Welcome to semester two, and welcome to your campus news briefing. We’ve been on a hiatus over the break, but now we’re back with our fortnightly briefings detailing the latest campus happenings. To receive this in your inbox, click here to subscribe.
University Agrees to Meeting with Student Activists About Lockheed Martin
Student activists have successfully secured a meeting with University executive to contest the University’s relationship with weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin, after blockading the entrance to Raymond Priestley building for over 14 hours.
#NotMyPresident Posters On Campus Protest China
Posters protesting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent abolition of the term limit were found around campus at the University of Melbourne.
Phone Scam Targets Chinese Students
Members of the Chinese community living in Australia, particularly students, are being targeted by a phone scam exploiting the fact that they are separated from their families. Several University of Melbourne students have reported receiving these calls or voicemails, always in Mandarin; not just limited to international students or those who speak Mandarin.
Changing Course: University Mandatory Consent Module Underperforms
The University of Melbourne introduced Consent Matters, an online sexual consent tutorial mandatory for all incoming undergraduate students, at the start of 2018. But is it effective?
Still in Transition for UMSU International, Five Years Later
On 1 August, the new University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) International committee will officially begin their term. With Jonas Larsen heading the team as president, they already have ideas for improving the organisation. Read our feature article about the changing nature of UMSU International.
#1234 Looking For Love
With over 11,000 likes as of July 2018, UniMelb Love Letters has managed to capture the market of bored University students hoping to live vicariously through their peers. Read our feature article on the Facebook page taking the University of Melbourne community by storm.
LSAT, GAMSAT, UMAT: Are They All That?
LSAT, GAMSAT and UMAT—you’ve probably heard them thrown around in worried sighs by future lawyers and doctors stressing over the tests that will decide their fate. But what are these tests actually measuring, and is their cost justified? Farrago investigated.
I am Brown Before I am Human
“I’m always afraid of saying the wrong things to the white locals I see in my tutorial classes. Why do they keep to themselves? Why do they think I won’t understand their jokes and ‘intellectual’ conversations? Why do I always get a surprised remark about the fact that I can speak proper English when I’m from a ‘third world country’?” An anonymous contributor on being an international student at the University of Melbourne.
Rap 3
The University has released its third Reconciliation Action Plan, which “represents a University- wide commitment to using our expertise and resources in research, teaching and learning and engagement to make a sustained contribution to Indigenous development.”
Collated by Ashleigh Barraclough