MLS De Minimis Vol. 3 Issue 6

8/12/2019 MLS De Minimis Vol. 3 Issue 6

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De MinimisMONDAY 15 APRIL 2013

Are Law Students Getting Their

Money’s Worth?

Nicholas Baum

Concern is growing amongst interested

members of the student body that theStudent Services and Amenities Fee is

not being spent on the services for which

it is being charged.

The Student Services and Amenities

Fee (SSAF), a $273 compulsory payment

charged to all full-time tertiary students

to support independent student organisa-

tions and the provision of student ser-

vices, is facing criticism that it is not being

spent in the interests of law students.

The majority of law student groups

that provide key services to law studentsdo not receive funding under the SSAF.

These services, including social events,

careers advice, education assistance and

student support, go to the very heart of

why the SSAF fee is being charged to

students, and yet are not funded by that

same fee.

While money spent on university

sports programs, childcare services, and

student support and advocacy are freely

available for law students, over $100,000

of law student funds allocated to the

Graduate Student Association (GSA) isnot directly beneting the law student

population. (Disclosure: De Minimis

receives funding from the GSA.)

The GSA provides a breakdown of

their funds online at <http://www.gsa.

unimelb.edu.au/council/Your_Services_

and_Amenities_Fees_SSAF_-_How_

GSA_spent_your_fees_in_2012.shtml>,

but does not provide a detailed budget.

The Law Students’ Society (LSS) does

not receive any funding under the SSAF,

and would be eligible only for $2 perstudent even if they met the GSA’s fund-

ing obligations.

“The problem with the allocation

seems [to be] that the University is giv-

ing primacy to making negotiations on

the split as easy as possible, rather than

ensuring the best outcome for studentlife”, LSS President Pat Easton said.

“Last year, Antony Freeman as LSS

President approached the Provost re-

garding a reconsideration of their alloca-

tion agreement and we were rebuffed,”

Easton continued. “The university made

it fairly clear they weren’t interested in

hearing from the LSS.”

Andrew Frawley, who is leading the

LSS campaign for a reallocation of the

funding, stressed that this was not just

about the LSS getting more money. “We understand that the LSS doesn’t

have sole claim as a representative organi-

sation in the law school, but we feel that

each of those organisations – LSS, GLSA,

MLMSA, MCLS, MJIL, MULR – would do

a better job of representing the interests of

law students than the GSA,” Frawley said.

He pointed out that more funding

from the SSAF fund would enable these

groups to provide services that were not

THE GSA’S OFFICE IS SITUATED AT THE ‘1888’ BUILDING ON MAIN CAMPUS. PHOTO: DE MINIMIS

as tied to the sponsorship obligations of

commercial law rms.

GSA councillor Michael Robson, who is

also a third-year JD, responded to these

concerns, stating that “faculty bodiesprovide social and complementary edu-

cational services, supported by the GSA

and UMSU. The broader services these

organisations offer require considerable

resources, including staff and expertise,

that faculty bodies cannot provide.”

“The GSA is a body that represents all

graduate students, not just those from a

particular faculty,” Robson added. “We

represent student interests on university

committees and boards and provide

expert advocacy services [and provide]funding and support for student clubs

and societies.”

The university’s academic registrar

Neil Robinson has asked students to

submit feedback on the allocation of the

funds collected through the SSAF. The

SSAF legislation may be repealed by a

Coalition government, and the univer-

sity reportedly wants to know which

services to prioritise.

www.mudeminimis.comVolume 3, Issue 6

Ofcial Newspaper of the Students of Melbourne Law School, Established 1948, Revived 2012

Current Student Amenities Fee Distribution Questioned



2 FEATURESDe Minimis

mudeminimis.com Volume 3, Issue 6

Social Justice Takes ‘Proximity, Hope & Commitment’

2013 Brett Memorial Lecture

Jessica Williams“Why do we want to kill all the broken

people in this country?” Bryan Steven-

son stands before us and emphatically

asks. “Why do we not want to help all

the broken people?”

Whilst standing before a captivated,

awe-inspired audience in Melbourne,

Australia, Stevenson is in fact discuss-

ing a situation in the United States of

America.

Stevenson, a Professor of Law at

New York University, recently visited

Melbourne Law School to teach the

week-long masters subject ‘CriminalLaw, Poverty and Justice’, ending his

nal day of teaching on Tuesday, 9 April

2013 by delivering a public lecture to a

fully packed theatre in Room GM 15 of

the law building.

In a speech entitled ‘Challenging

Injustice: The American Experience’,

the 2013 MLS Peter Brett Memorial

Lecture, Stevenson discussed the prob-

lems and inequalities within the system

of mass incarceration in America,

where 2.3 million people are currentlyincarcerated, the highest national rate

of incarceration in the world. America

also stands alone as the only nation

that permits children to be trialled as

adults and imprisoned for life, without

parole.

Stevenson discussed the extraordi-

nary error rate, whereby 1 in 9 persons

executed are later recognised to be

innocent, highlighting the problems of

“a system that treats you better if you’re

rich and guilty than if you’re poor and

innocent”. In this sense, Stevenson believes the

greatest opposite to poverty isn’t wealth,

as traditionally conceived, but that the

true opposite of poverty is justice.

The main thesis of Stevenson’s speech

was that a new approach is needed.

Particularly, he considers that for

existing injustices to be challenged,

proximity, hope and a willingness toexperience discomfort are required.

By proximity, Stevenson refers to

getting close to persons who have been

disadvantaged, as it is “in relation to

problems that we understanding things

we cannot otherwise understand” in the

alternative state of disassociation.

Hope is needed, as when we allow

ourselves to be hopeless about what we

can do, we allow the key ingredient that

perpetuates inequality.

Finally, we require a willingness to

step beyond comfort zones, as makingourselves uncomfortable about the cur-

rent state of society is what most readily

causes us to improve society.

Filling his talk with anecdotes both

amusing and heart-wrenching, includ-

ing references to Rosa Parks, a client’s

endless desire for milkshakes, and the

change of an initially hard-hearted white

male prison ofcer, Stevenson ended histalk to an enthusiastic, extended round

of applause that may have seemed

more aptly placed at the end of a music

concert rather than the completion of a

speech delivered in a university lecture

theatre.

Yet talking to gushing MLS students

and alumni after the talk, you’d be for-

given for thinking Bryan Stevenson was

a rockstar. The overwhelming response

was that Stevenson’s speech was end-

lessly ‘inspiring’ - and for good reason.

• For those who were unable to attendthe talk, a video recording of the event

will soon be posted on the MLS website.

Christine ToddPorta Via – Just Outside MLS.

While conveniently located at the base

of the building, the coffee at this ‘café’

makes International Roast instant cof-

fee look good. Their coffee is frequently

burnt, oily and bitter, with the latter

two a telling sign that their workstationis not cleaned with care. On several oc-

casions I have requested soy only to be

given full cream milk. The coffee here is

bad enough you will willingly convert to

De Minimis Staff

Editor Dean R. P. Edwards

Online Manager Mika Tsoi

Layout Editor Mika Tsoi

Staff Nick Baum, Reegan Grayson-

Morison, Emma Henderson, Thomas

Ho, Haram Kwon, Andrew Michaelson,

Anna Nodrum, Melissa Peach, Doug

Porteous, Tessa Sidnam, Jess Sykes,Christine Todd, Jessica Williams, Annie

Zheng

Online at http://mudeminimis.com

Caffeinating Before Litigating

BRIAN STEVENSON, PICTURED ABOVE, KEPT ATTENDEES’ HEARTS AND MINDS ENGAGED. PHOTO: DE MINIMIS

tea, and even that they screw up.

The food options are limited, and

overpriced. They also tend to notice-

ably recycle the previous day’s stale

food, which they generously overheat

to compensate for its lack of freshness.

Its only redeeming feature is that it is

eight entire steps from the entrance

of the building, so if you’re physically

incapable of walking more than 300metres from a textbook, this will be your

best option. Otherwise, in the immortal

words of Nancy Reagan, just say no.

SCORE: 1/5 coffee beans.



FEATURES 3De Minimismudeminimis.com Volume 3, Issue 6

Advice: Avoid ‘The Claw’

Mika Tsoi When you have three sit-down three and

a half hour exams in the space of one

week, you develop the claw. Your hand

seizes up and you can’t write anymore.

That’s bad, particularly if all that studyis not best used because your hand is

going to drop off.

How to avoid this? Write with your

shoulder, instead of your hand. Use the

Coffee Hour with New Judge-in-Residence

Raoul RenardThis Thursday, over a delectable spread

of biscuits and lattes, we were fortunate

enough to hear from our new Judge-in-

Residence, former judge of the Victorian

Court of Appeals Bernard Bongiorno

AO, about the sometimes startling idi-

osyncrasies of the civil law.

The event was organised by Sophie

Molyneux and Karyan Ng of the Global

Law Student’s Association, part of the

regular Coffee Hour conversations where

students can enjoy a coffee with eminent

guests from around the legal world.

Bongiorno modestly described his

interaction with the civil law of much

of Europe as a hobby interest, but this was belied by his extensive knowledge of

the history of its development, from the

Roman law codied by Justinian in the

sixth century AD to the Code Napoléon.

Bongiorno is lucky to have a at

within the Périphérique in Paris, and

perhaps luckier still to share the build-

ing with Françoise, a fellow judge. Over

the years, they have discussed with zest

and occasional shock the various differ-

ence between the legal systems of their

respective countries.Françoise, for example, scoffed at the

seemingly endless provisions for counsel

to cross-examine witnesses in our sys-

tem. Bongiorno, on his part, expressed

surprise that in French criminal trials

the judges and jury retire together to

discuss the case and arrive at a verdict.

What is perhaps more interesting

for you, future advocates of MLS, is

that in France, whilst barristers also

wear gowns, they usually do away with

the sartorial elegance of, say, a Denny

Crane, and opt for jeans, runners and T-shirts underneath! A murder trial taking

more than three days is a rare phenom-

enon, and whilst there is a strong culture

of respect for magistrates, barristers and

judges alike are prone to engaging in

shouting matches across the bench untilsomeone yells ‘Tais-toi!’ [ed.–‘Shut up!’

in English]

Finally, a key difference is that the

French seem, historically, to have a

much better record in terms of the

feminisation of the judiciary, with

most three-judge trials comprising two

females to one male.

The Coffee Hour was a fantastic

experience to learn from a man of much

experience and eminent approachability.

I encourage all students to take advan-tage of the opportunity to participate

in an informal conversation with our

Judge-in-Residence on Tuesdays and

Thursdays from noon – 3 pm.

Christine ToddLawyers can get a lot of grief for doing

the work they do. They consistently rank

as one of the most hated professions,

despite offering some pretty invaluable

services. ‘International Be Kind to Law-

yers Day’ (April 9) was created to remedy

this injustice, forcing people worldwide

to sacrice 1/365th of their year to treat

their lawyer friends and family as the

almost semi-humans that they are.

I extended the scope of the day to

include law students for completely un-selsh purposes this year, alerting people

within shouting distance of the occasion,

and patiently awaiting pleasantness.

Crickets. I wrote about it on the social

media, and even texted my grandfather, a

former judge who refuses to put his legal

years behind him. The little message

came up on my phone indicating he’d

read the message, but he never respond-

ed. Presumably he was too busy laughing.

The day itself was as painfully aver-

age as any other. The assignments didn’tmiraculously disappear, my library nes

weren’t suddenly wiped, and I had to buy

my own coffee. Barista didn’t even smile.

Worse still, I was unsuccessful in trying

to be kind to my lawyer friends. They told

me off for interrupting their meeting with

a client, so I gave their dinosaur balloon

and mufns to a really tired-looking IT

specialist on the tram home.

So my recommendation for those of

you expecting to reap the benets of

International Be Kind to Lawyers Day:

don’t expect the world to be kind to you.Be kind to yourself. Take a day of sick

leave (to be fully sick, amirite?), buy

yourself a nice bottle of wine, schedule

a massage and tell yourself that all the

hatin’ and all the paperwork is worth it.

Cos you love being a lawyer.

And don’t forget some of the other

relevant international days of celebra-

tion that are relevant to lawyers and law

students alike:

April 13 is Blame Somebody Else Day.

April 16 is Stress Awareness Day. June 5 is the Festival of Popular Delu-

sions.

And May 9 is Lost Sock Memorial

Day. Because what the hell.

THE HON. BONGIORNO AO. PHOTO: MLS

• MLS students can book individually

or in groups of no more than seven,

by signing up outside Room 950. The

half-hour sessions are in the Malcolm

Fraser room on Level 9. Sessions can be

scheduled between 18 April and 18 May

2013. More information is available

about Judge-in-Residence Bongiorno at

http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/staff/

Bernard_Bongiorno.

(Some) Lawyers Are

People, Too (Almost)

Comment

big muscles in your shoulder to move

the rest of your arm, instead of the

small ones in your hand to move your

pen.

Here’s a link that explains everything:

<http://www.paperpenalia.com/

handwriting.html>.

It might improve your handwritingas well. That’s also good for placing no

barriers in the way of getting marks.

If you start practicing now, you’ll have

adjusted by the time exams roll around.



4

QUIZ

De Minimismudeminimis.com Volume 3, Issue 6

Agony Aunt

Living Within the Law School Bubble

Dear Agony Aunt,

I currently live at home, and some of

my new JD friends have asked me to

start a share house with them next se-mester. I think it would be fun, but I’m

kind of worried that living with friends

who I also have classes with might be

too much time spent together. I don’t

want us to all end up getting on each

other’s nerves. Should I move in with

them?

Potential Housemate

Dear Potential Housemate,

Choosing people to live with is never

easy. Especially when it comes to liv-ing with friends. Just because they are

fun to get boozed with doesn’t mean

that you are going to like their quirks

and habits. Maybe they clip their toe-

nails at the kitchen bench, and leave

their dishes lying around the house

to turn mouldy and someone doesn’t

pay their bills on time. Or you might wake up to cake on your birthday,

have spontaneous sing-a-longs and/

or dance-offs in your living room, and

have someone to go pick up that parcel

waiting for you at the post office.

Basically, this is a long-winded way

of saying, you just never know.

Either way, go for it. Share hous-

ing is a rite of passage, and everyone

should have at least one ‘this insane

housemate I once had <insert nutty

story here>’ and one ‘the best house-mate I ever had once <insert awe-

some/sweet/hilarious story here>’

stories to tell.

Auntie Ethel

1. On the weekend, Black Caviar’s record

rose to how many races undefeated?

2. What do the internal angles of a

triangle add up to?

3. Which candy has the advertising

slogan ‘taste the rainbow’?

4. Which is the fastest (ying) bird in

the world?

5. Athos, Porthos and Aramis make up

which famous trio (from literature)?

6. Name the cocktail from its

ingredients: gin, sugar, lemon juice,

soda water.

7. In which city would you nd ‘The

Forbidden City’?

8. What is the dog’s name in the TV

show ‘Family Guy’?9. What was former Prime Minister

Malcolm Fraser’s wife’s name?

10. Where is ‘The Gabba’ (stadium)

situated?

Answers below. This week’s quiz

compiled by Anna Nodrum.

Q U I Z A N S W E R S . 1 . 2 5 2 . 1 8 0 d e g r e e s 3 . S k i t t l e s 4 . P e r e g r i n e F a l c o n 5 . T h e T h r e e M u s k e t e e r s 6 . T o m C o l l i n s 7 . B e i j i n g 8 . B r i a n 9 . T a m m y 1 0 . W o o l o n g a b b a , B r i s b a n e

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, 16 April & Thursday,

18 April – ‘Building YourProfessional Prole’, run by

MLS Careers Ofce, 1 pm on 16/4, 3

pm on 18/4, Room G29.

Tuesday, 16 April – ‘Foundations

of the Australian Legal

System’, lecture by Natalie

Wieland from the MLS Academic

Skills Centre, Room 605.

Registration required, online

at <www.eventbrite.com.au/

event/6183136929>, by 15 April.

Thursday, 18 April – Film

Screening: ‘Tales of the Night

Fairies’, held by the Asian Law

Centre, 3 pm, Room 920. Light

refreshments served. Registration

required, online at <http://tinyurl.

com/cvn6q49>.

Thursday, 18 April – ‘Market

driven freedom of speech –

media between democracy and

market’, lecture by Prof. Eva-Maria Svensson, 5.30 pm, Room

920. Registration required, online

at <http://tinyurl.com/c92tjfp>.

Pixelated Justice

Peter Botros

Documents

MLS De Minimis Vol. 3 Issue 6