the struggles in their own country. This
meeting was actually the inaugural meeting of the Second International, which
was one of the original international
forums for contact and discussion between socialists. In support of die decision
of the International Labour Congress, a
SOCIALISM
meeting was held at the Melbourne Trades
Hall Council on May 11890. This was (he
first May Day celebration held in
Ausffalia. The first May Day march in
Ausffalia was in 1891 when 1500 shearers
marched in Barcaldine in Queensland as
part of the campaign against wage cuts.
Since this year is the centenary of May
Day, many special activities have been
organised, including a film evening on
May 1 at die Metalworkers and a wreath
laying ceremony and memorial lecture on
May 3 at Trades Hall. The speaker for the
lecture is Tom Uren, who was a Minister
in two Labor governments. Along with
diese special activities Uiere is the usual
May Day Bash on Saturday night. May 5,
at die Northcote Town Hall and the actual
march. May 6, which starts at Trades Hall
at 2pm. There are also special limited
edition posters, badges, cards and T-shirts
available. For further information come
down lo thelor's Wife office and see me.
The Law and Incest
by Helga Svendsen
In 1989, two young women, Sandra and
Tracey Collis spent 6 mondis in Pentridge
Prison as a result of withdrawing charges
against their father, Robert Collis. They
are out of jail, but not free from the
conviction or the humiliation diey have
suffered.
After year^ of alleged sexual abuse by
their father, Sandra and Tracey made
suttements about the abuse to the police in
1986. As a result Robert Collis was
charged with two counts of indecent assault and two counts of unlawful assault.
Following this, both parents threatened
suicide if the charges were proceeded
with. In September, 1987, Uicir father
made an appointment for them with the
police and drove them to the police station
where die sisters wiUidrew the charges.
They were subsequently charged with
perjury, and were represented by die legal
firm who had previously acted for die
father regarding the initial allegations.
The firm was paid for by the father to act
for die sisters. This constitutes a serious
conllict of interest.
The sisters pleaded guilty to die perjury
charges. It was not until after die sentence
was announced, diat die judge was informed that die fadier had a previous conviction forabducdon with intent to rape or
to carnally know a female, for which he
had been sentenced to four years in jaU.
Whilst serving their sentence in
Pentridge, the sisters obtained independant legal representation and appealed
dieir convicuon to the Supreme Court
Whilst die conviction was upheld, die
penalty was reduced by six mondis to take
account of die father's previous conviction.
This case illustrates die need for drasdc
measures to be taken regarding die handling of cases involving sexual offences
within the family.
The Women's Legal Resource Group, in
light of this case, recommend:
Pardon
The Governor should grant a pardon to
Sandra and Tracey Collis which will
result in their names being cleared from
the conviction of perjury.
Lot's Wife- ThiiiTiday26th April,-W9(>pagcK •
C'.'.Vfri'iV^-l.in'j-'',';'>'>- ?.';','/r'''' .AV^'V ;,•!"•-.':
Police Practice
Judicial Training
If a complaint of sexual assault is made,
and if die complainant seeks to wididraw
it. she or he should be advised of die
availability of support and counselling.
Police Standing Orders should be
amended to provide diat police should
advise complainants that diey are entitled
to have anodier person of dieir choosing
present while making a statement
The educauon of judges regarding the
prevalence of sexual assault in the
community should be referred to the
A u s t r a l i a n I n s t i t u t e of J u d i c i a l
Administration.
The complainant should not be interviewed in the presence of the accused.
Duress
The law of duress should be amended
along the following lines: "The defence of
duress should be available to a defendant
who committed a criminal act due to the
rea-sonable fear diat he or she or a third
person would be subject to immediate
physical harm. The individual characteristics of the defendant which are
relevant to die formauon of the fear must
be considered".
The Women's Legal Resource Group are
calling for changes to die law which may
prevent such an incident occurring again,
and to improve procedures generally for
women and children who have been
sexually assaulted.
To support this stance, write to the
Premier, Attorney General and Minister
for Police and Emergency Services in support of diese recommendations.
If you require further information, contact
the Domestic Violence and Incest
Resource Centre on 387 9155 or the
Women's Legal Resource Group on 416
0144.
Thank you to the Domestic Violence and
Incest Resource Centre, and the Women's
Legal Resource Group for providing the
information that this article was based on.
l/JtW^
A Very "PuSCic f\ffair
by Ben Hider
by Tim Gaituso and Matt Nicol
H
ello avid readers of this, the most
informative, influential, and
downright funny, regular column
olLot's Wife.
Welcome back to our lovely campus, we
hope you had a very relaxing break and a
joyous and love-filled Easter, (and that
comes from the bottom of our hearts —
truly). Unfortunately, none of those Easter
eggs and chocolates (or the money that
you were going to spend on them), have
reached our office yet — guess it's got
something to do with the backlog of mail
at this lovely time of the year. Hopefully
they'll start rolling in soon.
Well we can't really tell you much more
than what was in the last issue, as nothing
has really happened since then; oh, except
for the Union Night we held on Good
Friday featuring U2, The Rolling Stones,
Talking Heads, Simple Minds, a once-oft
re-grouping of ABBA, and the first performance of the newly reformed Beatles
(with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr,
George Harrison, and Julian Lennon
replacing his father). Unfortunately we
were the only two people who turned up
(apart from the roadies and band members), so the atmosphere wasn'ias good as
we'd anticipated. You must have all been
away on holidays and missed our advertising posters (admittedly we only put
them up on Holy Thursday evening).
Anyway, it was a great show and it's areal
shame that you missed it
The Poll Tax is an issue which has created
stormy protests in Britain. The Public Affairs Committee has resolved to send a
letter of support to those protesting nonviolently. What follows are a couple of
excerpts from the letter being sent.
...The Poll Tax ignores the basic fact that
no wealth is gained in a vacuum, those in
society who are the wealthiest are the
ones who owe the greatest debt to society.
As such, they have a responsibility to pay
the greatest taxes. This responsibility is a
corollary of their right to hold such
wealth...
...It is the belief of the Public Affairs
Committee that the linking ofthepaynwnt
of a tax to the electoral rolls effectively
makes this payment not a tax but a charge
on the right (and we emphasise "right") to
vote. The Poll Tax, as a charge on the
right to vote, will actively discourage
young and poor people from enrolling to
vote....
... it is regressive in the sense that those
with less wealth will pay a greater proportion in their limitedweallh than the wealthiest in society... .
OK now it's "notification of our big
upcoming events" time. Get ready this
Monday, 30th of April, to have a nice
day because we're bringing you, at
lunch-time, just before they leave for a
tour of the You Ess of Ay, the band of the
90's, Have a Nice Day. Be there 'cause
it'll be huge. Then, atlunch-time on Monday 7th of May, we give to you the man
whose popularity at Monash means that
he can't afford to do a tour of the Slates,
the guy whose new live album is flying up
the charts, the dude who is often refenred
to (by us) as the funniest man in the worid
and the most musically brilliant —yes,
you guessed it— we're bringing to
Monash, Mr James "Jimi the Human"
Hocking (hooray, hooray, hooray).
As if this wasn't enough, from Monday
14th May — Thursday 17Ui May, we're
having a Jazz Week at Monash. Now we
don't like to drop names but: Oxo
Cubans, Mistaken Identity, Man
Friday, and Rela.1 with Max — sorry,
couldn't help it. During this week we expect everyone to walk around saying
things Uke "hey man", "cool babe" and
"I'm hip", and we want you all to wear
those Uttle round John Lennon glasses. To
top off Jazz Week there will be a Humungous
Jazz Union Night on Thursday 17th May,
so be diere or be, like, totally unhip, man.
Seeya
Love Tim and Matt.
taatA'.i
...The Poll Tax returns Britain to the
feudal system of taxation, where the
poorest in society pay for the exhorbitant
lifestyles of the wealthy.
Thank you to Alan Rosengarten, Michael
Casey, Ruth Browning and Chris James
for moving and seconding such useless
motions.
Many people feel that PAC would be far
better off if people would take it more
seriously. Unfortunately this is not likely
to happen as long as blatantly absurd,
meaningless motions conunue to be
moved. Examples of this from the last
meeting abound.
Finally, it seems as if the two and half
people who believe in voluntary student
unionism are once again attempting to
create an issue where there isn't one.
There are a couple of unresolved issues
here. Why is it that on those campuses
where Liberals do not win the student
elections (i.e. throughout Victoria) they
believe in V.S .U., while on those that they
do win elections (i.e. in Western Australia
and at A.N.U) they don't believe in
V.S.U? Also, exactly in what way is
Universal membership of student Unions
and Associations undemocratic and a
breach of freedom of association? Explain
please Rosemary.
"That this PAC condemns the smoking of
illegal substances in the offices of Lot's
Wife and MAS". This motion is meaningless for two reasons — One, it is an AE
not aPAC matter and two, the AE doesn't
allow it anyway.'
"That this PAC funds to the sum of $ 19.99
a reading of Ezra Pound's 'Pisan Cantos'
by Mr P. O 'Toole to be conducted over 48
consecutive hours at a date to be set".
Need I say more.
"That this PAC resolves to sing 'God Save
the Queen' at the beginning of every
meeting and that anyone who does not
sing be hung, drawn and quartered". Why
would we want to?
The proceedings were, to say tlie least,
interesting. Peter Nugent decided to play
some of his old tricks and declared his
opposition to anything he could think of.
While it's good to have a giggle at SGM's,
many students approached me after the
meeting and expressed their concern at
Nugent's behavior. Peter, it seems your
jokes where not well received this time
around.
The important issue of academic rights
was raised and a motion stating student
commitment to improving student rights
was passed. Full minutes of the meeting
are available from the MAS offices.
Student
General Meeting Report
T
he first 1990 Student General
Meeting was held on the lOlh of
April in the upstairs dining room.
As quorum was not reached, the meeting,
in accordance with the constihjtion, became a discussion forum and the motions
passed do not have the status of MAS
.policy,
-
Library Crisis
While attempting to finish a research
paper of mine, I stumbled over a stack of
books spread across the floor. A few
inquiries and a few complaints to me
from other students, and one thing is for
certain: the library is in a state of crisis.
The story goes that the library is short of
staff and is currendy under a process of
restnicturing. I have written a letter staling
- student concerns and requesting a time-
Yours in Solidarity,
Ben Hider
Chairperson
Public Affairs Committee
frame stadng a possible completion date
for this restructuring. This matter will also
be taken up directly with the Vice Chancellor. In the interim, MAS has been discussing with ihe Ubrary and we have come
to the arrangement that they will accept
volunteers to help get the books put away.
If you would like ID help the 1 ibraty out of
its current difficulties, contact me at the
MAS offices.
Get On Your Bike
The MAS transport campaign will be conducting sessions very soon about bicycle
riding. Approximately 6,000 students live
within 5 kms of Monash. Bike riding is an
economical and enviromently sound alternative to driving your car. Monash has
increasing numbers of bike racks, and
shower facilites are available at Sports
and Recreation and in the Union Building.
Look out for details in Lot's Wife and inl
Daily News.
Yours in Union
James Backvftir
""'."
-f
Lof.^Wife Thursdav 26th Aoril. 1990 o a e e 9
IFEIATI/IÊIS
The recycling co-ordinators have set up
Envirobins that help recycle cans and bottles;
"Friends of a Foam Free Future" are lobbying
Union Catering to reduce unnecessary
packaging; the Public Affairs Committee
has agreed to support the anti-litter
campaign financially; a group of Monash
students have created chalk-ups outside
the Union building; and Student Theatre
have run some great "hang-shit" lunchtime comedy sessions.
by Chris Buckingham
Litter is a problem that nearly every person on campus recognises.
Hovirever, it seems that not everybody on
campus is willing to do something about
it. This is ridiculous.
This campaign needs your support; if you
can't spare the time to make commitments on a grand-scale, do you own bit
as an individual — if you see someone
dropping litter, tell them to pick it up,
and given them a hard time.
You can hear people everywhere complaining about the grotty state Monash is
in, but very rarely do you see anyone
voluntarily picking up the Utter some inconsiderate prat has left behind.
If you see a piece of litter pick it up and if
it's a can or bottle, find a recycling bin in
which to place it.
This is a plea to all self-respecting
people on this campus to make an effort.
It's up to the individual to bring to a halt
the degradation of Monash.
To show respect and care for your
surroundings is to show respect and care
for yourself.
The environmental devastation of
Monash is not the only consideration in
the potentially overwhelming litter problem facing us: for 1990 there is a cleaning
budget of nearly $370,000. This does not
include an additional budget of $15,800
p.a. especially allocated to employ students to clean up the mess on the lavims
everyday.
by Fran Macdonald
W
hen we talk about recycling, it
is vital to remember why we
do it. This seems self-evident,
but in fact the reason recycling is so important often gets overlooked — so much
so that recycling can reinforce the
problems it is meant to solve.
With a bit of simple arithmetic, one can
see that maintaining cleaning levels on
campus costs at least $385,000 p.a.
Simply, the main reasons are to save energy
and resources and reduce waste and pollution,
(recycling has other social benefits too;
for instance, it creates jobs and saves
money). So, what we are really talking
about is waste minimisation.
All this money is provided by the Student Union, which means that about
1,285 full-time students pay their
Amenities fee directly towards cleaning
up the mess that is left lying around campus. This is a tragedy, a fair proportion of
this money could be spent on better,
more constructive aspects of the Union if
people didn't litter.
The principles of waste minimisation, as
recognised by Australian Governments,
are designed to ensure conservation of
resources. They are, in order of priority —
1. reduction of waste at its source. In
other words, not producing so much in
the first place;
Some people have realised this, and attempts
to inspire people on campus to care more
about their environment are happening.
2. re-use of products and materials
without the necessity to reprocess
them and therefore use more energy
and resources; and
îîi^—fflnr
' wmtt^ttffit^K^
3. recycling. This is the process whereby
products and materials are
reprocessed to make the same
products and materials or new ones.
In fact, the most important role for waste
minimisation to play is resource conservation To the extent that materials are not
produced in the first place or recycled
materials replace virgin materials, waste
minimisation measures such as recycling
save resources and energy and reduce the
massive quantities of air, land and water
pollution associated with raw materials,
extraction and processing. This nsle is far
more important than the much more
publicised role of waste minimisation
which is to divert rubbish from landfill. It
must be remembered that the waste crisis
rzAT^^zM
is really just a symptom of our over-consumption of resources anyway.
Apply these principles to patterns of
consumption and ways to conserve become obvious.
Take packaging, for example, a variety of
products which use large quantities of
different resources and form a significant
part of the domestic waste stream.
Recyding is seen as the answer to packaging
waste, but not if it merely diverts
material from landfill. Using old plastic
drink bottles to make plastic lumber, as
the Smorgon company are now doing,
does not necessarily do more than create
another outlet for the plastics industry.
Every time a new plastic drink bottle is
produced it stUl has to be made from virgin
resins. On the other hand, producing new
plastic drink bottles from waste drink bottles,
as is now being done in the United States
or, at least, using post-consumer waste
plastic in large resin applications such as
car parts, does save resources. Better still,
question whether non-reusable plastic
drink bottles are necessary in the first
place.
Thinking about resource convservation
rather than merely recycling for its ov^ni
sake produces quite different conclusions
about the value of recycling. For instance,
Comalco, a company which endorses
"recycling" rather than resource conservation,
is proud of the fact that approximately 55
per cent of its aluminium cans are
returned for recycling. The company also
claims that this figure is the highest
voluntary return rate for aluminium cans
in the world. However, aluminium is extremely energy intensive to produce and
we should be seriously questioning the
fact that so much of it still ends up in
landfill because it has been used to make
one-way, disposable packaging. And
aren't used cans, which contain this
extremely useful material, worth more
than 50 cents a kilo, the approximate
price Comalco pays collectors?
Even if all plastic and aluminium were
recycled, all the environmental problems
associated with their production and use
would not be solved. There would still be
environmental problems associated with
energy — intensive, dirty industries.
What we really need is a materials policy
which comprehends the whole life cycle
of materials from their extraction to their
disposal as consumer goods. As consumers
and as a society, we must choose
materials and products taking into account
factors including:
•
the amount and scarcity of raw
materials and energy required for
their extraction, processing,
•
reprocessing and product manufacture;
•
the volume of a product and any
by-products of its manufacture
such as hazardous chemicals;
•
how difficult it is to dispose of a
material and the environmental impact of its disposal. For instance, if it
is not reusable, does this mean it is
wasteful, does it create litter, does
it take up a large amount of room
in landfill?
•
its recyclability and the extent to
which the use of recycled materials in
manufacture can reduce some of its
environmental impacts.
This may very well mean that we would
choose refillable glass bottles over plastic
bottles and aluminium cans. However,
unless we start exercising our rights as
consumers, ratepayers, taxpayers and
inhabitors of a fragile, finite natural
environment, to that choice, we may
very soon lose i t
(Reference: Jeanne Wirka, Environmental
Action Foundation, 'Plastics rea/cling:
missing the forest for the plastic lumber',
Resource Recycling Volume VIII/Number 8,
Oregon 1989).
„i.»"- AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL?
by Agatha Brizuela
Amnesty International is an independent worldwide movement which
plays a specific role within the overall
spectrum of human rights work. The activities of the organisation focus strictly
on prisoners:
— it seeks the release of men and women
detained anywhere for their beliefs,
colour, sex, ethnic origin, language or
religion, provided they have not used
or advocated violence. These are
termed prisoners of conscience;
— it advocates fair and early trials for all
political prisoners and works on behalf of such persons detained without
charges or trial;
— it opposes the death penalty and torture
or other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment of all
prisoners without reservation.
What is Monash Amnesty about?
Monash Amnesty is an affiliate of Amnesty International and has connections
wiyh it at a regional and international
level. Membership to the Monash group,
at a total cost of ten dollars, includes
membership to Amnesty International
proper. As a group, we are committed to
the aims of the international body.
Our primary activity is letter writing and
petitioning. Once a week we obtain an
"Urgent Action" bulletin which details the
plight of a particular victim of human
rights abuse. We then write polite and
courteous letters to the governments involved expressing concern and asking for
action to be taken. Petitioning is also used
where we ask members of the Monash
community to sign their name in support
of the victims of human rights violations.
The group's work on campus extends to
organising fund- raising activities and
increasing campus awareness of Amnesty
International, including showing films,
videos and photographic displays. The
international organisation also has a
wealth of speakers of whom we are encouraged to take advantage.
Amnesty International acts on the basis
of the United Nations Declaration of
Human Rights and other international
instruments. It has more than 500,000
members, subscribers and supporters in
over 150 countries and territories, with
over 3,700 local groups in more than 60
countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia,
Europe and the Middle East.
Amnesty International has formal relations with the United Nations, ECOSOC,
UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the
Organisation of American States and the
Organisation of African Unity.
$ $ $
Amnesty International is financed by the
subscriptions and donations of its
worldwide membership. To safeguard
the independence of the organisation, all
contributions are strictly controlled by
guidelines laid down by the International
Council, and income and expenditure are
made public in an annual financial
report.
"0*mi Acs« AmittstLf IftUn - t/je lnUmtlion^m»rkiX.for
ttrnmbstrttt htt ulipsttL-"
"How can I help?"
Become a member — There are more than
10,000 in Australia. You can work for a
prisoner of conscience. The monthly
newsletters you receive on membership
tell you what to do.
Join a group — There are over 100 local
groups in Australia and over 3,500
worldwide. The Monash Amnesty International Group welcomes all newcomers;
we meet every Tuesday at 1:00 pm in
Arts room 357. Or contact AI groups at
Melbourne, La Trobe or RMIT, or even
the Victoria Branch Head Office for
details about an AI group near you.
Go to an Amnesty International workshop —
Victoria Branch Head Office will give you
details of international activities at a Sunday
afternoon workshop.
Make a donation.Amnesty — International
needs large sums of money for detailed
research, publicity reports, setting up nussions
and the distribution of information. Any
amount is welcome and acknowledged.
Donations are tax deductible.
Give some of your time. —The major part of
Amnesty's day to day activities is carried
out by volunteers. Amnesty offices will
welcome any time you are able to spare.
"^.^WAmnesty week!
This year we have two Amnesty International weeks. Thefirstwill be from Monday
30th April to Friday 4th May, and is
being organised by the Monash Amnesty
International group alone. The second
week will be held sometime in second
semester, at the same time as the rest of
Australia will be having their AI
week.The theme of this first AI week is
South Korea. During the week we will be
having speakers, videos, petition signing,
fund raising and a BARBECUE! Our aim
is to raise the level of campus awareness
and/or involvement with AI. Look for
more specific information on posters
around the University!
Melbourne University Amnesty group is
again staging "CAGEWEEK"this year.
From Monday 22nd April to Friday 27th
April a cage will be set up in front of the
GPO in Bourke Street, City. There will be
"prisoners" in the cage 24 hours a day
with an information table alongside to
answer any questions. If you are interested or have any spare time, please come
along and support. Groups from other
universities, as well as people from other
groups, will be there to help.
On Friday evening we will be having a
candle vigil for the prisoners of conscience of the world and support, for this
is most especially needed. Come to the
GPO, Bourke Street, City on Friday, 27th
April, by 6:00 p.m. If possible, please
wear black clothes, and bring a safety pin
and a piece of tinfoil (for the candle).
Please come—the prisoners of conscience
of the world need your support!
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OStJ !
The winners of this weeks competition are:
CRYPTIC CROSSWORD NO. 2
* Best Black & White photo - Peter Jeans
* Best Sports Item - Greg Metha
* First Correct Cryptic Crossword - Lachlan Dunn & Matt Read
The winners can come into the Lot's VV/fe office any time this week to pick up
their membership card and kit to the NUS Student Discount Club.
The competition this time has the following categories:
* Best Monash News Item (we need them!)
* Best Letter
* Best Monash Sports Item
Entries must be received by 3.00 pm on Wednesday 2nd May 1990
From May 7tM990t
no student will need
more than $6
to feed themseif and
go to the movies*
For only »3, you get a Whopper, regular fries
and regular Coke at Hungry Jack's Knox.
Spend just t3 more at Village Knox 10 and you
can see any movie of your choice (excluding films
marked'nofrcclist').ThisoffervalidonlyatKnox 10
and only on dates specified,
That's only »6 for a meal and a movie
Get your voucher from the Hungry Jack's
promotion team on campus outside the Union
Building from midday on Monday 7th and 14th, and
Wednesday 9th and 16th of May The offer is only
valid on these dates.
The Hungry Jack's »6 offer.
^1^^^^
Because we were Llni students
too.
VHCICS
VILLAGE IO CINEMA COMPLEX
^^^^^^
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Y
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IN
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UMBABVIUSJOTI
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c 'nr A
fcy Sarah Porritt and Uam Cody
W
hile Wendy Harmer was at
Monash running comedy ivriting
workshops organised by Student
Theatre, she agreed to do an interview with
Lot's Wife on the basis that we found her
somewhere to eat lunch. It seems we did better
out of this deal as the only place on campus to
take an internationally sucessful comedian is
the Grill Roomlsic]. What follows is what she
managed to tell between justifiably tentative
bite at a spring roll
then I go and I sit and I talk to Patrick
Cook for about twenty minutes. We talk
the topic through and come up with
some vague ideas and I go away and
write it.
/ % »
they'd practically wreck the joint. All the
managers were going "Hey Guys you've
trashed this place, the place looks like
shit, you know." We were always fighting
with the management because Los Trios
Lot's: How are you enjoying your new
show?
I am enjoying it a lot. It's a real challenge.
It's not quite what I want yet, I'm still
fiddling with it quite a bit, I'm actually
really enjoying it if s amazing. It's the
hardest thing I've ever done in my entire
life. It's sooo difficult.
Lot's: How long do you spend preparing
for a one hour show a week?
For instance, next week in Sydney I'm
talking to Barry Jones, Robyn Williams
from The Science Show and Rene Rivken
the stock-broker, so I'll read about them
all week until I know them. It's really
terrifying, daunting - they're so brainy. I
feel like going out and doing a Science
Degree before I do the show. If s a hell of
a lot of work this one; plus writing the
stand-up as well.
Lofs: All your shows have been in front
of live audiences. Do you have a chance
to go back and fix your errors at the moment on In Harme/s Way?
We do with the interviews bit if they're a
bit long, we have a look at them. I try to
do it as near to real time as I can. The
stand-up it just goes in. The great acheivement for me in doing the show and The
Big Gig too, I think, is that previously I'd
write something, do it on the circuit for a
few months and then do the best bit on
TV. But this time what I'm very proud of
is the fact that I can write stand-up in the
afternoon and perform it that night on
television. If s really exciting to be able to
do that, because I used to think that, that
would be the most nerve-racking thing in
the whole world, and I'd need a month of
doing it on stage before it was any good,
and now I've closed the lead-time, and I
think that, thaf s my best personal
achievement,
Lot's: How do you prefer to write comedy?
Do you bounce ideas off other people or
do you prefer to write alone?
There's only one person I work with,
thaf s Patrick Cook. When I have the
idea, and I know the topic that I want to
do, I thnk about it, think about it, think
about it all week...can't think of anything,
Lofs Wife Thursday 26th April, 1990 page 14
Lot's: How did you tour of America
with Jean Kittson Go? How did the
Americans respond to your comedy?
They responded really well actually. The
Americans don't do much character
work. Jean's air hostess character didn't
go down so well. I think Whoopee
Goldberg's about the only one. They
don't understand it. They're not bright
enough! They like very linear, very plain
stuff and Jean's stuff is a bit off the wall
for them. So, Jean himed that into a stand-up
piece and it went very well.
I was touring with Los Trios Ringbarkus.
There were two tours, Jean's outfit went
in one direction and my outfit went in the
other direction. We only did one week
together in Chicago.
Lot's What's it like working with Los
Trios Ringbarkus? They'd be hard to
follow.
I didn't follow them I went first. Working
with them was bizarre. The Americans
were really hesitant about it at first. They
sat back going, "You know guys, this is
really weird, you know. This is like
seriously strange," Then by the end of it
they loved it. It was hillarious actually
because Los Trios threw bread rolls at
them and they didn't understand that
they could throw them back. They just sat
there and all of a sudden they would go
"Hey, food fight", and then they'd love it
would leave the place in an utter pig-sty.
American managers are only ever used to
someone coming on stage and doing
stand-up comedy and walking off.
Lot's: Le Joke is having its comedy
season for women at the moment. Do
you thiiUt that it's necessary for women
to have a separate comedy season like
that?
No, I think it sucks a bit now. I think it
was in the beginning but I don't think it
is anymore. I think if s quite fun, but it
was really necessary in the beginning
because the audiences were so rowdy
and so unused to women that they gave
women a really hard time. It was the only
time many of them had ever performed
in front of an audience that wasn't just
screaming, "Show us your tits." But now I
don't think it is really necessary, and I
think that there are some really good
people around and I think that there are a
few who are getting a bit of an armchair
ride at the moment.
What is really bizarre, I find is going into
those nights, and all the women are talking
about is tampons and shaving their legs.
If s so boring. None of them really do
politics and stuff like that, I think if s a bit
pathetic. Then again most of the guys are
talking about drunk driving and that. I
think there is a real lack of good political
comedy. One of the things here that male
comedian haven't done so much either is
g^
Cor.
talk about women. They say they're still
too frightened. In America all the guys
say "You know...ah...You know my
girlfriend and if s blah blah blah...".
They're really funny, they're talking
about what it's like to live with a career
woman or a feminist woman or something like that. They do talk a lot about
women and relationships. Australian
men don't talk about their relationships
at all. Every now and again you one of
them to admit that he might have been
out with a girl once, but that's it. Women
tend to be absolutely obsessed with talking
about men, so if s quite bizarre.
heap because it was too big. Melbourne is
almost too big for it, if s a little bit big,
but it would actually be really good in a
place about the size of Geelong, but
Geelong is sort of., what would you
say?..comedy hell, I would think.
Lot's: How does the Melbourne Comedy
Festival compare with overseas festivals
like the Edinborough Festival?
I have a very funny worst gig story. In
November last year, I did this gig and I
really should have known better.
Anyway, I arrived at Adelaide airport
and I got off the plane to discover that I
was comparing a Country and Western
Rock'n'Roll Extravaganza at the Adelaide
Showgrounds. The two bands were Big
Squid, and Don Hermal's Coimtry and
Western Experience. I got there and the
venue was set up for four thousand
people. The sound system was so bad, so
echoey that it wasn't like a five second
delay, it was more like by the time the
sound got back to me it was like my life
had changed and I had grown as a
human being. Only two hundred and
fifty people turned up in this huge, big
arena. I couldn't hear a word I said and
neither could they. Then they decided
they'd kick off the evening with the
chocolate pudding wrestling. They set up
a ring full of chocolate pudding for these
four girls to wrestle in, only the chocolate
pudding wouldn't set. They had to go
down the shop and get about twenty
packets of Gravox, and it still wouldn't
set. Anyway, I said to these girls, whose
names were Chantel, Sheree, Misty and
Chrystal. I said to one of the girls, "How
come you're not using baked beans to
wrestle in?", and she said "Ah, no I can't
'cause Heinz won't let us becuase the
reckon it gives baked beans a bad name."
Then I said to one of the other girls, thinking
that I'd fit in a bit "So Sherree what are
you going to do to Chrystal when you get
here in the ring?". She said "Orr I'm going
to pull all the hairs out of her cunt". It was
the most hideous night. The wrestling had
stoppped and they said to me will you go
and fill in for twenty minutes, and I said
"No, I can't do this it is beyond my
capabilities as a human being, and I'm
leaving" I ran and I was hitching back to
Adelaide and I heard them say "And now
here's Wendy Harmer". Too late I was
hitching. That was my worst gig.
I've been to the Edinborough Festival
about three times, and I'm in the Montreal
Comedy Festival and the Glasgow
Comedy Festival so I have got a bit of an
overview. Montreal Comedy Festival is
the biggest Comedy Festival in the World.
The thing is though, that if s really like a
trade fair. It basically has only about two
venues and they do four-hour stand-up
comedy shows, one comedian after
another, after another, after another, and
they always make the Australians go
first. Really if you're not a straight standup if s not good. What it is, is a whole lot
of American producers, all big money big
bucks. If s not very much fun at all. I
remember when I was there this guy
walked up to me and said "You're
Wendy Harmer aren't you?" Yeah. "I'm
from Eddie Murphy productions, how
would you like to work in the States?". I
just laughed and laughed and laughed.
He said, "I'm on Wall Street, lef s do
lunch." Thaf s what the Comedy Fest was
like. I didn't like it very much.
I'k
The Melbourne Comedy Festival is fantastic,
there are things on the streets and in
theatres and if s more like the Edinborough
Festival because the Edinborough Festival
has four thousand acts on - three
hundred acts a day - so if s like a scaled
down version of the Edinborough Festival I
think. If s fantastic because it has a lovely
community feel about it, and it serves all
the performers really, really well. We get
together and if s a great chance to see acts
from overseas, and if s a fantastic festival.
Particularly comparitively, like London
tried to have one and London fell in a
hot's: You've obviously done comedy in
Geelong.
A
horrible. Well no actually it was
hilarious. I've dined out on that story
ever since. The good thing about it was
that I was staying at the Adelaide Hilton.
When I managed to get back I ordered all
this stuff on room service, and watched
tele, so I was quite happy.
No, no, no. I lived there for five years. I
was on the Geelong Advertiser. Thaf s
enough to make me know that if s not a
funny place. Horrid, horrid place.
hot's. It's been in the papers a lot,
everyone's worst gig, what's yours?
Lot's: Did you get paid?
Well I got some of it. They kept back
some of the money because I nicked off. I
didn't care, I said to him when I left, "I
don't care if you don't pay me". It was
Lot's: Do you get to travel much?
I'm really lucky. Since I started stand-up
comedy, I've been around the world four
times, and I'm touring all around
Australia in the middle of the year. I'm
going right around to everywhere. So,
yeah, if s been fantastic...very lucky girl.
I'm touring with the The Chawf est: Charlie Rogers, Greg Fleet, Andrew Goodone
and Tim Smith so that should be really
fantastic, but I've got to go to
everywhere.
i
LoVs: Are you into Theatre Sports yourself
No, I hate it. I'm shithouse at it and I
don't like watching it either. I like what
they do. I don't like the big competition.
I'm just bad at it. The reason I hate it is
that last year they had celebrity theatre
sports and they made me play. They said
"Don't worry Wendy, if s not competitive. If 11 be really fun You'll really enjoy
it. Bullshit, it was the worst, nerve-racking, horrid, experience of my entire life.
So thaf s why I hate it. Yeah, they said if s
not competitive what crap! They were all
huddling and huddling... how many
points have they got?...the pressure was
really on. I've never been under such
pressure. It was horrid.
k£.\/iE:w'S|
"... daiquiries,
and
lamborghinies
orgasms,..''
It was after 1 am when we left Mothers,
so only alternative was to go back to the
Carlton Hotel, because it is open until 3
am, and we did not want to go to any
nightclubs. The cheapest beer in town at
that time of the morning was going down
well, even if the strange smell of smoke
seemed to be filling the air way too quickly.
An excursion to the boy's room by one of
the numerous drinkers was how the fire
was discovered. As I was listening to the
damage that the irate pissheads
downstairs were causing because of their
eviction, and at the same time trying to
keep the ash out of my beer, I thought that
the city needs more places like the Carlton
Hotel. It might be a little rough, but it is a
genuine pub in central Melbourne that is
open late for people who just want to drink
without the shitty music and attitudes of
nightclubs.
by John SoulsbyA. K. A. Mickey the Rat
N
ightclubs and discos aren't my
scene. I'd rather listen to a good
rock band and drink my beer at
somewhere rear bar prices. Soil was with
some reluctance that I ventured to the
Metro with a friend to (perhaps) enjoy the
Chocky Club night a few weeks ago. Alas,
the bitch at the door obviously recognised
the grey in my hair as a sign that 1 had
conquered puberty, and hence refused me
enuy. All around me were kiddies practising
the details on their false ID's, even the
expression on the license photos. I was
not, however, a member of the Chocky
Club, so the aloof hostess and her mutant
companion decided that neither my friend
nor I could enter. At the time I thought
"lhanksfornothing,arsc-holes",bulitwas
certainly a blessing in disguise.
Melbourne's Wednesday Nightlife
After leaving the Carlton, we decided to
get rejected by the Meu-o again. We just
weren't recognised as uni students,
probably because we were ready to continue partying, whereas it was way past
bed-time for all the little chocolate
addicts. Seeing die wankers leave who
were obviously from Melbourne Uni, I
was very glad diat we weren't admitted
earlier in the night. I don't think I could
have handled pretentious shiUicads jerking
to Acid House crap. We went next door to
Fast Eddie's for "coffee", which was
almost the worst I've tasted. Also, if that
place is Fast Eddies, I'd hate to go to Slow
Eddie's. The remainder of the night was
spent wandering from cafe to cafe, from
As we had made the journey into
Melbourne, my mate and I decided not
to waste the night. First we went to the
Carlton Hotel for a drink or two. After
extinguishing our anger with alcohol, we
decided to take a walk. And what a walk
it was. We ended up at the Mega Bar on
the comer of King and FUnders Sffeets.
You want yuppie, you want American,
you want to pay $4 for a Crownie - then
the Mega Bar is the place for you. A large
screen beams video clips at you. The
music appears to be of no consequence;
the selection of the videos is made on the
amountof sex displayed. They should just
play a stickmovic with abackground tape.
Needless to say, there are not many
women drinking in there, and any that did
walk in soon left. Maybe it was the
desperate look on the faces of the four
"gentlemen" playing table soccer in the
comer. I was afraid to move, in case they
screwed anything that did. Obviously the
big screen entertainment agreed with
them. We finished our beers and left the
desperates with die choice of which hand
to u.se that night.
o
versation, without it being a pick-up joint.
One young lady was attempting to quickly
consume a colourful-looking drink
Ihrough a straw, and everyone in the bar
gadiered around to watch. After her success, I congratulated her, and enquired on
how her night was progressing. Apparcndy
she had conquered a few dauquarics and
lambourghinies, as well as having her fair
share of orgasms, indicating that her night
was very exciting. The man behind the bar
is superb at his job, in every respect. This
Next slop was a bar called Mother's. This
is one of the best bars in Melbourne. It is
open late as long as people are still dieic,
and the prices are very good. There is little
pretentiousness about this place. Anyone
can feci comfortable drinking at the table
or bar, with the Umiicd patronage allowing complete strangers to engage in con',1
Lofs
fi
, I <^' ': .
i'
t\
i'
'
I • ' " • . . ! \'l
\'
Wife Thursday 26th Apiil, 1990
page 16
place has a "Cheers" feel about it. so check
it out. It has only been open for a few
months, and is located near the comer of
King Street and Flinders Lane, with the
entrance being on King Street. Don't any
of you yuppie pricks go and destroy this
oasis in die middle of yuppiedom. Sure,
some yuppies go to Mother's, but it is not
a typical yuppie place; so leave this place
alone and stick to your so-called "happening" hang-ouls. Leave us normal people to
enjoy a really good joint.
amusement parlour, waiting for trains to
resume so that we could get home. Melbourne is pretty dead on a Wednesday if
you hate nightclubs, but walking the
streets at night, seeing suspicious people
doing suspicious things, is interesting. If
you want food at 5 am in the morning,
don't go to Fast Eddie's, go to a place
called Staleglites, it's open 24 hours a day
and serves good food. Anyway, try and
stay out of discos, because, if die demand
is dicre, more places like Mother's will
open, which would only improve the
nighdife in Melbourne on any day of the
week.
rzAr\A^^B
Runnin
elbourne
The people of Melbourne will over the next
six months, be subjected to a concerted media
blitz, designed to bring the greatest of travelling circuses, the Olympics, to this city. Much
has already been said and ivritten and this
will only increase as the September announcement date draws closer. Even following the announcement of which city has been
successful in its bid to host the Olympics,
there will be the obligatory post mortem of
what we, as a city, did right and wrong. We
have attempted to present a balanced argument, focusing on what we as a city and community can benefit from and what are the
inherant failures of hosting the Olympic
Games.
by Tim Johnston
M
arvellous Melbourne. Well it
used to be, but the Olympics are
just the tonic that will restore to
this city some of its glory from a century
past and give it the ideal platform to
launch into the next century as a vital and
vibrant community that will be the envy
of other cities the world over. Put simply,
there are too many reasons why Melbourne
should host the Games and why every
Melbournian (Australian for that matter)
should support the bid. Economically,
socially and culturally, this city risks its
future as a world entity if it doesn't give
the Olympics bid its most concerted effort.
Without stating the obvious, the boost to
sport in this country as a result of holding
the Olympics would be tremendous;
not only would the opportunity arise to
witness the world's best in action but the
facilities that they will leave behind will
be there for the benefit of the entire community. The upgrading of the Southern
Stand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
along with the redevelopment of the
Albert Park Lake area will give the
people of Melbourne a wonderful venue
in which to watch sport and also to utilise
after the Games are over. Whatmal<es the
Melbourne bid so attractive to the International Olympic Committee is that minimal public
works need to be undertaken. Already,
sites like the National Tennis Centre,
Werribee Park and the Victorian Arts
Centre are prepared to house athletes; if
needed, tomorrow. The chance is here for
the city to shed its image as a town solely
interested in football, and to branch out
to accept other sports, be it archery or
athletics or fencing.
Economically, the Olympic Games are a
must for the dty. Given the recent financial
record of the Cain Labor Government in
this state, the revenue raised by holding
the Games will make up for the likes of
the State Bank debacle and the VEDC fiasco.
The shot in the arm for tourism will be
greater than most people can imagine,
with hundreds of thousands of visitors
coming to watch the Games and leaving
an indelibly positive mark on the state's
economy. Add to this the media and the
competitors themselves, and you can see
that the influx of people, and therefore
cash, to the whole country vdll be fantastic.
Critics of the Olympic Games must
realise that they are not just a sports' fest.
No doubt that will make up the greater
component of the sixteen-day spectacle,
and there will also be Australia's artistic
community performing in front of a
world audience. This is an opportunity
that we cannot afford to pass up. Looking
back at Seoul, the television audience also
got a look at the diversity of the South
Korean city and the Spanish intend to do
just the same with Barcelona. Visitors and
Melbournians themselves will be treated
to the finest foods, music and entertainment the world can offer.
Not since the Snowy Mountains scheme
have Australians had something to get to
work on in a big way. I truly believe that
an Olympic G^mes in Melbourne would
draw the country together in a common
goal to achieve excellence and show it to
everyone. I am not suggesting for one
minute that the Games are the answer to
all our social ailments, but I do think that
when we see what we can really do, we
will only amaze ourselves and in turn
will want to emulate the standards that
the competitors will set: par excellence.
So, for the next six months we will have
to sit back and bite our fingers while the
IOC decides whether their sentimentality
overides and they award the Games to
Athens or if they see what Melbourne has
to offer. Ther is no question that our bid
easily outstrips Atlanta, Toronto and
Manchester. There is still work to be
done, most notably ensuring that the
Games don't turn into another Montreal,
but the people and the commitment are
there to get Melbourne the Olympic
Games - an Olympic Games that has had
a great deal of work put into it and a
Games that this city so richly deserves.
OLYM
ARCHERY
ATHLETICS
BADMINTON
BASKETBALL
by Sarah Porritt
BOXINQ
T
he advantages of Melbourne hosting the Olympics are multifarious
and obvious; Melbourne would be
left with Olympic-class sporting facilities,
the city would have the attention of the
world focused on it for sixteen days, and
would receive the contingent advantages
of a massive tourist influx. Before this,
however, much work would need to be
done in the six years leading up to the
event, if Melbourne's bid to host the 1996
Games is successful. This includes the
building of new facilities, upgrading
existing facilities, planning of events, and
the upgrading of our transport system.
This would necessarily involve a diversion
of resources from currentprojects onto the
Olympics and substantial disruption to
many areas of Mcltoume life, and would
cause additional stfain to be placed on
services such as hospitals and the police.
Given that only one city has ever made a
profit out of hosting the modem Olympic
Games (Los Angeles), and the recent
problems associated with the State Bank
and VEDC, it may be preferable that
Victoria concentrate its efforts on solving
current problems before uiking on a
project with so many ramifications. This
article will deal briefly with some of the
problems associated with hosting the
Olympic Games in Melbourne.
CANOEING
CYCLING
FENCING
FOOTBALL
GYMNASTICS
HANDBALL
JUDO
PENTATHLON
ROWING
SHOOTING
TABLE TENNIS
TENNIS
Housing
WEIGHTLIFTING
The Olympics would be likely to have a
substantial effect on bodi private rental
accommodation within the inner city, and
public housing. Long-term tenants in both
these forms of accommodation are
already underpressure from the gradual
gentrification occurring in inner city
areas, South Melbourne and Fitzroy
providing prime examples of this tfcnd.
Hosting the Games would exacerbate
existing problems for these tenants
without creating any real benefits.
WRESTLING
YACHTING
This trend toward gentrification of tiie
inner city area would only be incrcascd by
hosting the Games. The new accommodation
planned for athletes and media would be
privately funded and most would be sold
as high-cost housing before and after tlie
event.
likm
Showgrounds
Velodrome 5.2 kni
The experience of other events, notably
Expo in Brisbane and the America's Cup
Defence in FrcmanUe, has been ihe exertion of pressure on the private rental
market arising from the accommodation
demands of participants and spectators.
This pressure has been manifest in rent
private housing. The Victorian Government
Stale
Ba.set)all
is yet U) publish its requirements as to how
increases, with or without upgrading of
premises, and Ihe conversion of private
properties to other uses. The outcome has
been a degree of displacement of existing
tenants. This trend may not, however, be
as marked in Melbourne as it was in
Fremantle and Brisbane, as the Games
will only run for sixteen days. There will
still be significant pressure on landowners
to extract the best possible rent for inner
city accommodation at that lime, possibly
by renting accommodation at a higher
price over the period of the Olympics, and
then capitalising on the current trend
toward gentrification by re-lclling at a
higher price after the Games. The direct
impact on public housing would not be so
great, as tenants have security of tenure
and there are no plans to use existing
public housing stock during the Games.
The potential impact is indirect. The
Victorian stock of public housing
included 57,000 dweclings at 30 lunc
1988, while the waiting list of new
applicants amounted to 33,000
households or 60% of the number already
living in public housing. The Victorian
Government's aim to increase public
housing stock was expressed in the 19891990 Victorian Budget as a commitment
to acquire an additional 15,000 public and
community managed rental units over
four years to June 1993. If iJie Melbourne
Olympic bid was successful constfuction
of this housing would be occurring simulLincously witli tlie building of planned
facilities for the Games: the Olympic Village, the Media Village, the Media
Centre, Albert Park and the Velodrome
sporting facilities, and renovations and
improvements to existing facilities. Even
assuming that the building industry can
cope with this volume of work over thesix year period, resources for the planned
public housing project will become more
scarce. As Uic demand for building and
consu-uction increases, it is likely that the
cost of construction will increase, making
this project more costly and jeopardising
the consU'uction of this much needed
housing.In Fremanlle, for example, two
public housingprojecLs planned to be built
prior to the America's Cup were cancelled
because of increased cost.
"^•]-The building of the Olympic Village
provides a perfect opportunity to add to
the stock of Government Housing; however, as the proposal stands, this will be
privately developed and sold as high-cost
much of this will be required for public
housing. Ifit follows llie recommendation
of the Social Impact Steering Committee
C'onlrt*
ITlJk!
Albcn Park Sports Ciimplcx :!,4kiii
.nmiial Walcrsport.s
omre 33 km
FOR
ELB
PI
in its report, it will be no more than 10%
and will possibly be located outside the
inner urban area.
Transport
It is envisaged that most spectators will
travel to Olympic events on the public
transport system. To facilitate this, a
Games entrance ticket will include a
transport ticket to and from the event. This
will require improvements, to our
transport system, which are clearly
desirable. Planned improvcmenLs however, seem to be centring on areas that are
not necessarily in die long-term interests
of Victoria. The Glen Waverloy/Burnley
and Sandringham/Caulfield train lines,
for example, have been identified as
requiring special attention for the Games.
If extra money is to be spent on public
transport, surely it would be better spent
on improvement in security on lines such
as the Pakenham and Frankston, and
providing public tfansport to the growing
populations in the outer lying areas of
Melbourne.
Significant improvements to city roads
will also be necessary if we arc to hold die
Games. The planned extension of Collins
Stfect, and the upgrading of Footscray
Road will both have to be accelerated to
be completed in time for the Games. The
planned Western Bypass would also have
to go ahead 1 0 - 1 5 years earlier dian
planned in order to improve access
from Tullamarine to the Village, and
to improve security. The acceleration of
these projects will mean a slowing down
of road projects in the outer areas. Work
likely to be delayed include the Calder
Highway link to Western Highway, and
the Eastern Freeway extension (if it
receives Government approval to
proceed). This means that country and
outer suburban dwellers will have to carry
the cost of accelerated works for the
Olympics.
Employment
Hosting the Games would mean thecreation
of about 45,000 jobs in the period up to
and including the staging of events. The
greatest short-term increase would be in
the building and construction industry,
where it is projected that demand would
peak in 1995 - 1996, and fall in 1996 1997 as facilities are completed. While
this would provide short-term employment for many people, it may well lead to
serious employment problems after the
Games.
Health Services
If the estimates of numbers of visitors
expected in Melbourne is correct, at least
400,000 extra people can be expected to
visit Melbourne over the period of die
Games, 150,000 of whom will be adiletes
with special medical needs. Many adiletes
will bring private medical teams with
them, which will lessen their reliance on
medical professionals here, but not on
facilities and hospital:'.
Visitors and officials will also require
significant medical resources, if the Los
Angeles figures provide an accurate
guide. This will cause a significant drain
on healdi facilities already incapable of
coping with normal Victorian demand.
Community Safety and Security
Security during the Games will have to be
tight, although preferably non-inu'usive.
Australia has the advanmge of being relatively secure, as it is relatively remote
from potential sources of terrorism. As an
island continent, security is made easier
than in nations where terrorists can move
with relative ease across borders.
Security, nonetheless, will have to be tight
during the Games and will require large
numbers of security personnel. It is
expected that private security firms will
be used to reduce the demand on
Victoria's police, requiring a substantial
proportion of dieir resources. As police
arc currenUy complaining of insufficient
staff to handle current security needs,
turning their attention to the Olympics
will almost certainly mean a reduction in
normal policing for that period.
By the time the decision is made in
September as to which city will host the
1996 Olympic Games, at least $21 million
will have gone into die Melbourne bid. If
Melbourne is successful, much more will
be spent on adminisffation in die lead up
to, and during die Games. Resources wUl
also be poured into making Melbourne
more attractive to visitors, including
measures, such as ciciuiing graffiti off
u-ains, and on proposals, such as planting
rows of trees from the water sport
facilities at Carrum into the City. It is
hoped that Melbourne won't stoop to the
level of the Los Angeles Olympic
orgnanisers in removing "unsightly"
stfeet people from the city area for die
duration of die Games.
If Melbourne succeeds in winning die approval of the International Olympic Committee, the Games will go ahead. They
have die potential to bring many benefits
to Melbourne and to the whole of
Australia. There would, however, be
problems associated with holding the
Games in Melbourne, and it is important
that organisers are careful to ensure that
both problems and benefits are equally
shared by all members of the community.
O RNE?
MELBOURNE
1996
999
liAlT^^Vi^WS^
Bill Says It's as
Good as Gold
by Sarah Porritt
Lot's Wife decided to put a few concerns
about the Melbourne Olympic bid to the Lord
Mayor of the City of Melbourne, Councillor
Bill Deueney. He was very obliging if somewhat verbose in his answers so what follows is
only some of what he had to say.
station at the tennis centre - it's going to
happen, whether we get the games or
not. These sort of things are major. Thaf s
just a few of the examples, and they're
Lot's: How do you plan to deal with the
public transport system?
The price of tickets to the venues is the
price of the public transport fare, so your
venue ticket is also your public transport
ticket. There will be no parking around
the venues and there is going to be parking at railway stations created so people
will be able to get in. Afso, school
holidays are being changed, not just in
Victoria but possibly throughout
Australia, and so all the extra buses
which schools use in country areas are
going to be in the city to form part of the
shuttle service to get people to and from
the different venues.
Lot's: I believe the Melbotirne City Council has contributed about one million dollars of its own funds toward the bid. Is this
correct?
About $20 million has been spent on the
bid. 100 companies have put in 100,000
each, which is $10 million, the State
Government put in $9 million and the
city put in $1 million. That's in this part.
In the previous bid against Sydney,
Brisbane and Melbourne, the city paid.
Lot's: Are you looking at recouping that
money in some way?
I think we've recouped it already. The
money didn't come from rate revenue it
came from the sale of a property which
the council owned so there wasn't a net
impact upon the residents. Revenue is
already coming back into Melbourne and
that creates jobs. People are now saying,
"Yes we'd like to come" that's something
vital. The spin offs are already happening. There are a number of things which a
few years ago were just dreams: a new
grandstand at the MCG - it's going to
happen whether we get the games or not.
The dockland region development will
get more residents living back in the
inner city, having more accomodation
closer back in - it's going to happen
whether we get the games or not. A train
Lot's Wife Thursday 26th Ajiril, 1990,page 20
things that Melbourne needs anyway. A
new swimming centre is going to be built
at Albert Park...basketball, swimming,
table-tennis - whether we get the games
or not. These sort of programmes are
going to be realities in the next seven
years. Melbourne now is changing, and
we've got to make sure these changes are
in the interests of people and the community.
Lot's: There is a great deal of toxic waste
on and about the proposed docklands
project site. How will this problem be
addressed?
Now there's two problems as far as toxic
stuff goes. One is that over the years a lot
of the materials which came in off ships
leaked and went into the soil, so you've
got to either cap the soil (so when you're
building on it there is a slab and you
build on top of that) or you have to
excavate down so far that eventually you
get to clean soil. There are costs involved
in doing it either way. The capping is a
lot cheaper. The other problem is Coote
Island where there have been a number
of toxic chemicals stored for a long
period of time. That is a concern which
we've been trying to work through
anyway, independently of the Olympic
bid.
I live in Kensington and there have been
several chemical fires not far from my
house. I've lived there all my life, so I'm
very much aware of what it's like to live
near those areas. We've been trying to
implement more controls and look at
removal. But if s more a debate for the
community. We can move it further out,
and I believe we should. I believe that is
what will be happeniing. We are working
through that. But the other problem
we've got is that as a society we keep
using plastics on an increasing basis,
wthout recycling. We keep using a
number of chemicals as far as our daily
living goes, in different ways; and toxic
waste from all those - where does it go?
How do we get rid of it? It is a problem
that as a society we have to face up to.
Those are issues which are broader that
any sort of docklands redevelopment.
Thaf s what we've got to face up to as far
as our whole energy and environment
policy goes.
Lot's: What are your plans for the the accomodation built at the docklands site
after the games.
...The docklands part is being designed to
be pre-sold...It would probably be paid
for by the public sector, so it won't be a
strain on taxpayers...thaf s what we've
tried to ensure.. What we're looking for is
a mix of population in the area. The State
and the Ministry of Housing is now coming
up with if s policy of what if s looking for as
far as public housing stock being available
down there. I don't have that information
yet, that will be coming out soon From a
Council viewpoint we're looking at
having a range of accommodation
options, so people can enjoy living down
there. If 11 also have tourist related things,
such as having parklands opened up.
We're looking at doing it in different
ways, making sure that none of the waterside area is taken up by private ownership.
The waterways always have to remain
open to the public, that's one of the lovely
things we've got in Victioria. We've got
no private beach areas,(because people
won't take that sort of stuff). Thaf s
important.
Lot's They found in both Fremantle
and Brisbane that, while the event was
being staged, rental prices went up do
you have any specific way you are planning on tackling that problem?
...The solution appears to be providing
more stock to ensure the problem doesn't
arise, rather than rent control...
\C^l\Af^/4B>
Postgraduate
- Assoc.
Endangered Species
The Postgraduate Association's Annual
General Meeting, held on Monday 9 April
was attended
by
thirty-nine
postgraduates. Also in attendance were
the Executive Officer (Rosamund
Krivanek), Project Officer (Margaret
Sloan), some academic staff mftmbcrs and
other interested people.
weeks' notice required of motions involving
achangctotheAssociation'sconstitulion.
Seventy-three postgraduates and guests
attended the dinner-dance which
followed.
The main business of the meeting — to
elect a new committee of fifteen
postgraduates, and toreceivereports from
the retiring President (Samantha
Hollingworth) and the Executive Officer
— was duly carried out. All Committee
positions were filled — 11 fitom nominations
received prior to the meeting and 4 from
nominations from the floor.
The reports of the President and the
Executive Officer were distributed
(Further copies are available from the
M.P.A. Office, upstairs in the Union).
Samantha highlighted the main activities
and achievements of the past year.
Ro oudined (1) the work that had gone
into representing postgraduates in discussions over the merger of Monash and
Chisholm; (2) the Association's other
main areas of activity; and (J) major issues in the 1990 program.
A motion was put that the Association be
dissolved, on the grounds of the low participation rate at the A.G.M. No seconder
was found for the motion. A second
motion put by the same postgraduate, that
a higher quorum be required for an
Annual General Meeting could not be
dealt with at the meeting without the two
1990 MPA Committee
Barbara Murray
iGen & ComparLit)
Robert Trainor
(Chemistry)
Geoff Hugo
(Materials Engineering)
Joe Simonetia
(Physiology)
Ashleigh Andres
(Biochemistry)
Martin Algie
(Law)
Jonalhon OUver
(Computer Science)
Graham Smith
(Education)
Ian Paulsen
(Microbiology)
Geoff Wong
(Computer Science)
Samantha HolUngworth
(Physiology)
Rohan Baxter
(Computer Science)
Andrew Smith
(Gen. & Compar Lit)
Paul Baker
(Earth <S Science)
Monash
Film Group
Other homosapians confuse B.Y.B and
Binnius Ordinareous (the ordinary bin).
by Margaret Safran
by Ro Krivanek
T
his regular column is to accommodate all you born-again
grecnics or those of you who want
to make more than just a token effort
towards living in a more environmentally
aware world. Anyone can contribute —
just leave articles (-500 words) on the
conservation board for endorsement. This
week's exciting article is on protecting
an endangered species — biggius
yclloneousbinnius.
Bggius Yelloneous Binnius (B.Y.B. or
The Big Yellow Bin) can be only found at
Monash University. Despite all efforts to
spread to other breeding grounds it is
under serious threat of extinction by
starvation. B.Y.B. has trouble collecting
its sole suilable foods—tinnius et glassious
(cans and bottles) — and is dependent on
homosapians' for feeding. Despite
B.Y.B's contribution to homosapians
economic and environmental welfare the
actions of many homosapians are leading
to its extinction.
Ordinareoiisrubbishous(ordinary rubbish)
is detrimental to the well being of B.Y.B.,
while et glassious chokes Binnius
Ordinareous.
Other things to note:
1. Paper recycling is still available —
look for the APM bins (no
newsprint).
2. Register your car for car pooling now
at M.A.S. Sharing with 3 others will
cut your fuel bill to Monash by 75%.
Many homosapians suffer from the
delusion that B.Y.B. can feed itself, while
tinnius et glassious are left nearby (on the
ground, etc.). THIS LS NOT TRUE.
B.Y.B. is incapable of animation and must
be fed by hand.
Until next time,
TAKE CARE OF OUR WORLD
Remember there is a "Cat Among the
Arts and Crafts
by Luke Harris
by David A. Ledger
Y
es, it's another exciting week (or
two) with the Monash Film
Group. UixMming screenings in-
elude:
See Mathew Broderick in Torek Song
Trilogy and Geena Davis in his most sensitive and touching performance to-date,
Earth Girls arc Easy" on the 27th April at
7.30 p.m.
Then, at 7.30 on Wednesday May 2nd, see
two classic films' view of a dark future.
First, Stanley Kubrick's contfoversial
Clockwork Orange and then Ridleyi
ScoU's Blade Runner.
• J « A ^ «
Free "Moloko Plus" at interval!!!
The Monash Film Group, Ladies and
Gentlemen, the only Club that sliccs\
dices, chops, grates and blends at the
touch of a button, and if you join now
(continued next issue)
Love and Pickles,
Otto T. Onion
R
ight about now, your essays arid
assignments or tests and practicals
are becoming a deadly grind. You
shudder at the sight of libraries and
photocopy machines, and you yawn your
way through lectures and tutorials.
An ideal place to revive your tired mind
and spark it into creative activity exists
right here on campus, and it won't take up
too much of your time. At the Monash
Arts and Crafts Centfe, you can paint a
shirt or a ponrait, landscape a garden,
learn the basics of photography, sew a
quilt, or choose any number of late
Autumn classes, including die following
timely course.
We all want to help save the world, but
practising what we preach is a lot less
simple than it seems. Each of us is meshed
on many levels into our consumcrisl,
throw-away society, and, as a result, the
environment suffers an endless barrage of
toxic and non-biodegradable waste. The
Arts and Crafts Cenffe offers a cheap and
practical way to be considerate to die
earth. In an all day class on May 20, you
can learn how to make a variety of inexpensive, environmentally-friendly
products, including soaps, shampoos, disinfectants, floor polish and even fly spray.
Tutor Marie Hormann will demonstrate
why it simply isn't necessary to load
everythingweusewilh dangetouschcmicals.
The Arts and Crafts centre gives discounts
to students and University employets, and
we encourage anyone with enquiries to
drop in and talk to the friendly siaff.
As a footnote, the Friends of die Arts and
Crafts Club (Van Gogh's Ear) continues
to offer studio time and space, plus assorted artistic equipment to interested
staff and students during each week. A
great chance to pursue painting, pottery,
music or textiles at your own pace!
CRftfTS
Lot's Wê Thursday l5th'April, 1990 page 2
»»»»»»»>Left Again«««««««<
by Jeremy Boone
S
alutations, Comrades. Another
edition, another column; and I've
been attacked by my two readers.
They tell me that last edition I went overboard. They claim that I mocked the
revolution and the emancipation of the
Working Class.
Well, I can take criticism, so this week I
will examine leftist parties in Melbourne.
A party or organisation is the basis of any
political action. All revolutionarys must
align themselves to an organisation to
agitate for social change.
Melbourne, luckily, has a rich array of
parties to choose from — be like me —
shop around for the best deal (oh that
sounds a bitbourgeoisc!)
THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY
(ALP): REFORMISTS, BAH humbug.
THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST
PARTY (DSP): More reformists! These
former revolutionaries have pissed the
cause up against the wall to get more
votes. Next we'll see direct action (the
DSP's paper) handing out Mc Donalds
vouchers. I remember when iliey declared
their opposition to the Capitalist State,
now they probably would'nt even storm
the Uni Admin with me. Shame.
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST
ORGANIZATION. (ISO) Another
revolutionary group that is getting a
facelift. They used to be the International
Troglodytes and the ALP shook in it's
shoes. Sell outs. They declare that the
glorious dictatorship of the proletarian in
the Soviet Union is State Capitalist. Comrades, we all know that all that is needed
is to (lick off a bit of the beaurocracy. AH
that they're good for these days is beating
up National Action skinheads.
THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF
AUSTRALIA. (SPA) Bloody Stalinists.
These old bastards, most of them are
eighty not out, supported the massacre of
the Chinese students last year.labelling
them as reactionaries. Caught in the time
warp of I9I7, these shitheads think that
StaUn was just a bit excessive. Well, 36
million victims could prove them wrong.
THE SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE
(SLL) Now we're getting somewhere.
Real Trotskyites. They hold true to the
tradition of the 4th International, the
glorious organisation of true
revolutionaries — like me — but they too
sell out. Consistently they run in Federal
and Slate elections. When will they learn
that parliamentary elections are an expression of the bourgeoise state, that to play
the Slates' game is to lose.
THE SPARTICISTS Recreate the 4th
International! These wankers where upset
with the sell-out of the Soviet Union in
pulling out of Afghanistan. And did you
ever hear the one about what you'd get if
you put Three Sparts in a room — you'd
get six factions of Trotskyists!
WORKERS' REVOLUTION What a
group. They've put out about four leaflets
that simply called for the revolution and
bitched about the fact that the SPA were
going to amalgamate with die Socialist
Workers' Party. Then again I wouldn't
mind having a bitch about that as well.
THE ANARCH-SYNDICALISTS
FEDERATION (ASF). There is only one
thing worse dian a reformist and that's an
Anarchist. Smash the state, revolution we
can't waiL Don't Ihey realize that the
destruction of the capitalist state must be
followed by the Dictatorship of the
Proletariat. Anyway, you have to be a
tram conductor to be one.
COMMUNIST
PARTY
OF
AUSTRALIA (MARXISTA-ENINIST)
(CPA). They've dissolved Uiemselves.
Anyway, they where scabs and they never
armed the workers when the crunch came.
Recreate the CPA on Maoist lines I say.
Comrades, none of these parties match up
to the rigours of uiie revolutionary Communism. It's time to create a new party on
Marxist/Leninist/Maoist lines with a
sprinkle of Trotskyism. Mix it with a bit
of Rosa Luxemburg and Earl Keggal and
now we're talking. Comrades, rally
around. It's time for a Boonist party: The
Revolutionary Vanguard of the Socialist
reorganisation of the Labor tradition on
the lines of Boonism and Timmy die Dog.
'til next edition, keep a smile on your face
as you're sma.shing the Slate.
» » Consumption Tax: The First Step to Economic R e c o v e r y « «
by Rosemary Morris
O
nce again, the controversial consumption tax, has found new
prominence in the media. It has
done so in the context of a wide ranging
review of the Federal Opposition's tax
policy, announced last Thursday after the
first meeting of the Coalition Shadow
Ministry.
Australia now finds itself debtriddenby
international standards, and inflation
remains at an unacceptably high level, yet
the Hawke Government is stalled on die
issue of economic reform. Part of the
problem lies in laxation-not only is die
present system unfair; it is highly
bureacratised, kills incentive, and is unnecessarily complex. The too-high overall
tax burden creats a disincentive that
retards the progress which our economy
so desperately needs.
Is a consumption tax? Why is it a possible
inclusion in a revieved opposition tax
policy? Basically it is a tax which is
collected at the point at which money is
spent rather dian when it is earned. We
already pay consumption taxes in fact:
import duties, excise and wholescale sales
taxes.
There are two major advatages of a consumption tax. Firstly, its implementation
would blitz tax evasion, and avoidance by
high income earners. Secondly, it would
allow a big cut in personal income tax,
restoring a certain amount of automony
and freedom to the individual.
Another pro is the likely boost in savings
and investments. In our present savings
system there are three key distortions
which ensure that the total savings level is
sub-optional for the country. First:
savings are doubly taxed, (a)ai die point
of earning and (b) when interest is taxed
on Uic savings. Secondly, the inflation
component is also laxed; and thirdly, the
inflation component of debt-financing is
tax diductible. The consumption tax
creates no distortion between debt and
equity financing.
General economic reform is needed, a
vital part of which is taxation reform. Yet
the taxation reform is near impossible
without the imtroduction of a consumption tax, or, more accurately, the expansion and re-organisation of the existing
consumption taxed. By putting this tax
back on the current political agenda, Dr
Henson and the oppoition are taking die
initiative to reopen the debate on what
seems to be the only viable option in the
area of taxation reform.
Meanwhile, on die left(?) the Hawke
' Government refuses to seriously contemplate economic reform (not that this is
a new phenomena; remember Hawke's
1987 election pledge of microceonomic
reform in Tele.ommunications????)
Walsh's honest comments on ABC TV of
his view of the Hawke Govenment's
performance are met, predictably, widi
dark intimation of his pending coerced
resignation by a senior figure in the ALP
Corporate state, new ACTU President,
Martin Ferguson; The Age 1914 "Mr Ferguson said that if senator Walsh kept
making such statements from the back
bench, he would disappear in much the
same way as a footballer disappeared
when he hung up his boots." The prisident
also claimed diat the Accord couldn't be
expected to work "overnight". One
wonders-how much time do they want???
While we wait for the Accord to produce
results, Australia slips deeper into
economic recession. PS. The Liberal
Clubb is pleased to have Jeff Kennelt,
MLA for Burwood, coming toMonash on
1/5. Watch die daily news for details.
Right off the Scale
by Ernest Zanalia
The Student Despot - A true story
L
ong ago, when dinosaurs roamed
die earth and Maoists controlled
every university campus in
Australia, someone had a great idea for
reforming the Student Union.
It was proposed that all offices and
committees of the Union be abolished
and the one new position be created, that
of the Student Despot. The Student
Despot would have unlimited powers.
He/she could say and do what he/she
liked, and spend all die Student Union's
money however he/she liked. There was,
however, one small catch. The Student
Despot had to persuade students to give
money to him/her...
Lofs
Of course, a Student Despot cannot be
terribly despotic unless die students are
stupid enough to give over the money.
This is a true story. It happened at
Melbourne University during the SRC
uphcavels of the mid-1970s. A "wizard"
proposed that the SRC be replaced buy a
Student Despot, as oudined above. Unfortunately, this scheme was not adopted.
Instead, a compulsory student union was
maintained. A compulsory student utiion
is not different from a Student Despot,
except for two key features: The first is
that a compulsory student union is far
more bureaucratised than a Student
Despot. The second is Uiat a compulsory
Student Union, unlike a Student Despot,
can get your money automatically at enrolment, whcdier you like it or not. The
grim reality is that we live under a
Wife Thursday 26th April, 1990 page 22
compulsory Student Union which is far
more despotic Uian the Student Despot. If
we do not like what the student union is
doing, we cannot refuse to fund it, for we
will be expelled. The Student Union,
therefore, is not financially accountable in
any practical sense, to its oppressed members.
This is unlike the S Indent Despot, who can
only get funds from students if diey diink
they can trust him/her with them. While
both the Student Despot and the Student
Union have absolute power over student
money, at least the Student Despot's
amount of student money to play with can
be controlled by students.
So the "wizards" aren't quite as dumb as
people think they are. In fact, the
"Imperial British Conservative Party"
(political arm of the wizards) appears to
have a greater commitment to a free
society than the ALP or Australian
Democrats do, and hence is more credible.
\C(bl\AfÂiS>
Club On
^^-^z2.^t •
Mbl
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,
:t\ roBOPWW
iM
II
Chill Out
There's sure to be some Good Looks
around for all you aspiring Corporate
Types!
by Cluberella
H
ope you all had a Happenin'
Easter as Cluberella did. She
journeyed South for some interstate club research. Yes, Adelaide does
have some nightclubs, a Metro, a Transformers and the Club, even if they are
smaller and less populated than the
Melbourne versions.
Most of these Clubs had big Easter Sunday
parties, but were relatively quiet for the
rest of the break. South Australia does
have some Groove potential, if you know
where to look! GALAXY is the best bet
' I for spoiled Melbourne clubbers. Adelaide
did have something different to offer in
the form of a Young Boy doing Live
mixing in a city fashion boutique.
// Cluberella thinks this is a very good way
to shop. Hey, test out the danceability of
your gear in store!
if TiMrtSLATioiJ •. Ii0«iiiii«! E«; IS THt ctASs &oe«'< H
Labor
Students
fcy Geo// Drechsler
W
elcome to another exciting
Labor Students column where
we'll once again set the political
pace for Monash, leaving our conservative
opponents floundering behind us as we
rush onward to an equitable and just
society.
Annual General Meeting
First of all a few items of club news, the
last meeting, which was the Annual
General Meeting, elected this year's executive which is as follows: Convenors:
Caroline Edwards, Neill Campbell,
Secretaries: Elisse Baitz, Ben Hider,
Social Director: Leigh Johns, Publicity
Officer: James Harrison Treasurer:
Nathan Morrow National Organisation of
Labor Students delegates: Kate Hawkins,
Caroline Edwards, James Harrison, Neill
Campbell, Elisse Baitz, Clare Burford,
Geoff Drechsler, Ben Hider and Richard
Backwell.
The Annual General Meeting also
provided a controversial and involved
debate on the issue of the conscience vote
on abortion within the Australian Labor
Parly (ALP). After having considered the
success of this debate the Executive have
decided to follow it up with another topic
for discussion this week. This week's
topic is "Uie Anzac Myth ?".
May Day -100 Years of Workers Struggle
Against Exploitation
Other functions coming up soon include
the May Day march on May 6. This year's
May Day march is of particular
significance in that it is the hundredth
anniversary of the celebration of May Day
as a day of international solidarity for the
working class and those political movements and ideologies which support the
working class. Tlie Labor Students will be
marching once again under the Labor
Students banner which you' II have to look'
for if you're running late. After the fun
that was had by the small but dedicated
group of Palm Sunday marchers we hope
you can all make it along to be part of the
Labor Student contingent. The Labor Studenls will meet upstairs at the John Curtin
Hotel, which is opposite Trades Hall
Council in Lygon Street, at I pm. On
Thursday May 3 there'll be a memorial
lecture and wreath laying service which
kicks off at 5.30pm, once again opposite
Trades Hall but this lime at the 8 Hour
monument. The lecture will follow in the
Old Ball Room at Trades Hall. If your
interested in this come down to the Lot's
Wife office at 4.45pm that Thursday. A
wide range of limited edition merchandising
is available which includes T-shirts,
badges, posters and cards. If your interested in purchasing any could you come •
down to the Lot's Wife office and see me
this week.
I know Easier in Melbourne was much
more alive wiih Mega theme parties at the
Cadillac, Chasers and the Chevron.
Why were Alice and the Mad Hatter
chosen?
Speaking of the Chevron, it is still the
place for a Hot Tuesday, but I have a
suggestion — gel rid of Miss Candy and
Ihe amateurish baby-faced male models.
In future boys, don't try and swagger if
your cowboy boots are too big!
Spotted at the Chewy that no-hoper
"Chook" looking typically ragged and
without his MELDRUM minder! What a
TURKEY!!
One place where you will definitely see
more catwalk professionalism is at the
Metro. Friday 27th April, sees the Big
BOSS on parade with Hugo Boss
Menswear on show for all to see.
, . ^
AfteraveryslowstartZONEaltheMetro .
have revived themselves. Now packed on
a Thursday where you can catch DJ' s Peter
and Sam (Yo Posse) doing live Rapping
in the Restaurant Bar. A veiy popular new
addition, see it for yourself! Parade-wise
(again) the Metro scored big points for its
excellent FDC Shop Parade held some
weeks ago. It lived up to expectations but
I'd hate to be a guy-only Camp little
Nylon Bike Short Jumpsuits for you!. The
crowd was a la Checkpoints Glove Club
i.e. "individual". The music was also great
thanks to DJ's Wesand Stan!!
UNITED at the Cadillac goes from
sU'englh to strength with Jelly Wrestling
— it's Wobbly so slip into it for a good
time Thursday.
Lambada, Lambada everywhere
Stringfellows/Cafe Clicquot, Metro, the
Ivy and now Transformers feature it.
You cannot escape those Pelvic Rotations.
But Cluberella does not approve of the
corruption of the dance turning Brazilian
Rhythm into a sweaty G-stringed Grope!
The Clubs should not \ry to atn-act the
Sleazebag Schmuckos by promoting it as
nightclub SEX!
So it's PASSES you want?, get down to
M.A.S. and check out their HUGE range
on display between 1-2.15 p.m. Tuesday
and Thursdays.
Club on in Fashion!
P.S. Watch out for the CHOCKAHOLIC
invasion as post-"Chocky Ball" revellers
descend upon Melbourne's Club — this
Thursday 26th April.
CLUBERELLA
-r^»T hJtCHT.
f\ iSftg. fAa5 )^/ cuJ8U\y}d.. •
Ci^t:ATi<5/VSi
My Life is Yours
Hope, Despair, Reality
by Kathleen Irish
I dedicate my laugh to you For my laugh is mine;
I dedicate my eyes to you,
For, with my laugh, they shine:
by Blair Comley
The car pulled away,
Away from the loneliness of the masses.
Hundreds of amorphous figures,
Indistinguishable
in the clarity of the
alcoholic haze.
I dedicate my smile to you
For, yours, I've never seen I dedicate my mind to you,
And places it has been:
For the focus was not there,
It was sharp and distinct.
It did not lie with the revelry of the night.
I dedicate my voice to you For it will never end I dedicate my heart to you
And messages it sends.
I dedicate my poems and prose,
And everything I do;
I dedicate my love and life Because I live for you.
For to have tasted perfection,
Is the most dangerous experience of all.
And it is perception that counts,
For objectivity is a myth,
And internal relativity is the exalted God of
emotion.
A God to which we unanimously pay
homage.
And so the car rolled away,
Into the void of solitude.
The advice flourished,
Offers of food gushed forth,
But the gulf remained.
Empathy and understanding,
The glorification of the relationship,
All merely sustains the fragility of our
despair.
And yet it is all so petty.
Pettiness dominates our lives.
Lives that struggle against our essential
reality.
The reality of our eternal lack of control.
25 Uses for Yuppies
by Mickey the Rat
14. Paint them red and shove them in a
bulfring.
15.
Paint them red and shove them up a
bulh-ing.
1.
Glue their face, hands and feet to a
side window of your car.
16.
Make them wear non-designer
clothes in public.
2.
Tie five of them together and see
how far they float down the Yarra.
17.
Use them as bumper-bars on cars in
a demolition derby.
3.
Dress them in a mouse suit and
shove them under the fridge.
18.
4.
Use them as a shovel for horse shiL
Sew three or four of them together
and give them to Russ Hinze as a
bean bag.
Get a group of them together and use
them as a safety net for high-flying
trapeze elephants.
19. Make them over rule a close call
against John McEnroe.
20.
Tie one to each foot and use them as
skis.
Use them as a pin cushion.
Use them as a knife rack.
Practice for the "World of Sport"
woodchopping competition on
them.
LetthcminterviewLaurieLawrence
after one of his swimmers has won a
gold medal at the Olympics.
21. Make them listen to Laurie
Lawrence sing.
22.
Use them as fuel for a bonfire.
10. Use their intestines for macram^.
23. Take them to Windy Hill and make
them chant "Timmy Watson is a
poofta".
Hang them from the roof and use
11. them as punching-bags.
24. Fill a few Perrierboules with guinea
pig piss and offer them a drink.
Force feed them a few hand12. grenades.
* 25. Make them bungee jump from the
Ming Wing using couon instead of
elastic.
13.
Force feed them Small Caf food.
i
\^^\/\zw&\
'Vondcf fnend (191^-1989)
^trospectwe
Donald Friend (1915-1989) — A
Retrospective, opened recently at the
National Gallery of Victoria. The exhibition,
of more than 100 works, covers 50
productive years ofthe remarkable
life of Donald Friend, who died in Sydney
in August, 1989.
from problems with his visa (politically it
was a turbulant period in Indonesia, the
government making it more and more difficult for foreigners), made it impossible
for him to stay. He said "Bali is no longer
the answer to my needs. It ceases to inspire me". He settled in Sydney, and
began a new series of works, growing out
of a new and fruitful association wid) die
city of his childhood and formative years
as an artist. During this period. Friend
produced many notable works, including
a series of still lives. He said "What you
paint is what you desire -1 am too old for
the pleasure ofthe flesh. Farewell to youth
then. And to die nude. We part good
friends. The greengrocers shop is
crammed wiUi colourful models".
By Sandy Guy
The exhibition includes an impressive
collection of watcrcolours, oil paintings,
drawings, and outstanding volumes of
diaries, which the artist kept for a large
part of his life. These diaries are a myriad
of colourful and extraordinary drawings
and writings.
Bom in north-eastern New South Wales,
Friend, at the age of 16, ran away from
home to far North Queensland, and thus
started upon his life as a voyager, a
wanderer across the globe, particularly to
exotic places of the likes of Africa, Sri
Lanka and Bali, his consuming interest in
non-European cultures a source of artistic
inspiration throughout his life.
Friend studied an in Sydney under Sydney
Long, and later, after a gift of one hundred
pounds from his grandmother, left for the
United Kingdom, where he furthered his
studies at the Westminster School under
Bernard Meninsky and Mark Gertler, as
did many Australian artists during the
1930s. On the eve of the Second World
War and back in Australia, Friend, in a fit
of patriotism, joined die army. This period
was a very unhappy one for Friend - he
hated the discipline, and was often
AWOL. During this period, however, he
managed, as a war artist, to produce some
of his finest work.
Friend had many unhappy, unrequited
love affairs during his life. A homosexual
(he was quoted as saying "Christ knows
where it comes from'), he seemed never to
find happiness in hislove life, perhaps this
drove him further to artistic highs; certainly some profound and beautiful drawings
and paintings of some his lovers and exquisite young men, mostly non-European,
are a large part of the collection currenUy
on show.
Friend's deadi was long, slow and agonising; paintings of diis period are obsessed
wiUi dcadi. His last diary, entided "Prodical
Sons Return" is a bitter, yet funny, piece;
a savage attack on Australian society.
Hopefully, one day, it will be published,
but probably it won't be for some time —
until a few of die people mentioned are
dead!
Following the war, and while staying at
the house of Russell Drysdale, Friend
came across an article about some of the
gold-mining towns in Western New South
Wales. The two artists travelled to Sofala
and Hill End, and were very taken by both
these towns. S ide by side, they painted the
main street of Sofala; consequently
Drysdale's Sofala has become a famous
piece of Australian art. Friend's version is
very different from that of Drysdale, however excellent in it's own right. Friend
often became depressed with Drysdale's
work - he always compared himself to that
great artist.
'Edzuin Tanner;
19^2-1980 1(etrospectiz/e
After further sojourns overseas. Friend, in
the latter years of his life, stopped briefly
in Bali, and decided he must live in this
paradise on earth (this was the 1960s,
when Bali was still a paradise!). He purchased land at Sanur, and thus began 13
productive years of art — die Balinese
period being a rich and colourful part of
the artists life, the paintings from this time
often interposed with traditional Balinese
art.
In 1980, however. Friend was a sick man,
suffering gout and emphysema. Various
difficulties arising from his healUi, and
In 1987, Friend suffered a serious stfoke,
the climax of a long series of illnesses.
The stroke rendered his left hand immobile, and he was less able to paint and
draw (being left-handed). He continued,
however, to paint well into 1989, forcing
his right hand to work. Somehow during
these last months, he was able to produce
a body of works delicate in their colour
and composition. They are a tribute to his
amazing mental tenacity and the depdi of
his drive as an anist.
The Donald Friend Retrospective will run
until June 6 at the National Gallery. On
May 23, Barry Pearce, Exhibition
Curator, will address a lecture on the
works of Donald Friend in the Great Hall,
as part of the Great Lecture Hall
Programme for 1990. The cost of the lecture
is $6.50, $5 concession, widi tickets available from die St Kilda Road Ticket Box.
^
by David Crofts
T
he work of Edwin Tanner, on
display in a retrospective exhibition
at the Monash University Gallery,
is immediately captivating. It produces
the same sensation of wonderousness in
the viewer that can be detected in the eyes
of a small child as it struggles to comprehend a new, but exciting environment
As an artist. Tanner constantly challenges
his audience; firsdy via his combinauon
of diverse symbols and iconography
primarily derived from his many fields of
proficiency (ie, engineering, mathematics, carpentry, cycling, flying, literature and music); secondly by reminding
the viewer that a painting is essentially a
shiictured image; and finally dirough his
unique brand of visual satire which on the
surface pokes fun at die structures which
humanity imposes on its world, but equally it elucidates these same constructs with
deft precision.
In his painting 'The Diver' (1958) Tanner
presents us with a spindly, highly engineered figure that hovers in the centre of
the canvas. The body's segmented appearance, which recalls the frame of an
insect and the visibility of intersecting
pencil marks used in die construction of
curvelinear form, highlights die role ofthe
arti St as designer and comments indirecUy
on the way in which the art of diving
imposes a similar, pre-conceived design
onto die human body. Cycling, diving and
flying exist not because they are instinctive to die human physique, but more beeause the human mind enjoys challenging
the body and testing the will. On the
whole. Tanner's diver seems unable to
meet this so-called ideal performance. Its
elongated limbs flail awkwardly in a vain
attempt to remain aloft but it would seem
that mind and body, vision and acUon
have been perilously separated. This is
made even more poignant, or indeed
amusing, when one considers die way in
which the head is literally severed from its
body and left to scrutinise the dive from a
position on die ominous picket fence. Certainly Uiere is some reference here to die
practice of viualising a dive (ie, seeing
ones own performance in the mind's eye)
but there is also a hint of the mind wishing
to be independent of its ungainly body.
In a later woik entitled 'Inner Movement
and Outward Pull' (1962), this process of
co-ordination (or lack of it) is presented in
mechanistic terms. Thick, majestic purple
envelops apiece of board in which a small
motor is encased behind glass. Encircling
the unit is a series of cogs, some large,
some small connected by a thin piece of
wire. The title alludes to the contradictory
forces in operation. 'Inner' refers to the
centralised motor while 'Outer' describes
its outlying manifestations. The complete
tide illustrates in physical terms the action
of the wire around die cogs; wire passes
around the small cogs on the inside, they
take little stress and merely guide movement; wire passes around large 'cogs on
the outside and these have die ability to
direct movement. Yet, once again, this
potential is frustrated because the motor
remains disconnected from the cogs^
Tanner was obviously fascinated by
humanity's desire to order and structure
the world. As such, he whimsically disconnects supposedly interrelated forces
(ie, die mind from the body, vision from
action, motor from machine) to prove that
what you are left widi is not chaos. The
arrangement of cogs in 'Inner Movement
...' gready represents a constellation, and
it is indeed ironic that such a pattern is
only visible to the untrained eye when a
series of wires is projected onto die stars.
Tanner encourages us to take these stfuctures off. This certainly doesn't make die
experience less projoand, and may make
it more so.
RtVlEWS
Sleepless Days
by Yvonne Murdoch
urek Becker, made famous by his
book Jacob the Liar, is an expatriate
East German author, 'temporarily'
residing in the West. Sleepless Days, his
novel about a man suffering under 'the
system', was originally published in
1978, and has just been translated by
Leila Vennewitz and republished by
Paladin. To condemn the novel as
out-dated or irrelevant because it is
pre- Fall-of-the-Wall, however, is a
mistake that only the very limited or
socially naive reader will make.
J
Sleepless Days is superficially thus: a 35
year old East German teacher is one day
overcome by the confines of his whole
lifestyle. Suddenly "aware of his heart",
he makes some drastic changes in order to
dissemble his role as father, husband,
tutor and citizen, and ultimately encounters the trials of one who questions
his stunted social existence within an inflexible system. It is easy, then, to purport
Becker's intent as being merely political;
-the story of "S imrock the School Teacher"
as being but an ami-communist allegory.
In fact. Sleepless Days has a much deeper
emotion and a far more universal message
to present than are immediately suggested
by its setting, its poli'ical bywords, and the
above synops.s.
Over the period of about one year, the
experiences,'. iou»hts and actions of Karl
Simrock arc :infuiicd. His unsettled heart
is the initial, unavoidable physical
manifestation of "a discomfort that only
the absence of happiness could explain",
and his pursuit of possible happiness
means tlie rejection of certain social
institutions, traditions and enforced
practices. Those institutions and
traditions, however, are not exclusive
to one ideology; Becker's argument
fits a capitalist society as well as it fits
after all, "wliic ;i weigh heavier... troubles
or hopes?". Iti.! difficult to work out if this
that of a communist. Simrock's first action is to leave his wife, with whom love
is a set of established rules and
regularities. Because of his 'change of
heart", he is removed from his studetns by
an authority Uiat cannot recognise the idea
and function of doubt, or any deviation
from conservative principles (does this
sound a little too close to home?). Simrock
himself is unsure of his own motives or
actions; he is only sure of his inability to
remain static. Sleepless Days is not a
novel of happy or easy reconciliation;
novel is, in fact, a fagedy in the fashion
oWeaihofaSalesmanoTTnoraapcnctrating insight into the human condition,
like Solzhenitsyn's Ivan Denisavich
Becker's recognition and representation
of personal bewilderment (the novel is
largely declared through the psychology
of the protagonist), and of the difficulties
of Changs, make this novel an interesting
exhibit. His style, Ihe depth of his main
character and his gentle reminder of
human fallibility, make it quite an appealing piece of writing.
In general overview, however. Sleepless
Days rejects scrutiny on the more practical level. The self-absorbed Simrock at
times appears to be more of a victim of
male menopause than of rightful existential angst. For all that this anti-hero is the
frustrated victim of a stagnant and
humdrum life, his desertion of his wife
and child to instead hang out in singles'
bars, his attempt to find 'real' socialism
by planting himself amongst the
proletariat, and his desire to prove himself
physically by shovelling coal until his
hands bleed, are more suggestive of the
masochist, the fool and the middle-aged
roue. But then again, this may just be
representative of my inability to shake of
'the system' in the way that Becker
demonstrates. Judge for yourselves if you
have S13.00 to spare.
The Gate of
Heavenly Peace
by Luke Harris
F
aceless names from times long past,
with a few half-forgotten events
linked to dates, then carefully dissected for trends and turning poinls,too
often this is the" stuff of most history writing, relentlessly dry, painstaking and passionless. In direct contrast, Jonathan
Spence's The Gate of Heavenly Peace
breaks with convention by sketching a
slice of Chinese history through the lives
and thoughts of some of those who, with
varying degrees of success, tried to alter
it. The book becomes a window to a
turbulent lime, an explanation of an often
obscure civilisation, and above all, a
record of the voices and struggles of
China's revolutionaries, students,
politicians and poets, such as this passage
from a work named the "Iron Flower" by
Qu Qiuba: "As this music rolls and flows
in stately measure through the great hall,
stilled are the eddies of numberless conflicts . . . dissolved are the numberless
hierarchies of men." Every passage is
clear and sharp, linked by Spence's fluent
narrative and never distorted or diluted by
bias.
The struggle of the individual to survive,
and the endless search for a credible system
of belief, or ideology, is a central part of
this living history. Under immense pressure,
its characters tried to synihesise a solution
to China's poverty, and recurrent dynasties
of lerror,and put their case strongly, "I
brave the adverse criticisms of society and
struggle with all of my energy, not so as
to avoid the pains of a miserable lot, but
Beyond the waste of life, a consistent
strand of hope is shown, resurging with
each generation, surviving the Manchu
Empire, the Kuomintang, and Mao's
brutality. Females authored much of the
prose and poetry chosen by Spence, and
their lives feature strongly in China's
cultural fabric, from the fight to end footbinding, to their soon-dashed hope for
equality under communism.
Given the clash of traditions, entrenched
economic problems and cyclical violence,
it's impressive how well this book brings
out the intricacies of Chinese thought and
culture while always avoiding tfite conclusions. Some scholars rightly fear the
distortions created by Europeans writing
on lands that must be substantially alien to
them, Spence, however, never patronises
or judges, and it's clear he has no agenda,
or barrow to push, beyond a fascination
with people and a dislike for broad
generalisations. This book is exceptionally
involving and well worth a read, even if
you know next-lo-nothing of Chinese history.
In thife
WirdKtT iPar«^
by Luke Harris
h a valley almost lost by the outside
world, a formless beast preys upon a
roup of lone and unhappy individuals. They live, dislocated, twisted
by life's casual cruelties, and beset by a
gnawing sense of pointlessness. Tim
Winton's In The Winter Dark is a
psychological thriller in the full sense of
the term, and an unrelenting examination
of human frailty and irrationahty.
In simple, direct prose, the story unfolds,
always brutally honest, yet never
sU'aightforward. A retired gardener from
the big city, methodically banishing all
trace of purpose from his life, an old
farmer and his wife, and a pregnant girl
abandoned by her musician boyfriend are
driven together by the force of "the Unknown". They hardly know each other,
but they know iheir valley even less.
Even the farmer, contemptuous of city
folk, is a stranger to the bush, to the old
country beyond his property - the formless, hostile Janah forests. His father had
imposed a European order of fields and
fences upon his farm, but he feared what
to seek the calm of my conscience, the
firm establishment of my personality, and
the salvation of my soul." Despite their
bravery, friistration was their lot, for at
first, China's vast peasantfy proved resistant to change, from either ideological
direction, despite suffering frequent
massacres at the hands of the Warlords."
The arcade was covered with heads and
more were hanging from the slats of the
scaling ladders ... I was amazed and did
not understand why all of these people had
been killed... I had never seen a real
human head severed in battle." (an
eyewitness account from 1911).
lay beyond... "he was frightened of trees,
my old man. Never sleep in the forest, he
would say, everything is above you. And
1 know what he means - I've seen twelve
foot boughs fall and spear so deep into the
earth..."
When the night falls, the bush reclaims all
of the land, and evil, or at least strangeness
is abound and hungry. At each others'
throats, tense and mistrustful, the characters
lurch about, making irrational gues,scs as to
the nature of their foe, their uncertainty mirroring the chaos of their situation. The enemy
is violent, decapitating livestock and farm
dogs, then completely disappearing.
One can guess at many strands, or themes,
in this tale; ones of alienation from nature,
of people talking at, rather than to each
other, of the corrosive power of regret,
and of human malevolence. The bod< is
short, yet it lends itself to inventive interfrctations, though it is probably better to read it as
a tale rather than an allcgoy. Writing a review
makes one a little too keen to analyse the
author's intent rather tfian their storytelUng
abil ity. It's worth areadas a k»k into a world
where the "pressure of darkness" has become
a reality.
X\/iXVv^^
The strangely mature and cool attitude
with which each character accepts the
dynamic change is interesting and new.
by Michael Gardner
So often relationships can be tenaciously
conservative. In "Venus Trap" this force
is deactivated periodically, allowing the
spu-its of each person to separate, soar and
reunite more fulfillingly.
C
oco is vivacious and unconventionally imaginative, "a large
beautiful yet weak woman who
cames around a small strong man in her
handbag. The more she loves the man, the
larger he becomes and the more she loses
control over him.
Max is that man, hving with Coco for six
years, he longs to know what it is to be in
love again. His search leads him onto a
fantastic dream-come-trae where he finds
Maria, the womaii he needs: "beautiful,
intelligent, stupid, elegant, vulgar, lively,
lascivious, ladylike, whorish, comradely,
unattainable."
It IS a male fantasy, (hough one which is
made to come tme and in doing so displays
Its overall worth.
The film is a slick blend of imagery,
poetry and imaginative fantasy skilfully
decorated throughout by Peer Raben's
fine musical score.
The backdrop of visual and poetic
imagery is drawn together by four strong
performances and the superb control and
As the feature directorial debut of Michael
Lehmm and first lime screenwriter,
Daniel Waters, Heathers is an amusing
film which holds your attenrion
throughout its 100 or so minutes, but it
fails to live up to its initial promise, and at
times seems to lack direction as to what it
is trying to say to its audience.
The real twist to the plot is Veronica's
realisation that JD's scheme to murder
individual students now extends to blowing up the entire school population in what
he plans as a mass school-wide suicide.
After managing to foil JD's plans the
whole saga is ended by JD's blowing
himself up in a parricularly bizarre
fashion. This event marks Veronica's
realisation of the pointlessness of
"popularity", and she slips back into her
former self with her former friends, after
making sure that she has disintegrated the
remnants of the Heathers' group.
St. Kilda
By Carole jean
The tide of the film is derived from the
name of a snobbish clique of senior high
school giris all named Heather, and the
story begins with Veronica (played by
Winona Ryder) who is trying to ingratiate
herself into the exclusive Heathers' elite,
while not quite knowing herself why she
wants to do so. The plot begins to develop,
however with the introduction of the character of JD, played with seductively evil
charm by Christian Slater. Whilst
Veronica casually wishes her supposed
T
ime again for St Kilda's world
renowned festival of all-Australian
short films, which will be held
from May 2 to 5 at The NaUonal Theatre,
Barklay Street, St Kilda.
Last year's St Kilda Film Festival lasted
four days, screened 40 films, blew two
projector bulbs and caused (on opening
night) about 60 hangovers. This year, the
seventh fe.stival in a row will last four days,
and screen 43 films (with no predictions
being made regarding the projector bulbs
or the hangovers).
by Fiona Skepper
Snooze) who, acting as compere, interacted well with the audience.
es Boys - "the first-ever live show
all on video" opened with an interesting and humoiuous video prerecording, promising great things.
Unfortunately, the rest of the show failed
to produce them.
The skits often poked fun at symbols of
Austrahan mediocrity such as Keno and
the local night out "down the RSL". There
was a quite funny jibe at the old suburban
bigots of the worid in one sketch, with
Geoff Brooks resembhng a current RSL
office-bearer discussing the Japanese as
"nothing but glorified Asians". Overall,
however, there were more chuckles than
outright laughter, the funniest part of the
night being the mileage that Rod Quantock got out of the audience members who
refused to join in producing the sounds of
the RSL Hall.
The use of live and pre-recorded video,
interacting with hve action, was an interesting concept, with the camera roaming
around the audience and foyer, catching
unsuspecting audience members offguard and showing them hve on screen.
Voyages into dnMsing-tooms and a suburban
backyard added an original visual aspect
to the show.
The show was basically made up of a
group of skits and songs performed by
Geoff Brooks (probably best known for
his appearances in Fast Forward), Ross
Ryan and Lynda Gibson, with Rod Quantock (that man in the nightshirtfiomCaptain
The performances themselves were
creditable, but the actualjokes and atmosphere
were a bit flat The fact that the theatre was
half empty was perhaps indicitive of the
lacklustre material, and did nothing to
assist the actors in creating a lively
atmosphere.
"Venus Trap" wiW be screening later this
month at the Brighton Bay Twin Cinema,
294 Bay Street, Brighton.
about youth suicide, for example the way
in wich the media portrays such events.
Heathers
LES BOYS
L
elegant style of Robert Van Ackeren who
possesses extensive experience as a director
of German Cinema.
best friend. Heather #1, dead, she doesn't
believe that her new boyfriend, JD, will
really commit the murder. Heather #1 is,
however, murdered by JD and Veronica,
and this begins a series of murders
perpetrated by the pair and made to look
like suicide. This is one of the areas in
which the direction of the film begins to
fall down, as although the murder/suicides are presented in an amusing
fashion, the film-makers at times seem to
be trying to make a serious comment
What is guaranteed is the usual high
standard and the multifarious selection of
films characteristic of the festival, which
is now regrettably one of the rare
occasions still existing for the short film
to be seen. Some of the highlights of this
year's program are:
A Pair Of One: A fascinating look at
duality in a documentary that probes the
life of identical twin sisters who talk in
unison, walk in step and attempt to
perform domestic tasks in tandem.
Although serious issues are raised in the
film, itdocs not quite seem to know where
it is heading or what genre it is trying to
fit into. It is certainly not a "teen" movie
in the sense of those created by John
Hughes, forexample.lt contains elements
of black comedy, and at times appears to
have been a deliberate attempt to make a
B-grade cult film, a status which it may
possibly attain. Apart from these
criucisms. Heathers is still recommended. With some more effort and
thought, a more cohesive film could have
been created.
Heathers is currently screening as a
lateshow at the Longford Cinema on
Friday and Saturday nights at 11.30pm,
and at the Valhalla Cinema nightly.
Night Out: An intelligent look alanti-gay
violence - one of the most convincing and
assured first films to come out of Melbourne.
Words and Silk: A film about the hfe,
words and passions of writer, Graeme
Mumane.
rhf Sp.tce Between The Dnw And The
I l<«ir: Set in Sydney in the late 40s, it tells
the story of the telephone as an aid in the
search for love.
BACK IN BEIGE
Melbourne Uni Review
by Colin McNaughlon
A
s part of the immensely successful
Comedy Festival which has
recently stormed Melbourne, this
university-based show certainly lived up
to the standard set by other performances
seen around Melbourne over the past few
weeks. Back in Beige was created and
performed by undergraduates from Melbourne University, and to sum up the
effect in one word - brilliant!
The show is comprised of a scries of skits
which are loosely linked to the goings-on
in a playhouse around the Melbourne
area. Out of it emerges some really amazing
characterisations and comedy. "Akthan,
the Magnificent" (Simon Barefoot) and
"Warw . . . Vottar" (Angus Smallwood)
roll through scenes oblivious to the world
around them, fully submerged in their
"Dungeons and Dragons" roles. There is
also "Macca, the Rappa" (Richard Vabre)
who 'ockers' his way through a rap
routine, echoing something of the
Australian male character. Great stuff.
All the accompanying music is hve, so it
adds to the aunosphere. Let's hope we sec
another season of Back in Beige soon - it
is a fast, humorous and tight-knit production
- one can't help but leave the theatre with
a contented smirk on one's face.
(PS: Q. What do you call an existentialist
who roots around?
A. Jean-Paul Sartre!)
k£:\/ixw'5|
The Sundays
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
by Gavin Bong
I
The Twenty S e c o n d Sect
by M. Gravy
— Unexploded
first heard Uieir single Can'I Be Sure
on the FM airways a few weeks ago. I
was immediately captivated by the
beautiful tune and enchanting, cool charm
of its vocalist's voice. The album has now
been released, and it certainly fulfilled my
expectations.
The Sundays are made up of Harriet
Wheeler on vocals, David Gavurin on
guitar, Paul Brindley on bass and Partick
Hannah on drums, while Lindsay
Jamieson helps out on the tambourine.
Before the album was released, it received
huge amounts of publicity from the UK's
For a smaller taste of the band, it is music critics. Honestly, The Sundays
definitely worth purchasing the latest make good music, but most of the time
excellent EP released on American label they sound like The Smith's or the
Sympathy for the Record Industry Primitives. It's certainly a reasonable
(available on import). This contains the debut for the band.
diree best songs off the album, plus a good Wheeler sings in a cliarming, untrained
cover of the Spencer Davis Group's "I'm
manner that's almost begging for apa Man", which apparently was learnt by
preciation, while Gavurin shines in his
the band five minutes before recording.
amongst some others that in themselves
lack a musical variation. The fresh, raw
sound of the band and likeable vocals of
Liz and Orietta make diis album well
worth exploring.
I
was first intrigued by the Twenty
Second Sect via a compilation of
Adelaide bands on which Liz Dealey
screamed through the song "Ha Ha,
You're Dead", backed by a mixture of
mayhem and melody.
One EP and a year later, the band has
produced an album with eleven productionally unadulterated and thrashy little
tracks of variable pleasure. The excellent
single UXB, and strong songs "Hey
Baby", "Gimme Control", and "I Wanna
Die" (to name but a lew) really stand out
guitar work. The guitar-driven music is
produced in minimal musical settings,
with a basic rhythm section and acoustic/clecB"ic guitar In some instances, unfortunately, the production is lacklustre
and unimaginative.
All the songs were written and composed
by Gavurin and Wheeler. Most of the
songs are hook-laden melodies with
rhythmic bounce and the outstanding cuts
are Here's Where Ihe Siory Ends, Can'I
Be Sure and Hideous Towns. The album
broke into the top ten of die pop charts in
Britain recendy, although it's still not
doing as well as it should here, possibly
due to lack of publicity.
I recommend this album to anyone who
wishes to taste an album that has been
branded "a U'avclogue of the 1980s indie
music" (quoted from John Casimir, Rolling Stone, April 1990 issue). Trust me,
you won't be disappointed -1 wasn't.
Restaurants
by David Leonard, Epicure Club
Tran Tran Chinese/Vietnamese Restaurant, 74 Victoria Street, Richmond
Fiesta Mexican Restaurant- 175Toorak
Road, Soudi Yarra
T
Out of the dust of Zappattas, arose
Amigos and Fiestas, two popular Mexican
restaurants situated in Uic heart of South
Yarra. Departing little from the standard
Mexican fare made famous to many a
Mclbournian household Uirough the Taco
Bill and Tijuana Taxi chains, Fiestas is at
least cheaper and a good sight more
generous. On the Mexican spicincss scale
that ranges from "suburban" to "nosewatering", Fiestas is decisively on Uic
suburban side, with a conscious absence
of the red-hot chilli sauce pots diat usually
lurk in the dark recesses of such establishments.
he first point one should note about
this bright UtUe restaurant in the
middle of Victoria Sueet is that
allhough it says it is Vietnamese, it actually
serves Chinese food. The second point is
that aldiough Uie Yellow Pages say it is on
Victoria Road, it is actually in Victoria
Street - so don't get lost in die maze of
little side streets around Richmond looking (like some of us did) for an address
that doesn't exist
Once you get there, don't expect eardishattering, new taste sensations, but do
expect good value for money. The banquet menu is packed with standard
Chinese favourites (spring rolls, beef in
black bean sauce and,of course, sweet and
sour chicken, to name a few), and every
dish is accompanied by a fresh mountain
of fried rice. For a mere $13, you can fill
yourself to exploding point.
The restaurant itself is quite spacious, but
the Customtone tables, die mushroomand-salmon paint scheme and die ubiquitous spotlighting all give the impression
of a Vietnamese Small Caf. The staff were
cheerful and ever- effective, so diat any
little/aiic pas (such as not knowing what
an ice-bucket was) could be forgiven.
Overall, for a cheap night out, for lessthan- adventurous diners, I highly recommend Tran Tran Restaurant - just check
the Melways before you go.
No,
iri
No complaints, however, can be made
about the guacamole or the Mexican
punch, both of which were the best 1 had
tasted for quite some time. For those
curious enough to ask what the banquet
menu actually consisted of, the list goes as
follows: dips, nachos, tacos, chiles, burritos, enchiladas and Mexican rice. As 1
said, nothing too innovative, but more
dian you can cat at $16.50 a head. Speaking of innovations, don't expect quality
decor when you step into the banquet
room. I suspect, however, that after a few
tequila slammers, expensive decor could
be quite a liability. The service was good,
though a tad tardy. This, however, proved
to be quite a bonus as it allowed one to
recover between courses.
nor a
corwenHoml
i c e - b o t k e ^ - j b u f f k e - n S>,ri& c i r i n k i n q
^^
Seav'iew !
by Karen Good^ f-in
A
knowledge of past societies is
invaluable for attaining, through
contrast and comparison, a
clearer perception and understanding of
current human values, behaviour, and
social institutions. Freud and Friends
and Bergasse 1938 present vivid and
comprehensive documentaries of the life
of Freud and of the Jewish community in
Vienna in the late nineteendi and early
twentieth centuries. The exhibitions are
aesUietically pleasing and intellectually
satisfying, and, more imporlandy, are an
implicit reminder of and caution against
the latent cruelty and barbarism which is
inherent in human nature.
corrections of Karl Kraus' "Spruche und
"vViderspruche", one turns around to see
two grotesque watercolour caricatures of
Jews.
An important component of Freud and
Friends is a half hour audio-visual
display. In it, various Viennese Jews
describe their memories of the city. Two
different aunospheres are recalled: die
days of cultural and scientific glory, and
the darker period subsequent to 1938,
marked by Kristahiacht and the yellow
SUITS of the Jews. Hitler's propaganda
posters, poUtical caricatures, and scenic
areas of Vienna Hash by; there are photos
of Jews being forced to clean the streets,
Freud and Friends portrays die vibrant, and of the Viennese people joyously
culturally stimulating worid of Vienna in welcoming the German army. The overthe period just prior to the Anschluss of whelming impression obtained is that
1938. Tribute is paid to the Jews who were Vienna was a city of extreme contrasts;
such an integral part of die society which artistic and intellectual refinement resided
was, at the time, leading the world in die alongside the abrogation of some human
areas of literature, music, theatre, the beings' basic rights and dignity.
visual arts, architecture, medicine,
science, and technology. Items in the exhibition arc grouped and displayed in The achievements of Sigmund Freud are
various categories such as the early history further highlighted in Bergasse, a travelling
of the Jewish community, the Kaffeehaus, exhibition from the Sigmund Freud
and the press. Each section is accompanied Society in Vienna. The display is comby panels which provide information on posed of a series of panels giving detailed
social and historial developments in Vienna, information about Freud's life and work.
and aspects of Jewish community life. The panels are enlivened by reproductions
One of die most prominent Jews in Vienna of sketches, photos, letters, propaganda
was Sigmund Freud, the pioneer of posters and a world map showing where
the
many
eminent
Viennese
psychoanalysis.
psychoanalysts fled prior to the outbreak
A myriad of memorabilia and antiques are of the Second World War. The panels are
on display. There are Gemian newspapers in German and are confusing and difficult
from 1935, various dieaU'e and opera to follow, even though a booklet containprogrammes, photos of Kaffeehaus ing translations is available.
scenes, and paraphernalia such as
Freud and Friends and Bergasse 1938
postcards, silver service, and a collection
of autographed photos of operauc, musi- are showing at the Jewish Museum of
cal and theatrical performers. Refinement Australia, comer Toorak Road and Arand cultural atlainmentare constantly jux- nold Su-eet, South Yarra, until June 3. The
taposed with savagery; after viewing a exhibitions are part of the festival "Mahler,
facsmile of die galley proof and hand written Vienna and the Twemielh Century".
lUTTt^Sl
Letters Policy
Every letter submitted to Lot's Wife must
be accompanied by your name, telephone
number, and student l.D. number. If you
have a valid reason for withholding your
name; this will be done. However, this
will be the exception rather than the norm.
To have your name withheld you must see
the Editors.
Shorter letters will be given preference.
The preferred length is approximately 200
words.
Thirdly, your letters must be legible. 1 f we
cannot read your writing, then we cannot
print it
The next letters deadline will be Monday
7th May.
The Editors reserve the right to edit all
submissions.
Proofreaders' note: The standard of
spelling and grammar of letters received
in the past few weeks has been atrocious.
Letters with loo many mistakes will not
be corrected in the future, and will be
published as written.
Empty Shelves
lobby and petition, to make sure the problem is remedied.
Deal Lot's,
Yours faithfully,
1 have never seen the Main Library in
anything like the state it was in just before
the Easter Break. On the fifth floor of
Manuscripts I counted nine trolleys fully
laden with books. Beside the trolleys, the
shelves for reshelving books were full and
there were piles of books on the floor
stacked beneath and beside the shelves.
As I had looked through the seven trolleys
of books waiting to be shelved the previous Thursday, the 5th, I can write with
certainty that some of those books had
been sitting on those trolleys for at least a
week.
Janet McDougall
On Thursday the 12th I started sifting
through the books in search of the same
book I had been looking for the previous
Thursday. As I was sifting, a couple of the
reshelving staff spoke to me. They were
very apologetic about the piles of books.
One told me sadly that Monash Library
used to be known for the speed with which
the books were rcshclved. Both said that
the reason that they were unable to cope
with the load was that the numberof books
that undergraduates may borrow has been
increased from dircc to six. This is commendable, but the number of reshelving
staff has remained the same so the same
numbei of people are expected to cope
with twice the number of books. Unfortunately four of the staff had been ill
before Easter and so the the books simply
slacked up. One of the reshelvers told me
that they will never catch up unless they
gel more sujff.
Large numbers of books are always
borrowed over Easter (both because
essays lend to be set over the break and
because the Library closes for a week).
Anyone who saw the length of the queues
for borrowing books could vouch for that!
As there was already a huge backlog of
books waiting to be shelved before the
Easter break, what the situation will be
like when those books borrowed over
Easter are returned is incomprehensible.
Mid Year Exams are approaching and at
present it is clear that the library staff
won't be able to cope with the constant
demand for books at that time.
I thought that the situation was disastrous.
I suggested to MAS that student volunteers help reshelve the books, but for
various reasons that solution was not
viable. I went to the Vice Chancellor's
office to suggest dial the Vice Chancellor
should go and see it for himself I trust that
he did. I went toLof'i Wife to suggest they
write an article on it, and I hopclol'J have
done so.
New staff are needed as soon as possible.
In fact they should have been hired
months ago! If the situation does not
improve, students' work will suffer more
and more This concerns all student and
staff; we should do what we can: write,
*H%'Vi-.-,V«V*
Arts(Hons)/Law4.
Anti Littering
Campaign
Dear Lot's
It is heartwarming lo read letters from
concerned students in your 11 April issue
(page 29) regarding the "disgusting state
of the University's environment",
particularly the lawns which unfortunately have become the unwilling dumping
site of lunchtime rubbish.
While the issue is indeed depressing, I am
optimistic that the problem is not insurmountable. I still believe that the people
"rubbishing" are not really environmentally unsound, they just have forgotten to
place their rubbish in a bin.
What is needed here is to gently remind
them of their responsibility(ies) and
appeal to common sense.
Being pari of the so-called "educated
elite" of this nation, I am certain that they
will respond positively.
There are ways in which the problem can
be addressed.
One that immediately comes to mind is to
conductan anti-littering campaign. This is
an area where the student union, through
Lot's Wife can assist tremendously by
focusing on the issue — for examle, bannering the litter problem on your cover
page and complementing it with an
appealing editorial. Lecture sessions can
also be lapped by requesting lecturers to
use a minute or so of their lecture lime to
focus on the litter issue and request
students' co-operation in solving the
problem.
The last perhaps would involve clubs and
societies' members as well as university
staff, by showing the connect way to dispose
of rubbish. There is no better way to
re-educale people than by providing practice
in its application.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Gabalda.
Smokers Die
Dear lot'J,
I think it is unreasonable of MAS to push
for the retention of the Grill Room (aka
the yuppy-come-lately "West End Caf)
as a smoking area for when the anti-smoking rules in the Union come into force.
Ever since Peter Tafl successfully persuaded the powers-that-be to restrict
'smoking in parts of the Small Caf and
Grill Room acouple of years ago, smokers
have been disregarding the "No Smoking"
signs, to the detriment of non-smokers.
Instead of cravcnly backing down to the
ignorance and stupidity of the people who
make our air unbreathable by their
pathetic habit, how about giving the rest
of us a fair go? You see, maybe it's not
just union food that's causing all that
choking and gasping.
Chuan Chew
Abortion: A Male
Perspective
Y)CMLot's Wife,
This letter is written in response to a letter
titled "pro-choice", which appeared in the
fourth edition of Lot's Wife. I feel iJic
writers' aim is laudable: to fully inform
women (irrespective of their social suilus
or race) of abortion, so that they know the
process which their bodies, and the bodies
of the foetuses, undergo. The question
which should therefore (rightly) be asked
is "why is it that there is so little readily- '
available information about abortion and
its inherent risks for the would-be
mother?"
I feel that killing infants on a grand scale
is not a solution to the problem of an
"unwanted" pregancy as it creates further
long-term problems for both the would-be
mother and society as a whole. The longterm political and social problem here is
obvious - a declining birth-rate resulting
in a greying population. The short-term
problems are, however, more diverse and
not as easily noticeable, as they affect
individuals - a woman rendered sterile due
to an abortion, a woman who mourns for
the child .she had aborted, and so on.
I wouldsympathise unreservedly with any
pregnant teenage girt who is faced with
such great social and economic pressure
that the only way out of her problem is to
kill her child. However, a choice made
under duress is not a real choice. There
should be a real alternative to abortion.
Some may feel that, as a man, 1 have no
right whalsocver to make these comments. To ihem, I reply that I have every
.'!*•• *'fc'i^]^«'i'«fî^>V>kVV»^V)'«MV**tf«v«FarAr«^'ft*»V«%',
right to do so. I would feel discriminated
against otherwise. A lot of men would
gladly wash their hands of the abortion
issue by adopting the radonale that "it's a
women's problem". However, excessive
abortions can do great harm to human
society as a whole, thus men cannot shrink
from the issue of abortion, or the blame.
Another great contribution to this whole
problem is the health service, which pours
incredible amounts of money inio lulling
children by subsidising abortion and,
ironically, simultaneously channels massive funds into the IVF programmes in this
country.
I suggest that all the money thus used
should instead be used to set up hostels for
any pregnant woman who wishes to keep
her child but is under pressure from family
or friends to kill it. In addition, a competent adoption service should be instituted to provide for the adoption of
these so-called "unwanted" children by
the multitude of infertile couples who
seek a child of their own to love.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that I
am in total support of free choice,
provided the choice made does not infringe
on the unalienable rights of others.
Suryan Chandrasegaran
Economics/Law
Clarifying the ALP
Dear Editors,
The last edition of Lot's Wife contained
several letters which besmirch the
Monash ALP Club. Perhaps some
clarification is on order.
1. If only ALP Club members are tied to
party line, why was a censure motion
against Derek Francis for his actions over
the holocaust booklet put on notice at a
Liberal Club meeting?
2. Tlie Monash ALP Club contains a wide
spectfum of political views from liberal
interventionists to democratic socialists.
To suggest that there is one ALP Club
"orthodoxy" regarding the "Great Satan
America", "Class Enemies" (your words,
Michael, not mine) or anything else is just
silly.
Yours sincerely Elisse Baitz
Arts I
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It takes Four
Dear Suzanne,
I will attempt to reply to your letter in a
coherent manner, dealing with each of
your substantial points in turn. However,
given the nature of your ignorant unstructured ramblings this is not as easy as it
may sound.
The first thrust of your "argument" is that
the level of saving is below the level of
investment (a commendable grasp of
national income accounting identities).
Furthermore, you then claim that this is a
result of government policy. Implicit in
your "argument" (perhaps statement is a
better word) is that this debt is a [Bt)blcm.
You then glibly dismiss the issue of the
nature of the debt as unimportanL
The central issue in any informed discussion on this subject, one to which you have
curiously not made mention, is whether or
not it is necessarily bad to borrow from
overseas. The simplistic view of the virtue
of balanced trade met its Waterloo some
time ago. The crucial point is that it is not
the debt per se that can be a problem, but
the income stream required to service the
interest payments on the debt. If the debt
is held by the government, legitimate
concern may exist as 10 the cost of repayment
of the debt. The borrowed funds may
finance consumption expenditure rather
Yours sincerely
Mark Picton Economics Honours
Economics Honours
Now, if you wanted to be a litUe more
sophisticated about the whole things
(which I'm sure you wouldn't - slogans
are much less intellectually taxing, aren't'
they ?) - you might argue that domestic
funds are cheaper. To sustain such an argument you would have to appeal...
Yours sincerely
Michael Brodie
•"
B.Ec.
Students to Respond
Dear Suzanne
... to some notions of Australia having a
communal credit rating that is being
eroded by events such as the imminent
collapse of the Bond empire. However,
unless you would hke to run some dubious
macroeconomic flow-on story, you would
have to allege that international financiers
are also irrational. Once again we run into
our little problem of ideological consistency. (Note: A rational simulation model
of a foreign investor constructed by SmiUi
and Graen indicated that a relevant risk
premium required by investors would be
in the order of 0.1% p.a.)
Your statement that government policy
affects the debt problem is quite correct.
The Labour government by moving to a
position of large budget surpluses has
reduced the debt PROBLEM. Their other
important policy changes have been to
float the dollar, allow international capital
mobility, and deregulate the financial
market This has allowed firms access to
otherwise un-tapable resources. If you
think firms are rational then this must be
a positve move. Deregulation has increased debt levels...
Dear Suzanne
... than productive investment expenditure
(your implicit view of government expenditure — not necessarily mine).
However, if the funds are borrowed by
individuals (the private sector) then it is
only rational for them to borrow if the rate
of return they expectiies above the rate of
interest that they borrow a t Of course, if
you reject the notion that individuals are
the best able to judge what is good for
them, or are inoLher senses irrational, then
you will reject this argument. However,
given that you are the Liberal Club
President I fail to see how a belief to die
irrationality of individuals is consistent
with your stated ideology. As a result you
must believe (if you are to be consistent
with your professed political position)
that the debt will be serviced and therefore
should cause no difficulties.
Yours sincerely
Anthony Cussons Economics Honours
Anthony is presenting a seminar to the'
Faculty on Foreign debt
To Suzanne
Dear Suzanne
... because funds are now available to invest in projects that otherwise would not
have been undertaken. But, if you wish to
maintain that these individuals fail to
make rational decisions the solution is
simple - re- regulate the financial markets
and/or review investment decisions at a
governmental level. Funny, it doesn't
sound to me much like the son of policies
your club espouses!
In conclusion I would suggest that in future, if you choose to discuss complex
political and economic issues ( which I
would say is not your area of comparitivc
advantage - or is it?) that you attempt to
do so in a consistent manner. Few will
object to ridiculous statements, as long as
they are consistenUy ridiculous.
Blair Comley
Economics Honours
Blair is currently on scholarship study
leave from the Federal
Treasury
Eds' Note: Very clever guys! This method
of getting around the 200 word limit won' I
work again.
Get it, Right?
Dear Right Wing Whingers
After reading the letters from the more
conservative political elements on campus in the last edition, which ranged from
inaccurate to outrageous, one couin' t help
but be motivated to reply.
Having been a member of PAC myself, I
find it difficult to justify the claims of
ineptitude which have been levelled at the
more than competant PAC Chair in the
form of Ben Hider. The activities which
have already occurred and those which are
planned, have only been a result of Ben's
hard work (the regular PAC column being
one manifestation of this). They are
certainly on a greater scale than PAC has
undertaken in previous years. Part of the
reason for this is Uiat the Liberal student
representatives, after having been elected,
have been negligent, to say the least, about
coming to PAC meetings in thefirstplace,
letalone making any constructive input.
Secondly, when the conservative PAC
members were reporting on the "outrageous" conduct of the meeting as well
as Ben's representation of it, they
conveniently failed, neglect or otherwise
to mention the most "outrageous" aspect
OifUie meeting. This was the Watant sexist
statement (read quip) which one of the
Liberal student representatives used as the
basis for a personal attack on a member of
the Feminist Collective. Maybe they
should worry about their inaccuracies
before starting to analyse Ben's PAC
column. This action in itself also showcases, along with comments on abortion
and the poll lax in letters in the last edition,
some of the reactionary attitudes which
these "liberals and democrats [sic]" hold.
Finally, this brings me to probably the
saddest aspect of this right wing litaary
flurry, unfortunately common to most of
the con.servalivc letters. After.skirling
around or revising the event of Monday
(23/6), the conservatives then tread down
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• LSfs
Wife Thursday 26th Apiil, 1990 page 30
--
an all too familiar path, bearing dieir worst
paranoia, and drag the red out from under
the bed, kickingand screaming. This takes
die form of accusing the Labor Student
"party machine" of being undemocratic to
start with and ends up accusing them of
being sympathetic to every totalitarian
regime, bloodbath and massacre since
time long forgotten. Is it so long ago dial
you forget that it was in fact a Labor
Student endorsed motion in PAC which
supported the Chinese students in 1989?
FurUiermone, I might also remind Alan
and friends that in it's sUiicture the Labor
Party is still considerably moredemocractic
than die Liberal Party, while on campus
the Labor Club's structure is more
democratic than most.
Geoff Drechsler
ArtsIL
"Ben Bludgeoned",
Bludgeoned
Dear Michael Casey
After reading your letter tided "Ben
Bludgeoned" in the last edition of diis
paper, I am both offended and angry.
Aside from your unjustified and malicious
attack on P.A.C. Chairperson Ben Hider,
you also accused the Monash A.L.P. club
(Labor students) of supporting totalitarian
regimes from Pol Pot's Cambodia to
Stalin's Soviet Union, and that as such we
are hypocritic to the Jewish cause by
supporting the publicaton of an antibolocaust awareness booklet on P.A.C.
Labor Students as representing true,
pluralistic democratic socialism are as
horrified and angry as you appear to be
about the shocking atrocities that have
occurred under any dictatorship, be it Pol
Pot's Cambodia or Pinochet's Chile.
Labor students have always strongly
opposed all such regimes and the
organisations which have commited
any of diese barbaric acts. To infer that a
group which embraces parliamentary
democracy and social justice would
support the slaughter of millions of
human beings is an outrageous accusation
stemming from a typically cheap rightwing perspective.
The Labor Students on P.A.C. would
willingly agree to support an awareness
booklet or campaign opposing any act of
injustice by dictatorial government, if
such a perposc was put to the committee
(in the same way that we supported the
MONJSS submission).
That abranchvice-presidentof die Young
Liberals should choose to makethis attack
on Labor students is entirely predictable
and rather amusing as it clearly reflects
the true ignorance and opportunism of
those who so vehemently oppose any
progressive left-wing organisation.
James Harrison
Publicly Officer
Monash A.L.P. club.
Ben Speaks
Dear Chris, Alan, Chris, Dan and
Michael,
Thanks for all die fan mail, I love you all.
However, I couldn't be bothered replying
to diem because, in my opinion, if I've
managed to get so many Liberals and
Conservatives riled, I must be doing
something right
Yours sincerely,
Ben Hider
Chairperson
Public Affairs CommitU»
I
U^rr^^Bl
Try Addressing the
Issues
Dear Elisa Garzarella
Yourcommentsonmy article on vivisection
failed to address any of the issues or
examples which I discussed. Nonetheless, your letter warrants a reply, if only
for its elucidation of the lired conventionalism and paranoia that hinders the
humanitarian improvement of our scientific
practices. Merely die defensiveness of
your altitude mates me winder exacdy
what experiments you have "properly" and
"importanlly"conducted in the course of
your studies (you do not actually mention
any, just as you do not address any of
the specific examples that I mention' thalidomide, for instance); I did not even
mention the Monash Science Faculty, because I am not well enough acquainted with
its practices.
How dare you also presume that I take
headache pills or anti-nauseatiog drops. (I
don't even know what they are-what a
beneficial discovery!). As for the guinea
pig that has been in my bed before me(?!),
I am sure there has been none, and that if
there were, I am not so sure 1 would "feel
safe" for it.
Finally, one would expect an honours
student (especially one with honours in
science) to know the correct word for
"rabbit". I resent your patronising use of
the term "bunny" and Ihe implicilassumplion
that 1 am too emotive to see a rabbit as a
rabbit- a living, breathing, sentient creature.
Elisa, there is a strong case/or vivisection
— you didn't give iL
Yvonne Murdoch,
Arts5
P.S. I forgot to mention in the articlesupport "The Body Shop", Pioneers in
safe products ihataren't tested on animals.
Creative Writing
Group Seeks Existence
Deal Lot's Wife,
Two really bored people awoke after a
night of uneasy dreams to find themselves
transformed into a gigantic need to form
a creative writing group. We don't want
to level any overt abuse at the Monash
Poetry Workshop, b u t . . . what we want
to do is form the abovementioned writing
group, with Clubs and Societies, to enable
people to read whatever it is ihey write to
a group of like-minded students. We need
in Ihe short-term 25 people willing to
supply their names for a list to show Clubs
and Societies that the demand exists. At
this stage we would simply like to discuss
how tile whole thing will run with any
interested people, we don't want to lake
any more of a dominant role in this than
anybody else. We want to create as open
a format as possible, free from ihe evils of
academically induced slodginess. Please
make an effort to contact us:
Either phone Mark, on 428 2442,
or write to Michael,
Flat 1/6 McHenry St.
Ripponlea, 3185.
Seeing the Wood for
the Trees
DcarLol's,
Well, that was a very exciting last edition
oSLol's Wife, especially Ihe letters pages.
However, I Uiought 1 had better write in to
correct some of the disinformation that
surfaced there in die guise of righteous
indignation.
Firstly,l would Uke to correct die description (should I say caricature) of myself in
the PAC Report. 1 don't mind in the least
being called a hippy, however I would like
to clarify my remark about so-called
"vegetable rights". What I was talking
about was the discussion concerning the
"rights of non- human species". This is not
a discussion about whether or not we
should eat vegetables - us greenies arc not
fucking stupid. The proposition is that we
should look at die ways in which biodiversity can be ensured. One way to do
this would be to legislate for die rights of
non-human species, not just species but
ecosystems and habitats as well. The
effect of this would be to have a legal
defence to preserve as many species as
possible. This is legislation ilut is being
seriously considered in ihe US, and it
shows that tlieie is a recognition tiiat the
lives of £ll people are intimately linked to
the lives of all other species on diis planet,
and therefore we all have rights.
That sounds a bit serious, F know, but I just
wanted to reassure everybody that I'm not
as crazy as the ALP would have you
believe.
The second thing diat I would like to
correct is the allegation made by Alan
Rosengarten that Alex and I are nol "nonLabor students". By asserting this, Mr
Rosengarten is implying that we are not
'Tree to vote according lo our consciences".
Well, I'd like to refute diat implication indeed, to me, it almost sounds like
slander. On several occasions 1 have
abstained on votes because of my conscience. At the last meeting, however, 1
voted for a motion originally put out by
the ALERT team, condemning the VC for
politicising the university.
There is one other matter raised here that
I would also like to comment on; it is to
do with the matter of the MonJSS
pamphleL In your last edition, both Mr
Rosengarten and Mr Francis slated that
only one member of PAC did nol support
the motion. I would Uke to state that I also
abstained on this vote, for essentially the
same reasons as Mr Francis, and 1 would
like to support die sentiments he raised in
his article of die last edition relating to tiiis
matter.
In conclusion, I would like to make a few
comments. I would like to invite
anybody interested in conservation and
the environment to contact me, C/- The
Conservation Group, with regards to any
motion or proposal Uiattiieywould like to
help with. Secondly, I have solved my
parking problem -1 ride a motorbike and
park within two minutes walk of flie
Union Building every day, and it has
nothing to do with the Faculty diat I
belong to. Finally, I would like to remind
everybody to put dieir glass and cans in
the Recycling Bins, otherwise we will all
die.
Richard Shapcott
Arts, (I've lost count of how many years)
Conservation Group member for PAC,
Recycling Co-Ordinator (joint), hippy.
Confirmation Rip-off
Dear Lot's Wife,
Everyone will have recenUy received their
Confirmation of Enrolment form. Accompanying this form was a direatening letter
outlining the amount of late fee you will
have to pay if die form isn't returned by
April 24. (ie: two days after die midsemester break). Presuming other students received this form on April 11 as I
did, this is insufficient time lo expect students to return tiie form. Do Student Administration expect fourteen thousand
students to file in and out of their doors to
drop off die form in die tiiree teaching
days before the cut-off? That would be an
average of one siudent every six seconds.
Too bad if some of diem have an enquiry
as well.
Invitation to a Free
For All
This system will be a great money-spinner
for the university, since a fan' proportion
of students will have to pay late fees. This
could be seen as a way of off-setting die
massive financial and administrative burden placed on die university by die HECS,
by partially transferring the burden onto
the students.
Anytime. Anywhere or maybe al die Nott
over a beer
Come one
Come all.
Fiona, Drew, Rohan, Julian, Tim,
Natasha, Jane, and anyone else.
Nick Welsh
Steve Boger
Jason Goode
Aaron Rust
Science II
Eds note: Guys, along with everyone else.
we are sick of reading Ihe same argument.
Unless you can think of something new,
don't bother!
So what has happened to the opposition to
the HECS? What happened to those inspiring student protests (no, I'm nol talking about die 60's)? They have been
stifled by the inactivity of organisations
like MAS and NUS which are nol
prepared to upset dieir ALP heroes.
Anyway, I suggest diat students, as a form
of protest, don't "agree" to die HECS
detailsof dieir Confirmation of Enrolment
form. Instead, you should write on die
back: "I believe these details to be incorrect. I shouldn't have a HECS liability. I
believe diis because education should be
free."
Judge TV Rentals
Portable Colour TV's to Rent
$14 to $16 per Month.
Also Video Caseoe Recorder
$18 lo $22 per Month.
No long tenn Lease
Rentals ^nl month lo monih
basis.
Contact Doug after 6pm.
Yours in solidarity
Danny O'Hagan
Resistance
Sci/Law 111
592 0319
I'm Bored
No Personal Abuse,
Arseholes
Dear Lot's,
I would like 10 congratulate the participants in ihe great Arts vs Engineering
letter war. It was, widiout doubt, the most
mindless liradeofgarbageithas ever been
my misfortune to encounter in Lot's Wife.
This includes die great evolution vs creation
debate in 1986, which at least contained
die occasional valid point amidst the
torrent of personaj abuse.
Apart from being downright boring, Ihe
attitudes displayed by both Arts and Engineering students in these letters makes
me severely depressed about the future of
acadcmia. At a time when economic
rationalism is s looming threat over
academic tiadition and standards, young
academics and intellectuals are too busy
engaging in mod-slinging matches to
either notice or care. If you lot are typical
of the student peculation as a whole, dien
the economists have got a point. You are
privileged to be getting a university
education. It ought to be a right; but die
sad fact is diat the majority of people will
never so much as set foot in a university.
If you don't make die moslof youreducational opportunity, no mailer what you arc
studying, and open your mind to as many
ways of thinking as you can, then you
don't deserve lo be here. So ihcrel
Lots of love,
Michael Johnson
Arts or Economics,
Nick?
Dear Lot's,
As I sit making yet another paper plane
out of my stolen library books, 1 feel 1
must congratulate die recent graduating
Arts Students. UnforUmately they must go
out and do a real course lo get a real job.
Shouldn't Bill Pilt and Sam Ring have
won die besl letter? It is so hard lo bag a
Crested Shell duck, God knows I've ti-ied.
On ya lads!
True to my prediction, Pcnni IS areold hat,
this month it's rubbish and die environment.
Steve Boger
Sci/Eng 11
Nick Welsh
Sci/Eng II
Deal Lot's Wife,
As anodier debate gels off die ground (ie:
the availability of car parking space), it's
good 10 see the majority of die reply letters
sticking lo the old habit of personal abuse.
Of course, it's much simpler to abuse
someone on the grounds of what course
they are doing dian reply widi a sensible
argument. Simply because Uicre may be a
few dickheads in die Arts faculty, don't
assume every Arts student to be equally as
diick. If you're Sci or Eng, don'l be smug
and think all Science and Engineering students axe all diere, either. Being amongst
this group, I've seen we have our fair
share of utter arseholes as well.
Peter Sykes
SciEng II
PS: With regard lo the parking debate -1
have noti-oubleparking my bicycle. Try
it some lime.
Enjoy Your Degree
Deal Lot's,
1 know that a lot of die inter-faculty brawling dial goes on is juslpeoplerelishing die
chance for a humorous dig al students
doing different courses. You could say it
adds 10 theatmosphere! (Environmentally
sound, of course). But, I am worried that
nol all students - from whatever faculty are broadminded enough about what any
bachelor's degree offers. Uni is not just a
place lo train for a career. It is also a place
for coming into contact with different
people, ideas and events. Every siudent
has the chance lo diversify their education
in non-accdemic ways, which are just as
important and valuable as the su-ictiy
academic side of your degree.
A bachelor's degree is simply die basis for
your time al uni. Make die most of il by
learning about die multiplicity of events,
people and clubsavallable al Monash, and
then taking pan in some of them! This will
enhance any degree, perhaps not specifically career-wise for you, butdefinitely as
part of your personal education. Use your
degree as a chance lo form ideas and interact with the rest of die world, not just
to categorise il.
Natasha Carpenter
, Lot's Wik Thursday 2ieth April, J990.page 31
•
•.••.,•,
• • • • ' •
••
••
'
•
•
'
I - y , !
,
\ \ \ f
, ^
i
i
lilTTt^Sl
Freedom or
Enterprise
I suggest that the Amentities fee would be
safer and be managed in a more efficient
manner in the control of professional
managers and their employees, rather than
students, while elected students provide
direction in the policies and decision
making of the union and other relevant
aspeclsof Monash. Students shouldnot be
compelled to act against their wishes, or
pay money for services and facilities that
Ihey do not wish to utilise.
the reform process. Firstly, the rise of an
individual such as Gorbachev reflects not
merely the emergence of a new leader, but
of the reform current in the socialist
countries in general and the Soviet Communist Party in particular; a current which
had its roots in the liberalisation of the late
1960's. The current as a whole (particularly in the USSR) has played a critical role
in the development of Perestroika as a
program of reform. Secondly, Perestroika
will be ineffectual and Glasnost meaningless unless they are campaigned for by
millions of Soviet and East European
citizens. The bureaucracies of the socialist
countries are far too large (and still to
powerful) to be overcome by reformminded politicians acting in isolation
from the mass of working people. In many
respects this was the mistake that Khrushchev made in the late fifties and early
sixties - designing a program of reform
•from above'. Perestroika is a popular
anti-bureaucratic program and its success
depends on its popular implementation.
A further error Ttacey makes is herassessment of Gorbachev (and by implication
the reform current). The parallels between
Gorbachev's Perestroika and Lenin's
New Economic Policy are far too strong
to suggest that Gorbachev isn' i a LcninisL
The limited operation of market forces,
the utilisation of foreign capital in modernising the Soviet economy and an orientation to co-operative farming were
important features of the NEP and have
re-emerged in Percsuoika. Furthermore,
Gorbachev's attempts to separate the
parly apparatus from that of the state and
the U'ade unions echo the actions and writing of the early Bolsheviks, in particular
Lenin. Gorbachev's references to Lenin
as "an ideological source of Perestroika"
are far more than ideological justification
ofPeresu-okia. To suggest thalGorbachev
is a "Eurocommunist with a Russian accent" rather than a Leninist ignores both
the form and content of Peresuoika, which
is clearly grounded in the content and
spirit of the NEP under Lenin.
As the socialist countries sink further into
protracted crisis, the emergence of Russian chauvinism will seem to many in the
West as a threat to Perestroika. However,
as Gorbachev's biographer and former
dissident Zhores Medvedev pointed out in
a recent interview (New Left Review 179),
Pamyal and the Union of Russian
Workers are both weak organisationally
and in terms of their followings.
Yours in freedom and enterprise
Dean Kennedy
PS; A reminder to James Harrison (Lot's
"fault"? letter 11.4.90) that so far these
have not been slight quips or inferences,
rather the difference, James, is that this
has been a blatant and deliberate attempt
to mislead and slur - not being the honest
and open opinions that you suggest span
theLM'fWi/e pages.
The success of Perestroika depends firsdy
on its active adoption by millions of
people in the USSR and Eastern Europe,
which seems to be happening, and
secondly in the re-emergence/revamping
of leading democratic socialist political
Ibrces. This second factor is certainly applicable to current moves to democratise
the Soviet Communist Party.
Dear Mr Hider,
To say that I find your article "Student
Control of Student Affairs" (Lot's Wife
11.4.90)extraordinary wouldbean underslatemenL I don't find your suggested
remedy to be of any benefit or improvement,
but instead we need to address this
problem and find a workable solution that
provides benefits to all those at Monash
(and soon Greater Monash) while incorporating efficiency and advancement
from what we now have.
Yes, it is true that a union must be "representative" and "reflect die wishes and
interests of the members". Clearly then,
VSU (Voluntary StudentUnionism) is the
way to go. If I do not wish to be a part of
the union, then I only need ID pay a portion
of the fee that 1 will automatically gain
benefits from. 3MU, and the billiard
room, to take two examples, are places I
have never set foot into (except Host
Scheme tour time). I pay for these services
and facilities, but don't wish to use them;
this doesn't "reflect my wishes".
You then go on to advocate that the union
you envisage has "automatic membership". This cannot aUcmpt to reflect the
wishes of its members when it is compulsory
to become a member without any say in
the matter! Decisions can't be totally
representative and justified when
members object to the union that they
are compelled to join. This is a pathetic
slate of affairs, you may be espousing
student control of student affairs, but your
suggested solution to this fails miserably
by the fact that it is exucmely doubtful
that students are capable of managing an
entire university structure - and diat 15.2
per cent of the fee is already a considerable sum of money under student control
as it is.
A Flawed Refolution
Dcariol'i,
1 foundTracey Harrison's article on Eastern Europe (Lot's Wife 28.3.90) fundamentally flawed in a number ol
respects. Tracey is correct in pointing oul
that the crisis in the socialist countries i.'
rooted in economic stagnation. I think thai
bureaucratic corruption could be added tc
a list of factors. The inefficiency ol
bureaucratic, centralised planning intertwined with the commonly felt hated of
various authoritarian forms of state organisation have resulted in Perestroika
and Glasnost in the Soviet Union and now
Eastern Europe.
To attribute "Refolution" in Eastern
Europe and the Soviet Union to ideas (and
therefore the individuals that hold them the "Cleopatra's nose" thesis) as Tracey
does, misses some important features of
Jeremy Smith
Resistance
Dialectic Sexism
Oess Lot's
"Are we forgetting wc are .striving for
equal rights?" (C'mon fellas, 11/4). Why
dowomennecda room ofthcirown?Why
do men need a room of their own? Can
relaxation and a comfortable environment
only be achieved in a gender-spccilic
area? No! 1 would suggest that the purpose
of the Women's Room has been confused,
forgotten or misinterpreted.
It is an insult to and sad misunderstanding
of the capacity of a human being to suggest
that they need a specific area compatible
with certain features and/or beliefs they
hold in which to relax.
I am not advocating that such areas should
be done away with altogether. This is to
Lo^s Wife Thursday 26th April, 1990 page J2
entirely miss the point of their existence.
But such categorising of people is not
moving along the path of equality at all.
Rather, it is emphasising a separation of
different "types" of people which is
unnecessarily and more often than not a
reinforcement of the status quo.
The importance of cultural identity cannot
be under-estimated — hence the need for
an area in which to relax with other people
of similar background or with whom you
have something in common. But if we are
also striving for equality it is crucial to
remember that equality goes hand in hand
with acceptance and diversity. You cannot have one without the other. There are
many issues which are best handled in a
group especially created to deal with
it/them. But this does not imply an exclusive area with no scope for diversity is
the only answer to dealing with those issues, problems and feelings.
A Women's Room or an OSS lounge or a
MAPS lounge is created in response to a
need for a sympathetic environment. To
create, say, a Men's Room, Ausualian
Student's lounge or First Year Students
Room would only be emphasising a
distinction which does not need to be
made. This is not equality — it is
categorising and sepatating people just
because they have something in common.
It is not necessary!
That is why I reject Adrian Kennedy's
opinion that Monash needs a Men's
Room. It is not necessary!
Natasha Carpenter
Understanding the
Threat
Dear Lot'J,
There are a lot of uninformed, antiquated
and largely groundless fears that seem to
crop upevery time the issue of a Women's
Room is mentioned.
Part of the hostility towards the concept of
a Women's Room stems from people, particularly men, feeling threatened. "What
happens in there that we can't know
about?" is a throw-away line I have heard
so often. "Why do you need to know?" has
become my throw-away answer.
It's simple - the need to know is related to
the need for power and through this is the
need for control. I understand the origins
of Uiis need for control are both historical
and contemporary in the sense that
"modem", "Western" society reinforces
and perpetuates the structures that oppress
women. 1 understand too, that it is difficult
to fight social conditioning and that we all
must fight it, individually and collectively.
What I cannot accept is that women are
condemned, persecuted and abused for
exactly this. We struggle against oppressive su-uctures and values, and arc told it
is wrong. We rebel against the dehumanising patfiarchal system that sets
stereotypes for us all, and are told we are
wrong. Enough of us have realised that we
arc not wrong. The demand for women's
space is part of the political expression
and agitation of women's growing consciousness. Such moves towards growth
and progress deserve recognition, encouragement and practial support, not
sabotage.
Suggesting that a Women's Room is
sexist, separatist and segregationist, and
to base this analysis purely on the argument of gender exclusion isinvaIid,outof
context and ignores completely the oppressive structures perpetuated by, and
the reality of, capitalism and patriarchy.
Further, I believe that the only reason this
argument is used is to confuse people,
particularly women, and is an attempt to
defuse political action on the issue of
sexism and women's liberation.
Support your Women's Room - it is your
space and your political right!
Yours in sisterhood and solidarity,
NiluferGunay
Arts II
Women's Room
Defended
Dear Adrian Kennedy,
My, my, aren't you a clever boy - you've
managed to invade the Women's Room.
Did this effort boost your ego? Did it
perhaps improve your testicular proportions? Are you a real man now?
Perhaps your next mission could be to
impose yourself upon those in the MOSA
(Monash Orientation Scheme for
Aboriginals) common room, because it's
obvious you do not and cannot respect
why oppressed and marginalised groups
such as women, Koori/Aboriginals,
migrants, gays and lesbians, and working
class people deserve a space of their own.
Lock your doors MOSA, OSS, GaySoc the man (?) is on a rampage!
If you ever grew up enough to understand
the enormous benefits you have accrued
as a man in our society, you may be mature enough to understand that the
iWomcn's Room is a vital and important
ipartofthiscampus. Ilispartoftheatlempl
to redress the enormous inequalities
which exist and are perpetuated and supported by people such as yourself.
Jane Kelsen
Ans/Law III
MAS Debate Stifled
DearLo; i,
It was most distressing to see that the
Student General Meeting on April 5 was
turned into a farce by a disruptive few.
The SGM was discussing important issues
for all students, and I congratulate the
MAS staff for their efforts.
A group of students condemning what
they called the "stifling of free speech"
were in fact doing everyone an injustice.
.. continuing to speak off the topic was in
fact the stifling of firee speech for those
students who wanted to be there and listen.
Amanda Shaw
Eng II
EGYPT HOUSE
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s,r<5^T
Basehair s Big
and Getting Bigger
by Greg Melha
O
ne of the fastest growing sports in
Australia at the moment is
Baseball; it's growth being fertilised by the recent inaugural season of
the National Baseball League. So I guess
it comes as no surprise if I tell you that we
have a Baseball Club on campus, but what
probably will surprise you is that it has
been around since 1965 — almost since
the beginning of the University.
At that time there were only Melbourne
and Monash Unis' in Victoria, the former
being known as "the City" and the latter
known as "the Farm". It is from those
early days that the baseball club called
ii.self the "Monash Farmers", a very dull
and daggy name somewhat steeped in history. It is also interesting to note that the
multi-Religious Centre was the site of the
first baseball clubhouse.
Between 1980 and 1985, Monash made
the history books by winning 6 A-grade
premiership flags in a row, a feat that no
Get into Golf
by Dean Kennedy
O
kay all you golfing would-be's
and stars, we arc big and we mean
business. Golf at Monash is huge
- free chnics for members every Monday
during the year (except pubhc holidays
and vacation times) make it very
worthwhile to join such a warm, happy,
merry, wonderful, generous, helpful
group of people.
What else is there for you to do? Well,
there are golf days and soon-to-bereleased details of social activities that are
sure to never be forgotten. Where do we
play golf? This all depends on your ability
- if you are pretty hot on the golf course,
then you can get some serious fun out of
courses like The National, Royal Melbourne, Malvern Valley, St Andrews,
Augusta (well, maybe not the last two, but
certainly all the others).
Another huge benefit we offer you is (if
you wish) playing rights at Southern Golf
Club, which is not too far away, in Keysborough. This is during the week, by
booking at S & R, and there are some
requirements that you have to meet; for
example, don't wear your board shorts!
You still need to pay green fees, but the
fact that you get to play golf on a wonderful under-crowded private course near
Monash without a member, totally outweighs the cost
other team has come close to. Some of the
players to come out of those extraordinary
years include Paul Jackson, who represented Victoria in the Sheffield Shield
side, David Clarkson and David Buckthorpe who both played with the Waverley Reds, and Michael Klinger who
played with the Melbourne Monarchs and
is coach of Frankston during the winter
months.
This season we have the coaching services
of Ron Carothers, an ex-pat American
who also played in the National League
for the Wavcrley Reds and came at least
third in every batting award given this past
season (home runs, runners batted-in,
averages). We will be fielding three teams
in the Dandenong Baseball Association
this year. A, C and D grades and games
are to be played 2.00 p.m. Saturdays.
The season started last weekend, with the
three teams playing Cheltenham, Dandenong and Lyndale respectively. The
match results of these games, including
reports on some of the more exciting
aspects of them, will be printed for your
pleasure in forthcoming editions of Lol's
Wife.
So if you are at a loss on Saturday afternoon, or if studying in the Library is too
strenuous, then why not come down to a
game to support your local "Farmers".
Note: The Monash Baseball diamond is
situated behind the main football oval behind Sports & Recreation, down near the
S.E. fiats.
prevent you from being a member of the
Monash Golf Club. Heck, I'm a member
of Squash, Rugby and Watcrski, to name
a few (and maybe some more, but I was
too drunk in 0-Week to remember). We
are a raixed-up club, with lots of males
and females (our President is female), and
lots of different ages and abilities, from
total beginners right through to total
professionals (well, almost - you need to
be an amateur) so take that last final step
and tell yourself that membership is all it's
cracked up to be. The Answer didn't turn
out to be Liberal on March 24, but as a
consolation The Answer is Monash Golf.
PPS: Please bring your membership card
to the clinics, because it's your money
(Ralph), and non-members shouldn't be
wasting it. We do, however encourage
you to join if you are that keen. See you
soon!
All this is available to you for a mere $7,
and then we are generous enough (and
rich enough) to subsidise some of our golf
outings (where we don't ah'eady receive
enormously generous discounts through
wonderful contacts). Although you don't
need your own clubs for the climes, we do
recommend BYO clubs, but don't bring
more than a seven iron, because it isn't
nice to send balls into someone's lunch at
the back of the Union Building widi that
nice new Taylor 8.5 fitted with gold
boron, that you've had in your bag for a
monUi (but haven't quite got the hang of
yet).
So when can we expect to see you? Join
at S & R, or come along on Mondays
(watch Daily News) and join at the clinic.
Alternatively, drop us a line - we have a
letterbox behind the Union Desk.
PS: Don't think that the excuse of being
involved in another sporting club will
MONASH MOTOR SCHOOL
SERVICING MONASH
SINCE 1961
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FOR STUDENTS AND STAFF
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S>r<&^T
Elite Triathletes
by Steve Black & Justin Wilson
A stunning second place behind Commonwealth Games representative Sharon
Weatherall, clinched fifth outright junior
placing in the 12 race Victorian Championship series for Monash Uni's own
Kate Kelson. Kate competed in only two
of twelve events in her debut triathlon
season, gaining victory in her other State
Series event in Ballarat.
A tightly knit and competitive team of
Monash UTC members descended upon
Bendigo around 5.00 p.m. Friday afternoon and hit Jo-Joes' Pasta Palace around
six. In the ensuing 3 hours John Havranak
dazzled all with his erotic display of nasally
ejaculating ice-cream in a fit of laughter.
Not to be outdone, Sluan Hayes (Club
President), after obliterating his lasagna,
fired a meat pellet through his right nasal
orifice after choking at Michael
Wamstccker's intellectually fascinating
attempts at explaining his jokes. Before
the night was over, vast quantities of
Jo-Joes' value for money pasta, pizza,
garlic bread, lime spiders and lemon
crepes ensured the team had been comfortably
carbo-loaded for die race, and then headed
back to the infamous Brolga to spend the
night
Race morning dawned and reputations
were laid on the line; the last hit before the
Club Championships, most people coming
into peak form and that overriding question in everyone's mind — "Is it better to
wax your legs or cat a Mars Bar?" As tlie
sun rose over a cold and choppy Lake
Eppallock, confusion reigned as to the
layout of the 800m swim leg. As Kale
(Legend) Kelson waited in the background for the start of her race, the
remainder of the learn went through their
warm-up routines.
The gun sounded and Juslin (I've got a
tape with three songs on it for people who
can't handle excessive Phil Collins) Wilson briefly took the lead before allowing
the eventual race winner to do the hard
running. Close on his heels was a fired-up
Stuart Hayes looking for a big lead going
onto the bike. But swim honours went to
our own Glen Housman with freshly
waxed legs—Steve Black. Shane (I know
a fast way back to Melbourne) Williams
was eating at Steve's toenails as he
climbed out of the water.
With the swim completed, all club members including Stuart were faced with the
undulating and particularly challenging
34 km cycle leg. However, it was Justin's
skinny, freckled and orange zinc cream
clad body Uiat lore up through the transition hungry to consoUdalc on his handsome swim lime.
Team members negotiated the cycle with
a minimum of fuss leaving only the 8 km
run leg to endure. Shane (Gun) Williams
maintained his lead lo be first home in
1.38, closely followed by Steve Black in
1.42 wiUi Leigh (everyone's number from
218 to 230, except mine has won a prize).
Branagan just pipping Stuart Hayes in
1.43. However Uie biggest battle was yel
lo come, as Justin (1 did a 22 minute swim
when everyone else did sub 15) Wilson
sought to reel in the irrepre.ssible and apdy
name John Havranek (resident Club
Legend). In a sprint at the finish, which
brought back memories of Andrew
Lloyd's gold medal winning effort in the
Commonwcallli Games flooding back to
all those present, tlie two hit the line
together, and, as we write, officials of the
TAV are scanning the developed prim to
split the pair.
Michael (second most incredible name)
Wamslecker labouring under the burden
of stomach cramps successfully completed the course soon after John and Justin. This rounded off a successful race for
the male division of the Monash UTC.
In die female division Kate Kelson was
the UTC's sole rep, and as previously
mentioned she represented the club in a
glorious manner, although catching Juslin
by the first buoy (after starting two
minutes later) was probably her best and
most well deserved achievement. And so
Uie day proceeded to its pinnacle, the be
all and end all of triaihlon competition —
the spot prize ceremony.
Once again, Justin (Spot Prize) Wilson
dominated all-comers with an unprecedented (not to mention illegal) two spot
prizes taking his claim to three in two
races (including two pairs of Bollc
sunglasses).
Overall Monash continued its demoralising string of spot prize victories in which
75% of members won at this race.
Notables were:
J.Wilson
BoUe Sunglasses &
Coca-Cola Sidon
K. Kelson
Race Singlet
S. Williams
Race Singlet
S. Black
Vitamin tablets
L. Branagan
Brolga Pewter Cup
S mart (never won a spot prize in 20 triathlons) Hayes totally lost everyone on the
return trip by going off in the wrong direction to measure the run course exacdy 8
km. The team proceeded home via the
place next to the Pizza shop in Heathcote
to down some well earned lagers and the
odd steak sandwich or four.
Steve (I'm only coming up to gel pissed
on Friday night, and bugger it I'll slay for
Saturday as well) Corric, our official club
spectator, bid us farewell after scoring a
free meal with the elite iriadiletes and race
organisers heading out for a 10 km run as
we left for Melbourne.
The Monash UTC swims Tuesday and
Thursday 8.00 p.m. at the Monash Pool
and rides from Sports & Rcc. every Sunday morning 8.00 a.m.
All Welcome.
f?£cYcLE YouK CYCLE
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Treading the Boards
Exhibitions
La Mama presents Tess de Quincey's
Another Dust for one week only, May 2
to May 6, Wednesday to Sunday, 8.30pm.
Tickets are$10,$6 concession. All bookings through Readings Bookshop,
Carlton, phone 347 6142 until 6pm. Tess
will also be holding a series of Body
Weather Workshops at the Solo Studio,
23 Stawell Street. North Melbourne. For
information and bookings, phone La
Mama Workshops on 386 3583.
All Down The Line - a surf film featuring
stunning surf action from Tom Carroll,
filmed on location in Java, Hawaii and
Australia. Playing at the Alexander
Theatre, Monash Uni, for one night only Thursday, April 26 at 8pm.
Sister of the Moon - Kakadu, recent
paintings by Peter Adsett, is currently
showing at the William Mora Galleries,
31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. The exhibition follows a recent trip to Kakadu with
fellow artists; Irish musician Christie
Cooney; photographer Peter Jarver, and
poet Mark O'Connor. These extraordinary paintings are on show until Friday,
May 4.
La Musica
Robert Blackwood Hall:
Friday, May 4 at Spm: Monash University Choral Society presents the Verdi Requiem with the Frankston Symphony
Orchestra, a 100 voice choir and four
guest soloists. The concert will be conducted by Andre De Quadros. Admission
$12, pensioners and unemployed $7.
Tickets available at the door, or phone 565
3091 or (AH) 544 5448.
Sunday, May 13 at Spm: Sri Mumgcsu
Fine Arts Club, Melbourne presents Cine
Fame YG Mahendraa. Featuring a group
of 12 excellent film comedians in Ithu
Nyayama Sir, a full length comedy play.
Also featuring "Jothi", the popular South
Indian film actress. Tickets available from
all Sri Lankan and Indian stores or contact
Reuben on 380 1965 or Logan 752 2232.
Monday May 14 at 1.15pm: Lunchtime
concert "Ensemble 1" - Admission free.
Saturday May 19 at 7pm: Victorian
Children's Choir present their Winter
Celebrity Concert. Tickets are $14.50,
student/pensioners $ 11.50, children
$ 8.50.
Jazz After Dark: From 11pm in the
George Fairfax Studio at the Victorian
Arts Centre, cover charge $7.
Friday April 27: Chick Paris Quartet (Potter Foyer), Glenda Walsh Trio (Amcor
Lounge).
Saturday April 28: Ruby Carter's McJazz
(Potter Foyer), Bobby Venier Trio
(Aracor Lounge).
The Peter Clinch Saxaphone Quartet
Concert with Marilyn Quaife (soprano)
and Angela Dhar (piano) will include
music by Bach, Glazounov, Gordon Jacob
and George Dreyfus. Sunday April 29,
7.30pm at the Toorak Uniting Church,
603 Toorak Road, Toorak. Tickets available at the door, $15, $10 concession.
Further enquiries, phone 842 5935.
Melbourne University Choral Society
presents the New Mozart Requiem. This
classic work has been revitalised by recent
research, restoring its original beauty. The
concert is to be performed in St Paul's
Cathedral, comer Flinders and Swanston
Streets,on Saturday May 12at8pm.Tickets are $14, $9 concession, and are available at Bass or at the door. For further
information, phone Ros Williams on 836
9101.
Victorian Ceramic Group. A selling exhibition of recent work by various Victorian potters and ceramic artisis
(including some well-knowns and some
emerging stars) will he held at the AMP
Square Plaza, comer Bourke and William
Streets, Melbourne, 9am to Spm Monday
to Friday from April 30 to May 11. For
further enquiries, phone 419 0730.
Bai Shi: Yunnan Art Group. An exhibition of paintings by artist Bai Shi, of the
province of Yun Nan, South Western area
of mainland China, will be held at the
Doncastcr Art Gallery (rear Municipaal
offices), 699 Doncasler Road, Doncasler,
from April 18 to May 2. For further enquiries, phone 848 9735.
Scholarships
Scholarships for study in New Zealand
The New Zealand Government is offering
scholarships to Australian students for
postgraduate courses in NZ during 1991.
Applicants must be graduates of a university or college of advanced education or
equilivantand, unless special circumstances apply, be under 35 years of age. Applicants for PhD study should have at least
upper second class honours or the equilivant, and those for other courses should
havea bachelor's degrceatcredil/honours
level. Benefits of the award include air
travel; tuition, laboratory and examination fees; maintenance, book, marriage
and child allowances; medical and hospital benefits; and assistance with internal
u-avel and field expenses.
Candidates should apply through their
university (application forms are available from Registrars' Offices along with
details about closing
dates).
Hungarian Government Scholarships
1990-91
A limited number of scholarships for advanced studies in Hungarian cultural subjects are now available. Subjects such as
music, art and dance are covered by the
scholarships in Hungarian educational institutions during the 1990-91 academic
year.
The scholarships cover periods of diree to
six months. Benefits include: a living allowance of approx. A$100 per month, no
tuition fees, and suitable accommodation
provided; payment of medical, dental and
hospital expenses; paid internal travel essential for study periods; for an initial
period, the services of a guide and interpreter. The cost of travel to and from
Hungary is not included. Closing date for
applications is April 30. For further information, coniact:
Hungarian Government Scholarships
Department of Employment. Education
and Training
GPO Box 9880
Canberra ACT 2600
Lectures and
Seminars
Centre of South East Asian Studies
Seminars take place on Thursdays at
11.15am in Room 515, Menzies Building.
All enquiries, phone 565 4993.
April 26: Dr Albert Gomes, Dept Sociology, LaTrobe University: Orang Asli in
Malaysia.
May 3: Dr Barry Bullen, Overseas Service
Bureau: Obstacles to progress and aid
priorities in Vietnam.
May 10: Dr Patrick Guiness, Dept Sociology, La Trobe University: Industrial
growth and its impact in Johore.
Malaysia.
Graduate School of Environmental
Science
Environmental Forum - Semester 1. Held
in the Narthex (main enttance) of Uie
Religious Centre, Monash University,
5.15-6.30pm.
May 9: Victorian National Parks
Association s role in nature conservtaion,
Doug Humann, Director of NPA.
May 16: The stale of our streams: are they
improving? Patricia Geraghty, Department of Water Resources.
Monash University Department of
Music All concerts and events will be
held in the Music Department
Auditorium, 8th Floor, Menzies Building,
1.10 to 2pm Tuesdays, unless otherwise
indicated.
May 1: Andrew Blyth with music for
electronic keyboards.
May 8: A concert of Japanese contemporary music presented by Jcffcry Clcllin.
May 15: Ensemble Machano of Gong
House. Music for tuned percussion instruments. voice and dance.
May 22: A concert of Chinese music.
Other Attractions
Squennis: It's fun. exciting, and a great
way to keep healthy - Squennis. a new
game which combines the skills of tennis
and squash. Played on a small, enclosed
rectangular court, Squennis can be played
with two or four people. The rules are
simple and easy to apply; the court has two
nets which help to make the game more
exciting. The racquets are similar to a
racquet ball racquet and the ball is soft and
about the same size as a tennis ball. The
Squennis court we have here at Monash is
the only one in the worid. and is located
between the pool and the tennis courts. If
you are interested and want to have a
game, call into the Sports and Recreation
general office and see tlie Recreation officer. There is no cost, however the court
will only be open between 9am and 5pm
Monday to Friday.
Life Line - Volunteers Needed: Lifeline.
Melbourne, provides a telephone counselling service in six languages; Arabic,
English, Greek, Italian. Turkish and Vietnamese. Volunteer telephone counsellors
talk wilhcallers about personal and family
difficulties, information needs and a range
of other problems. Do you think you can
help? Are you: a good listener? concerned
about people and their problems? able to
commit yourself to regular voluntary
work? willing to Icam new helping skills?
If so, you could be selected to train as a
Lifeline counsellor. For further information. please phone Lifeline's office on 662
1677.
Next Wave Festival. The Next Wave Festival, Australia's liveliest festival of
young people and the arts, is set to break
over Melbourne between May 18 and
June 3. More than 50 shows. 500 performances and 5000 performers from across
the country will fill Melbourne's top
venues for the third biennial Festival. The
Next Wave Festival is a Rage Without
Alcohol, with key events funded by VicHealth. Festival Highlights include:
Space Demons: A high-lech joumey into
the nightmare world of a computer game
with a difference.
Catchyalater!: A high energy cabaret
featuring magic, music and comedy from
a new breed of young performers at the
Last Laugh.
Planet Earth Boogie: On Friday, May
18, the City Square will come to life as
thousands of young people rap to the beat
as hundreds of dancers, acrobats and performers elecU'ify the city.
Next Wave Writers' Festival: Young
writers read, established writers talk about
starting a career, and workshops get you
started.
Dinner at Wholefoods
On Thursday May 3 at 6pm. a dinner (with
wine and food for all!) will be held at
Wholefoods Restaurant. The dinner.
brought to you by The Conservation
Group, will welcome a speaker on the
subject: Logging in Papua New Guinea.
Cost is $5. For further info, phone Tanya
on 5511682 or Ben on 534 1083.
On Wednesday May 2 at 1 lam. the Official Launch of the Recycling Scheme will
take place in the Upstairs Foyer of the
Union Building. The Warden of the Union
will launch the Scheme in the presence of
invited media representatives. Speakers
include Fran McDonald from the Friends
of the Earth Recycling Campaign, who
will speak on the necessity and benefits of
recycling, and Katrina Roberg, Scheme
Co-ordinator. Student Theatre will perform on the day also. Student numbers are
needed, so please come along and show
your support for the Scheme. For further
information, contact the Recycling Office
onext 4136.
Radical Women celebrate the lOOlh anniversary of May Day in Melbourne on
Sunday, May 6. Assemble at 2pm at the
Trades Hall, march to the Yana Bank.
Radical Women are having a literature.
food and drink stall to raise funds for their
$50,000 fund drive, to employ an intemalional co-ordinator, also to send a delegation of women to study feminism in
Eastern Europe. Anyone who is able to
donate cakes or cookies to the stall, please
phone Debbie on 387 1843.
Friends of the Earth and the Movement
Against Uranium Mining are holding an
information night on Friday, May 4 at
Friends of the Earth, 222 Brunswick
Sueet. Fitzroy to discuss the Roxby Exposure Tour, which will leave Melbourne on September 22, Donation is
S7.50. refreshments provided. Actively
show your opposition to Australia's part
in the nuclear industry! For further information, phone419 8700.
The What's On Column is compiled by
Sandy Guy, phone 56S 3183.
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