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Week 9, Semester 2 By Ted Worland I was talking to a skinny American guy at a party when I first heard about elevator override codes. As he explained, holding down specific button combinations as you select your floor will program the elevator to go there directly, skipping all other floors on the way. The codes were apparently included for emergency services, but are also abused by clued-in misanthropes. 
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Week 9, Semester 2 By Xavier Boffa My mum frequently reminds me of Eleanor Roosevelt’s observation that ‘nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent’. Despite three years majoring in Philosophy, I’ll admit I’ve often felt I haven’t truly understood what she meant. I’ve been thinking a lot about those words since Queensland Senator Fraser Anning delivered his widely criticised ‘first speech’. Anning’s speech was clearly designed to stir controversy in an attempt to cash in on free media attention and build the relatively unknown Senator’s public profile. It seems to have worked: in the days after, Senator Anning’s Facebook following grew by almost a quarter.  Week 9, Semester 2 By Ying Wong, Heli Yoon, Caity Setter, Ellie Ryan, Alana Ticchi, Lizz Kuiper, Jessica Flatters This piece is a response to an article published by Jackson Willows in last week’s edition of De Minimis that challenged the utility and purpose of autonomous spaces in the Law School. Amidst the live debate, a few matters of importance must be confronted.  Semester 2, Week 9 By Mairead O'Connor while since my Week 6 playlist – how time flies! This playlist has a lot more contemplative indie and less joyous pop than last time, reflecting the ups and downs of the past few weeks (LSS elections, changes in prime ministers, and some heated debate in this very publication) as we come to the pointy end of the semester and reach the ¾ mark. Listen on Spotify here.  What a wonderful time of year: it’s 2018/2019 clerkship season! Students wait anxiously, refreshing their emails, in the hope of receiving a (positive) response. That optimism is soon diminished when our inboxes become bombarded with the following generic email. Thank you for your application for the 2018/2019 Melbourne Seasonal Clerk Program, unfortunately YOU ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH.  Week 8, Semester 2 By Jimi Muirhead De Minimis has been the forum for many a tantalising tantrum over my three years at MLS. From safe spaces to racism, from collusion to quotas and last semester’s discussion of content warnings. I, for one, have loved every minute of it. Nothing excites me more than seeing some spicy content within the pages of this magazine. But, alas, this semester has seen a woeful absence of outrage. For seven weeks I have waited hungrily for the next spicy development in the pages of De Minimis, yet sadly, have been left wanting. Over half a semester has gone by without any real DM drama.  Week 8, Semester 2
By Jackson Willows ‘Equality & Social Justice invites you to join us for our second People of Colour Lunch! The event is a wonderful opportunity to meet and chat with other students and staff at MLS who identify as persons of colour.’: “E&SJ People of Colour Lunch”, MULSS Website. If this doesn’t disturb you, I am sorry - you have lost the plot. I would like to think folks who peddle this kind of thing have good intentions. I am not out to compare anyone with Hitler or anything, but this stuff is just annoying because it is so obviously wrong. I know they think they are correcting historical wrongs, which is why they use ostensibly harmless words such as ‘equity’ and ‘inclusiveness’ (the irony...) as justifications, but for God’s sake, how are people so blind to the inherent hypocrisy? Week 8, Semester 2 By Anastasia Scarfo Family violence – there is a lot of talk about, but for some of us, violence in our homes or relationships is more than a distant concept. It has not occurred to many of us that our friends and colleagues at this very law school might be suffering from something greater than exam stress, clerkships anxiety and peer group troubles. Don’t get me wrong – those things are serious issues and we have all been there! But some may find themselves at the Queensberry one night and after a pint (or two, or three or more) a friend reveals more than they planned, and it just doesn’t sound right. Because it’s not!  Week 8, Semester 2 By Alice Kennedy Some things stay with us forever. Last week, I unpacked my trombone case. It wasn’t the first time I had picked up my trombone in an attempt to recapture some of my old musical ability, but each time I had returned it to its place without producing a decent tune. I loved trombone in high school, and will never forget the first time I brought it home.  Lizz Kuiper has written some Tinder profiles, on behalf of three subjects that keep us up at night    Issue 6, Semester 2 Anon Law students use many strategies to help them in their studies. However, students are often unwilling to tell people outside of their close friendship groups about these strategies, presumably because of the dreaded Bell Curve™ and general MLS unfriendliness. People learn about, or develop, these strategies through their social groups, which are frequently (but not always) linked to class, race, and other socioeconomic factors. Naturally, this often excludes certain people, particularly those with less privilege. I think this is unfair! So, in an effort to level the playing field, I want to talk about a few strategies I’ve learnt about. If you have better techniques than me, share them with us in the comments.  Issue 6 Semester 2 Nikhil Sood Three weeks ago, I opened the Facebook app and saw a notification cordially inviting me to a ‘fun’ cocktail night hosted by a prestigious law journal where I would have the opportunity to debase myself for a job. I promptly deleted the app out of sheer anxiety. Networking. For those who fall in the ‘I-went-to-law-school-because-I-want-to-help-people’ camp, (or in my case, ‘I-went-to-law-school-because-medicine-was-too-hard-and-I-didn’t-want-to-embarrass- my-ethnic-father’), a casual networking event often results in panicked Googles about how long a handshake should be if you want to exude power and whether a paisley tie makes you look weak in the eyes of the all-powerful HR representatives. It sucks. But as Nike branding has ingrained in me, sometimes you have to ‘just do it’.  Issue 6, Semester 2 Adrienne Ringin This past summer, I was fortunate to take part in an internship with the North Australian Aboriginal Family Legal Service in their Darwin office. I undertook this internship through the Public Interest Law Initiative. While I knew I could source my own internship, the application process provided various interesting options as well as the security of a relationship with the law school, meaning that standards and expectations had already been communicated. My application was accepted, dates were set and in mid-January I flew into a wet season featuring 95% humidity for a whirlwind five weeks. The following are some challenges I noted from my experience. I don’t believe these challenges should stop anyone from interning interstate, but people should consider them before undertaking the experience.  Issue 6, Semester 2 Content warning: Mental Health, Depression. The Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation, in the process of rebranding itself ‘Minds Count’, plays an important role in championing better work place conditions for those in the legal profession when it comes to mental health.  Issue 6, Semester 2 Mairead O'Connor After reading Tilly’s incredible article (“Alors on danse”– YES and literally everything else), I was inspired to make my own JD playlist to get me through the week. I thought I’d share it with all you De Minimis readers, and maybe as an experiment try and continue each week to process thoughts and feelings (law and perhaps not so law-related) through what I’ve been listening to. The connections may be pertinent, or more likely very tenuous if it’s just a BIG track that I need to share.  Issue 5, Semester 2
Toby Silcock, Desiree Cai, and Cameron Doig All lectures at Melbourne University should be recorded. This has been Academic Board policy since 2013, after consistent pressure from our predecessors at the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU). The policy is overwhelmingly popular, and means that barriers to attendance don’t become barriers to education. Issue 5, Semester 2 Michael France Romance is strange terrain, and sometimes we need a map. Whilst the Courts of Chancery have stepped in to correct injustice in the common law, there is however, no court that can correct the injustice of a broken heart. Equity’s Darling is here to help you balance your love of laws with the laws of love.  Issue 5, Semester 2 Janelle Koh TW: Domestic Violence I managed to catch Bri Lee on her first day back in Queensland, where she had just returned from the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival. Above all, she is passionate about her work as a writer, which she now does full time. Yet Lee’s upbringing as a lawyer (having graduated from the University of Queensland and completed an associateship at the Queensland District Court) is not in the rear view.  Issue 5, Semester 2 Tyson Holloway-Clarke Yes, the rumours are true: being a JD student makes you less funny. The other day my class roared with laughter about reports that a student called a judge ‘Your Majesty’ during their moot. This is objectively shit banter. But to law students this is peak comedy - it is Delirious in RMs and a knitted cardigan. This law school can teach you how to communicate effectively and advocate for your client, but good luck soliciting a chuckle out of anyone that doesn’t work for you. Ying was on the money - you are doomed to being flatter than a tack if you keep on trucking this way. But it doesn’t have to be like this! You can be the change you want to see in the world (and on Pelham Street)! Here are 5 Hot Tips On How To Be Less Boring And More Fun for JD Students.  Issue 5, Sem 2 Jared Mintz In the wake of the gruesome jaw injury suffered by Fremantle’s Andy Brayshaw, I’m reminded of footy’s culture of violence. When I say that, I’m referring specifically to the useless shoving, pushing, bumping, and punching that carries on throughout every game, oftentimes during dead-ball scenarios or away from the play. Don’t get me wrong, the elite level of every contact sport becomes a battleground. There are going to be some violent plays and penalties, and there are going to be some players who enforce their will on others. It’s pretty much par for the course. That being said, the level of violence in footy that falls outside actual gameplay is stunning.  Issue 4, Semester 2 DeMinimis team Dear MLM students, Some of you may have seen copies of De Minimis lying around the law school, or heard whispers of the controversies that emerge from our pages. But how much do you actually know about De Minimis?  Issue 4, Semester 2 By Valerie Ng Paul Dano’s debut feature Wildlife, which opened the Melbourne International Film Festival on 2 August, is a simmering, disquieting drama of suburban isolation and economic anxiety in 1960s Montana. A slow, crawling piece, it dawdles on the irrepressible disintegration of the Brinson family for 104 minutes, following Joe Brinson (Ed Oxenbould), and his parents, Jerry and Jeanette (Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan respectively), who have recently relocated to Montana. Joe goes to school, Jeanette makes dinner, and Jerry works at a nearby golf club. When Jerry gets fired from his job, the strains of financial insecurity start to widen the marital fractures between Jerry and Jeanette, catalysing their slow, inevitable separation. When Jerry leaves to fight wildfires in the mountains, any remaining cohesion snaps.  |
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