Salient

By Will Tickner, Tam Maxwell, and Teg Ward Within the span of a week, I’ll be trying to accomplish a long-term task just to see if it’s possible, and to see what I can get out of it. Life lessons, skills, resilience training? The stimulation alone should be enough motivation. During an event last year, I had to move a big load of tables and chairs from Fairlie Terrace to the Memorial Theatre.

CW: Violence, needles, body horror (1) You’re on Kelburn campus in the Hub. You try the doors. Locked. The glass is cold under your hand, and inside the tables are empty, chairs pushed in like everyone left in a hurry. It’s late afternoon, and the sun is dropping behind the buildings, turning the windows orange for a second before the light slips away.

A feed for fuck-all Welcome back folks! It’s been a little while since we were last here, since I’ve had to sit down to a meal not for enjoyment or pleasure, but for work. Woe is me. For those like me who have no clue what happened last trimester, or for those new students who’ve stepped in mid-year, here’s a ranking of the places I covered in my last twelve eleven columns. This tier-list is reasonably subjective, but know that value reigns supreme.

Good news stories (and more) for the planet Kia ora, Salient reader! Welcome to our fortnightly column on the environment, sustainable living, and the small, stubborn act of hope amongst a world on fire! Check in every second week for waste-free recipes, genuinely good news, and practical ways to lend a hand—nudging a happier, healthier earth a little closer into view.

Josh Robinson Critics of the Fees Free scheme are right about one thing: the policy failed to significantly increase enrolments. But they ignore a crucial fact: the scheme was never intended to end after one year. In May, the Government announced plans to scrap the Fees Free scheme, which has allowed eligible tertiary students to complete one year of study without paying tuition fees since 2018. The announcement was met with strong opposition from student associations.

It’s trimester two and your summer funds have dwindled to meagre pennies. You are feeling settled with your course load and unsettled by the increasing cost of living. It’s time to enter the workforce and join the 50% of Aotearoa students that partake in paid employment while they study. This might prove more difficult than first thought. Whether you’re re-entering the arena or it’s your first time on the hunt, you’ll notice that the market is tight.

Weekly Pacific Politics with Otis Whinney THE COCONUT CARTEL AND OUR DRUG PROBLEM If you told me that, just a few months ago, a senior member of a Pasifika-led organised crime group dubbed the ‘Coconut Cartel’ was assassinated in Vietnam by a pair of Sāmoans hired by his criminal rivals, I daresay I would have laughed in your face. But this did in fact happen, in what has become one of the strangest developments in our ongoing drug crisis in the moana we all inhabit.

MDMA (molly, MD, or 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine when it’s in trouble) is an empathogen that increases the feel-good chemicals in your body, mainly serotonin. KnowYourYes MDMA increases empathy and enhances sensations like touch and taste, so it is important to remember that consent is key! Your boundaries might get a little fuzzier than normal, so before taking any substance, keep these things in mind: “What does my yes look like?” What will you say yes to? Is yes even on the table?

The Opportunities Party (TOP) is suddenly close enough to Parliament to be taken seriously. After recently polling at 4.6%, just shy of the 5% threshold, TOP has been rebranded by some as the sensible, fresh, almost-left alternative for voters tired of the old parties. The Coalition parties have been criticising TOP as a left-wing party, citing their Citizens Income Policy as evidence.

I Got My Driver’s License Five Years Ago Olivia Rodrigo’s you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love First impressions matter. Olivia Rodrigo introduced herself to the world with the late-pandemic smash “drivers license", a beautifully accomplished ballad replete with an eat-your-heart-out bridge where the bottled up emotions of the verse and chorus are spilled out in a gory half-time.