ISSUE FOUR

25th JULY 2012

WELCOME BACK TO SEMESTER TWO!

A big welcome to all our new residents who have joined the community for Semester Two. We hope you enjoy your stay here in the Halls of Residence.
Above: Halls Ball, sure to be a big event again this year. Dont miss out on your ticket! Below: Halls Indoor Soccer Tourney

For those of you returning to the halls, we hope that you all had a wonderful break. Hope you are all refreshed and ready to get back into your studies. This semester will go really fast, so be sure to make time for balance by getting involved with community events. Ther e are plenty of things to look forward to this Semester. We have a number of events coming up where you can gain more gumboot points or your hall. These include the Halls Ball, and the Quiz Night. The infamous Halls Ball is always a sell out, so get your tickets quick. Early bird buyers will be eligible for the limousine prize draw. Well done to all halls teams that participated in the Indoor Soccer Tournament the weekend just been. You can read more about this event in our next issue. There is an upcoming flatting expo that will provide very useful information about going flatting. Pick up your free copy of The First Time Flatters Guide. There will be numerous displays with important services from the university and community to help inform you on what you need to know and prepare for when flatting. There are still lots of points up for grabs, it is still anyone's bet who will win! Check inside the newsletter for more detailed info on events and find out which hall is in the lead with the most gumboot points. It is that time of year too with colds and flu. Be sure to make sure that you wash your hands and cover your sneezes. If you feel sick, get plenty of rest and isolate yourself from other people to prevent spreading germs. If you have any concerns please see your RA and get checked out at the medical centre. One final note, we have recently moved premises. Our office is now located up on level 2 of the Student Centre Building. We apologise for any disruptions and appreciate your patience during our shift. All the best for Semester Two!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Gumboot Shield Ladder Board Upcoming Events Halls Ball Chaplaincy Student CounsellingTaking Care of the Practical Things Sport and Recreation Centre Challenge 2012 Medical Centre Exercise and Sleep Centre for Teaching and Learning Campus LivingImportant Notices Residents of the MonthMay

Level 2, The Student Centre (above the MUSA shop)

CREATIVE ARTS MONTH

Congratulations to all our entries for the Creative Arts Month. Outstanding pieces were entered which made the judging very tough! Well done to the following winners.
AWAITING Pushed to the back sitting in a handmade, wooden box above half broken corks, beeswax and yellow hemp, Glasgow boy of 22, lies lamenting. Yellow chipped teeth compliment centennial ivory, scraggy hair, the thinning tartan tassels. African Blackwood drones, cracked and wrinkled. Rotted reed with mottled grey growth, like moss on the memorial stone. Bound to its archaic scale unchanging in a chequered rag of earth and time. In the wardrobe, best mate sits. A Piper without his Pipeit is like one person in two boxes. Savannah McKnight

Artwork Winners
1st Kaitlin Bunnik (Walter Dyer Hall) 2nd Yuris Anynda (Tararua/Ruahine Hall) 3rd Tessa Brownlee (Colombo Hall)

Short Film Winners

1st Atawhai Amigos The Stairway to Babel 2nd Ryan Larsen (Walter Dyer Hall) - Climate Change 3rd Villi Hasiata (Moginie Hall) - Crazy

Expressive Arts Winners

Poetry Winners
1st Savannah McKnight (Colombo Hall) - Awaiting 2nd Angeline Low (Tararua/Ruahine Hall) - Devoid 3rd Dariah Gillespie (Moginie Hall) - Reminiscing

1st City CourtFlashmob 2nd Grace Powell (McHardy Hall) - Piano Piece 3rd Chelsea Collins (Moginie Hall) - Move your Body

Photography Winners
1st Angeline Low (Tararua/Ruahine) - Boundaries 2nd Patrick Johnson (Atawhai) - Life on the Beach 3rd Rebekah Reid (Walter Dyer) - Pork Chop
At a red zone tour at Christchurch at end of year 2011, I came upon the fences separating the public from the damages caused by the earthquake. The word Boundaries had been stringed through the fence using long strips of red plastic. The original intention and the message trying to be conveyed are unknown, but the choice of word was rather ironic. Compared to the wrath of natural disasters, how could one ever expect a mere fence to act as a boundary to shield us from harm? There is no stopping mother nature when it strikes. Angeline Low

Glenwood Recreational Pool

I spun fast. Fast as I could, anyway, floating half a foot under the clear blue blanket of pool water, and thought of Little Sammy drowning last month in this same exact spot. Well, maybe a little to the right or left, give or take a few feet, but Im sure Im close. I can tell by how everyone else is crowded to either side of the pool, far away from me, far away from this spot, because theyre afraid of the death Little Sammy left behind. Im not, though. I wanna see how he died. How does a person drown? Do they just run out of air and faint under the water? Is it ugly? Do their lungs explode? Do they know theyre dying? I dont think Id wanna know, but maybe I would. Id wanna be able to pray and all that, ask God to forgive me for whatever I hadnt been forgiven for yet. Like maybe if I lied that day to Mama or tripped Baby on purpose and no one had spanked me for it because she couldnt talk and tell anybody how evil I was. I dont know, though. If I knew I was dying, Id be sad. Id think about stuff, stuff I wouldnt want to think about before dying. Like me and Jenny and Mama and Daddy watching a funny movie and laughing so hard our cheeks and guts hurt, but loving it anyway. And Mama singing to me about sunshine and cradles while she rubbed my stomach until I fell asleep. Id think about all that, and I wouldnt want to die. Guess most people dont, though. Death is supposed to be rest, so dying should feel like youre about to fall asleep. I think it sounds nice. I hope it felt like that for Sammy. Winnie! mamas voice cut through the heavy layers of my water barrier and reached me, surrounding my entire body and making my heart shake a little. She sounded muffled, a little less scary down here under the shadows of pool blue. Winnie! she yelled again, and then a heavy hand was yanking me up by my swimsuits shoulder strap, through the ceiling of water and halfway onto the cement around the pool. Girl, did you hear your mama? my daddys big brown eyes popped out at me like they do when hes angry, and I shivered from the cool air hitting the water drops that covered my skin, and maybe a little from the way he was looking at me. His jaw was sharp and his mouth mean, but I knew he didnt care much about me being in the pool. He just didnt wanna upset Mama today. Sorry mama, I told her, turning to look at her. My brown ponytail slapped against the side of my face and got drops of water in my eye. We arent leaving already, are we? I asked as I tried to blink them out. They rolled down my face and I felt like I was crying. What you mean, already? We been out here for half an hour. Were gonna be leaving in a minute, your sister has homework, and we cant be out here all day with all these folks, mamas eyes got all sharp and narrow, and I started inching back into the pool, feeling calmer as my body dropped lower and lower into the warm water. You got ten more minutes, okay? daddy said. I nodded and swam over to the edge across from them. My big sister Jenny was on this side, leaning against the dirty, metal fence, a beautiful, skinnier version of mama with the same brown skin and the same eyes, big and brown, but always narrowed. She stood at that fence with all the other eighth grader girls, reading grown-up magazines and talking about mature high school boys. She didnt talk to me because I was only in the 6th grade and she wore bras from the clearance bin at Pennys now and shaved her legs. I pinched the skin on my pale, yellow legs under the water as I watched her laugh hard at something, felt my thighs smoothness, and wished that they would hurry up and get hairy so shed look at me like she used to when we were friends. Now that we werent she was always out with older guys, who usually looked at me like I was a cockroach, except for that one who looked at me like something else, something worse than the roach look, because it was longer and felt heavier. I swished around in the water, and looked back at Mamma and Daddy standing next to each other without touching or talking and wondered if they knew how loud they were being just then. I wanted to push them into each other and make them laugh and hold hands, but theyd just jump apart probably. And Id get in trouble. I sunk lower in the water and watched as they disappeared. I swam over to where Little Sammy drowned, looked for the vent where his foot got stuck, bent down real low in the water to see if there was any blood or something. It was all so clean and white, you would never know that a dead body lay on this pool floor a month ago. I could imagine his bony, brown body laying here, that chain he always wore floating above his face, with the part where Jesus hung on the cross right between his eyes. His brown eyes would still be open, like the dead folks I saw on the T.V. Jenny cried when he died. All her friends and her stood on his familys porch down the street and fixed up a poster board with pictures of him taped on it and magic marker, and all that. I knew, though, that she hadnt ever really liked him, that he teased her for being so skinny last year, and that in fourth grade he stole her favourite Betty Boop pencil and sharpened it till it was all lead. Hed seemed nice enough, though. One time last summer hed waved at me when he was walking down the sidewalk with some of the other boys. I couldnt see his face from where I was sitting on my porch, it just looked like a brown face, with the eyes and nose blurred. He looked like all the boys I ever knew, so Id waved back. I thought about that when he died. How he looked like every boy, and how it wasnt sad, just scary, cause that meant that anybody could die. I suddenly wanted to touch the place where he died, look up from where he took his last looks, see what he saw before everything ended. I crouched down by the vent and looked up through the water. My sister was looking over the edge of the pool at me, real still, but I couldnt see her face. She didnt move for a minute, looking over the edge, and I didnt move either, just looked back at her blurry face. Then I crept lower and balled up against the cement wall. Mama! Mama! she started yelling across the pool water. Her voice sounded like it did in the mornings when she yelled downstairs from the inside her room, whiny and needy, except now it kind of vibrated weird in my ear. I saw Mama appear by her side and they both crawled to the edge of the pool and looked down at me, both with the same blurry faces. I kept staring back at them. Then Mommas mouth opened wide. Winnie! Get up from there! she yelled. I kept staring at her, how her coffee brown fingers curled around the pool edge, how her body leaned almost too far over, like she was about to fall in herself. I imagined her just rolling over the edge and sinking like a rock at the bottom. I dont think she could swim. I wouldnt be able to save her, either. She was too heavy. I sat with my arms wrapped against my legs and watched them and I felt like I wasnt me at all but someone watching me, and it started feeling harder to breathe. I wondered if I could feel what Sammy felt just before he died. Was there a white light like they say in the movies? I kind of hoped there was nothing. Life was always so bright and loud, death should be dark, silent. Some kind of warm, fuzzy in between, the same way you feel right before you fall asleep. Just a quiet, nothing. And then black. I hoped death was just like that. I prayed it was just like that. And then I asked God to forgive me for knocking Babys food on the floor today and then putting it back into the plastic tray and letting her eat it, even when I saw that piece of lint in the smashed bananas. All that ugliness around us, it was never her fault anyway. And then I closed my eyes, and I heard a small, long scream. Raven Davis

Short Story Winners

1st Raven Davis (Tararua/Ruahine Hall) - Glenwood Recreational Pool 2nd Dariah Gillespie (Moginie Hall) - And Ill Like and Youll believe Me 3rd Jennifer Parkinson (Colombo Hall) - The Stripy T Shirt

MASSEY MEDICAL CENTRE

Exercise There are 1,440 minutes in everyday, we should be scheduling 30 of these minutes for physical activity. Most adults need 30 minutes of activity 5 times per week. Are you achieving this? If not, why not? Sleep Are you getting enough sleep?

If you are finding yourself having lack of sleep, you must realise that it can impact on your body and mind. Your reflexes can be slowed, you will find a lack of energy and lowered concentrationnot a good combo Have a think about the barriers that are preventing for you as a student. you from exercising regularly. What can you do to remove these barriers? Routine is important for good sleep. Try to always get There are many activities that constitute doing up at the same time each day, this will help your exercise. internal clock. If you feel groggy in the mornings get outside and Moderate activities grab some sun (does not matter if it is overcast), we Walking briskly only need 10 minutes of rays during the day for our Mowing the lawn Vitamin D intake. Dancing/Zumba It helps to wake you up as it is a signal to the body Swimming that the day has begun. IT REALLY WORKS!! Cycling The Massey Rec Centre has a great body balance class that combines yoga, pilates and Tai chi. You can progress at your own pace in this class and its great for stress relief!! Getting started Plan your activity for the week with an exercise planner be specific. Find an activity that you actually enjoy, then you are more likely to stick with it. Get your friends/family involved much more fun and highly motivating. Walking is a great way to get started and its free!! If you are unsure about exercise and dont know where to start, then speak to the folks at the Rec Centre (they dont bite), they are there for you, so take yourself along and they will assist you in staying motivated and picking the right exercise for you. Zumba This fitness class is the biggest exercise craze in the world right now. You might as well to be a part of it. You can purchase the DVDs from The Warehouse, or attend a zumba class. Its cheap and a great, fun way to get fit the great thing is you dont have to be co-ordinated or all that fit to enjoy this type of class. Have a sleep time routine prior to going to bed no study, do something that helps you unwind and relax TV, reading, bath, or resting. Have a glass of warm milk and prepare for bed. Some types of tea such as chamomile can also aid in better sleep. If you are unable to sleep, do not stay in bed get up until you feel tired. Some people take their thoughts and worries to bed with them. Ensure when you get into bed that you have quietened your mind.

STUDENT COUNSELLING SERVICE

A new semester!
A new semester and new challenges! How does it feel to be back at uni and back in the Halls after being at home for a while? Exciting or a bit of a let down, or both? While the new semester can be exciting re-connecting with friends in the Halls and starting new papers - it can be a difficult time for many students after having re-experienced the warmth and home cooking and time with close family and old friends. The wrench of returning for another long semester can be hard, especially if you miss home, did not do especially well in exams, or you are not entirely sure that this is the degree you really want to be doing. There are a few things you can do to make it easier. The first is to ensure that all the practical things are taken care of. Are you happy with your current papers? If not go and talk to the team in the Careers & Employment Service on Level 2 of Registry and / or College advisers. How were your exam results? Did you achieve as you had hoped? If not do you know why? What went wrong? Was it that you just did not do enough work? Was it you did not understand the work? Was it exam nerves? Poor preparation? Low internal marks? Emotional / relationship difficulties? Go and discuss it with the relevant people, and if you dont know what the cause was, start with that and talk to someone to work out what went wrong. Make time to see a learning consultant in the Centre for Teaching and Learning (now upstairs in the MUSA building), a counsellor at Student Counselling or a paper co-ordinator. It is really important to know why you did not achieve the top results you had wished for. Have you sorted your finances and fees? Make time to go to the Financial Advisers on Level 2 of Registry to explore financial awards and scholarships, your StudyLink allowances and budgeting issues. Emotions all over the place? Missing home? Not sure if you should be here? Try the Student Counselling Service. There is a useful brochure on our website (http://crow.massey.ac.nz) and available on the stands in SSLB, the Rec Centre and BSC on Leaving Home which give a range of really helpful tips. Did not get into Vet and not sure what to do now? Try Careers & Employment Service. If you are unsure where to go but just that things are not as good as you had hoped talk to an RA or one of the Halls staff who will be able to point you in the best direction. But all is not negative make the most of the rest of the year. Become involved in all that is happening on campus, engage with your academic programme and embrace the opportunities. With all good wishes

MASSEY SPORT AND RECREATION CENTRE

CENTRE OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

Lookingforsomeonetohelpyouwithyour academicskillssuchaswritingandstudying effectivelyinordertobethebeststudentYOU canbe?

ThenyouneedtovisitusattheCentrefor TeachingandLearning(CTL)

Where: When:: Callus: Visit:

StudentCentre(upstairsabove TheMUSAdairyacrossthe library) 94.30pm Extn81950 owl.massey.ac.nz

Forjust30minutes
onaTuesdayandWednesday,youcouldbe enhancingsomeseriousacademicskills: http://owll.massey.ac.nz/studyup.php

BUTWAIT,THERESMORE
VisitStreamandclickonthecourse: AcademicWritingandLearningSupport andcheckouttheotherservices wecanofferyou.

CHAPLAINCY
Welcome back to Semester 2 at Massey. Presumably, the fact that you are still here means several things. You have discovered exams can be survived. You have decided likewise with regard to Palmerston North. You may even be enjoying your course! We hope you have a really good semester. Life at uni should be fun and can go fast. It is also a time where, consciously or subconsciously, your values get shaped, tested and refined. As chaplains we are here to help as sounding boards or resources in this important process, or in times of difficulty or decision. So feel free to drop by the Centre any time. As always, we will be running Pancake Nites every Wednesday 7pm at the Centreby the big bus stop. Additionally, starting Tuesday 24th July we will also be offering Growing into Life, a weekly informal gathering at the Centre, 7-8pm, for Christians looking to grow in following Christ and anyone interested in exploring the potential of a Jesus centred spirituality for everyday living. Finally, in four Friday dialogue and lunch sessions at the Centre 12-1pm, starting Friday 27th July, we will be exploring different aspects of the fascinating question Will the real Jesus please stand up? Everybody welcome full details available at the Centre. We look forward to meeting you at any or all of the above. Meanwhile....have a great term. Colin Day Chaplain ACCOMMODATION PAYMENTS
SEM 2 Students Please ensure that your payment for accommodation is up to date according to your chosen payment planAll upfront payments, semester two and full year payments are now overdue, please come to sort this urgently.

Please note: If you have chosen to pay using option 3: Upfront payment and weekly direct debit of $150.00 per weekyour first direct debit is due to come out of your nominated bank account on Wednesday 1st August and will continue for 13 consecutive weeks, this means that these direct debits will continue over the 2 week holiday break, so you need to make sure that there is money in that account for the direct debit to be taken out. If you are unsure of anything to do with payment options or payment plan please come and speak with one of our friendly front office staff who will be able to assist you. Full Year Students All Semester Payments are now overdue. Please come to our office urgently to make paymentplease note the discount for the full semester payment no longer applies.
MAINTENANCE REPORTING AND INVENTORY CHECK FOR YOUR ROOM

A Reminder that your room inventory check needs to be done as soon as possible. An inventory check list has been left on your desk in your room for you to complete and hand in to our office. It is extremely important that you check and sign off for the inventory items in your room. If you do not sign off on them and any damage is found during room inspections, you will be liable to pay for all damages found. Maintenance reporting can also be done through the following website: https://portal.clv.co.nz/StarRezPortal Please note there is a PC in the RSO set up specifically for logging maintenance requests during our office hours, information sheets in regards to how to log in are available at our office for you to use.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT SUPPORT OFFICE

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS A reminder that Visas are due for renewal July 31st. Please ensure that you get on to doing this to ensure you can continue to stay here and study.
Amounts: The amount that you need for living costs has changed from April 1st 2012 NZ$ 1,250.00 per month OR NZ$ 7,500.00 per semester OR NZ$ 15,000.00 per year Medical checks and Police Clearance: Medical checks and Police clearances are valid for 3 years for all International students except PhDs and Graduate Work Visa applicants. If INZ requests that you provide these, you now have ONLY 2 weeks to provide them. Once the 2 weeks have elapsed, if INZ has not received an e-mail from your explaining any possible delay, THEY WILL DECLINE YOUR STUDENT VISA APPLICATION, and you will become illegal in NZ. If are not able to provide the Medical Check and/or the Police Clearance within 2 weeks, you must reply to the e-mail sent by Immigration yourself and explain the reasons for the delay. You must attach proof of what you are declaring in the message. Police clearances: Immigration understands they can take up to 6 months to get these from NZ. If this is your case, then reply to the e-mail Immigration sent you and attach proof that you have requested the new PC BEFORE THE 2 WEEKS HAVE ELAPSED. Medical checks: the same rule of the 2 weeks applies to Medical checks. The same procedure will apply if you cannot get these done before the 2 weeks have elapsed. Please contact immigration by replying to their e-mail and explain that you have an appointment that is after the 2 weeks have elapsed. If you have any queries, please contact Natalia Benquet on ext 4824 or N.Benquet@massey.ac.nz or visit her in registry building level 2.

As of 30th July 2012 PLACINGS

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th

Walter Dyer City Tararua/Ruahine Colombo Moginie Totara Matai Atawhai Kiwitea Tawa Egmont Miro Rotary Kairanga McHardy CraigLockhart/Bindaloe

336 330 328 303 285 268 259 250 210 207 175 155 153 143 136 104

RESIDENTS OF THE MONTHMAY

Congratulations to the following residents who have been selected as residents of the month for May 2012 for their respective halls. The purpose of this award is to acknowledge the significant contribution that a resident has made within the hall during the last month. Each will receive a movie voucher for their contributions to the community. This award is given based on the following criteria:

General behaviour is exemplary Respectful of others Actively participating in hall events Actively encourages a clean and tidy environment Encourages and motivates others in the all Active involvement in resident committees Above all, is a positive role model

PROFILE THIS MONTH

Georgina Moore MIRO HALL

Troy Cameron TAWA HALL

Nam Pham KAIRANGA COURT

Danielle Haenga MATAI HALL

Alice van der Velden CRAIGLOCKHART/ BINDALOE HALL

Anna Lindsay MOGINIE HALL

ASHLEIGH FLETT
Totara Hall
Ashleigh is from Cambridge and is working towards a BAgSci degree majoring in Equine studies. She is a keen sports player, is very passionate about horse riding (competing many times) and enjoys netball. Ashleigh has been a delight to have in Totara Hall since day one. She is always bubbly, friendly and helpful within the hall. She was a vital team member in the social league netball team, and with all other hall activities. Well done Ashleigh!!!

Ayden Pitman WALTER DYER HALL

Zhexuan Zheng MCHARDY HALL

Qiuchen Wang ROTARY COURT

Stephen Neil ATAWHAI FLATS

Pathma Gurusamy KIWITEA HALL

Vincent Miller CITY COURT

Barry Gill EGMONT COURT

Anynda Yuris MOGINIE FLATS

Monique Mathis COLOMBO HALL