Finding The Right Student Group For You!

By: Tim Cheeseman

One of the greatest things about university (besides all that edu-ma-cation stuff) would have to be, in my opinion, meeting new people with similar interests. The social life at Macquarie is pretty fantastic, where uni groups allow you to socialise while having fun, collaborating on interesting projects, making social changes and even just discussing some interesting ideas. 

On discovering MQU I'll list in two separate parts some of the groups that I'm a part of/think you'll find interesting, but first I'll give you some links to where you can find some the groups that suit you! 

The first is the Macquarie University website that has a whole page listing all the Macquarie certified groups. This page can be found here: http://mq.edu.au/on_campus/get_involved/student_groups/

The next is on Facebook, where an entire list of Macquarie Uni Groups are up, with forums on each for current events and help needed. This can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/groupsatmacquarie/

Now to that list you've all been waiting for! Here are a few groups that I think are really worth joining! 

The W.A.N.G. Club 

This group is a great way to socialise if you like a good party and free sausage sizzles. It was started for the sole purpose of meeting people and getting the freebies that you signed up for. To join the group it's only $10 for the year, and you renew each year for $5. Bargain if you ask me! 

"The W.A.N.G Club is a student run organisation whose sole purpose is to have fun. We do this through providing free sausage sizzles and organising exciting social events for our members!"

Their Facebook page can be found here: 

https://www.facebook.com/wangclub?fref=ts

Filmsoc

The Macquarie Uni Film Society is a great way to experience film. As a film maker myself, I find it's a great way to get your creative work seen by people with similar interests, a great way to collaborate and a great way to see Movies for a cheap price!  

Their statement is: "Aims to provide, at Macquarie University, films for entertainment of students, and to promote the appreciation of films as an art form, as well as encouraging student-made films."

Their Facebook page can be found here: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/filmsoc

MACQUARIE UNI CHALK ART SOCIETY (MUCAS)

MUCAS is a great way to express yourself at university, where many people get to creatively share their ideas and statements about issues they feel strongly about, or just DRAW! 

Their statement says: 

 "Release your inner chalk! MUCAS aims to combine you, chalk, and Macquarie Uni concrete. Beautify the campus with your creative genius. Chalking is fun and soothing. It’s good for you, like fruit juice!"

Their Facebook Page can be found here: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/113895458661729

Macquarie University Musicians Society (MQMUSO)

This group is one that is very dear to my heart as a musician, where the group allows you to share your music, as well as meet and collaborate with other musicians! The sign up fee is only $2 (pretty steep) but it's well worth it, where they organise things like Battle Of The Bands as well as other music events throughout the year. 

Their statement is: 

"To provide Macquarie University students a network with which they can use to connect with like-minded musicians."

There Facebook page can be found here: 

https://www.facebook.com/MQMUSO?fref=ts

IMCOLOURBLIND @MQ

This Macquarie Group has a simple purpose; "Uniting students through the common bond of the human race, while working towards the elimination of racial discriminations."

The initiative does a few things that you might like to help out with, whilst meeting new people. It's a good social initiative if you're into that sort of stuff! This is taken from their website, found here: 

http://imcolourblind.org/

• IMCOLOURBLIND Inc. Library Initiative. We have been developing libraries in detention centres by sending educational books around Australia. We have also expanded this initiative to remote Indigenous communities.
• IMCOLOURBLIND Inc. Fashion. Our fashion promotes our values with innovative messages. Our t-shirts are now for sale in retail outlets.
• IMCOLOURBLIND Human Rights Education. We have run human rights awareness sessions in high school. Our goal here is to develop human rights awareness among children. An IMCOLOURBLIND Inc. inspired project, which we are very excited about is the Wrist4Rights projects developed by THINK! Global School students.
• IMCOLOURBLIND Inc. monthly e-newsletter. This is an online issue, which publishes topical articles by students touching on the themes relating to our values. We also have a cultural gig guide to publisize intercultural events in your area. The goal of this issue is to develop awareness of different cultures and of concerns that any cultural groups are experiencing.
• Advocacy and Social Activism: We host stalls, develop awareness projects and link up with other NGO’s to develop awareness for human rights, non-discrimination and equality. Our most recent partnership is with One Day on Earth (11/11/11).

That's just some of the groups that you can join at Macquarie. Make sure you check out the website and Facebook Group Page for more groups, as well as check my next post for some more recommendations! 

Ciao for now, 

Tim Cheeseman 

MACQUARIE AFTER THE RAIN

MACQUARIE AFTER THE RAIN

Macquarie University is renowned for its beautiful environment that assists in both relaxing and studying. The other day I asked our photographer, Tim Cheeseman to go around the university and take photos of the common places, just after the rain has fallen. Here are some of them. 

BUILDING W6A

E4A PATHWAY

WALKING FROM X5B

WALKWAY TOWARDS C5C

WALKING TO MACQUARIE CENTRE

Exploring the Library

By Jeremy Thomas

You’re probably thinking, big deal….the library, but bear with me!  This 5 level structure has so much to offer.

One of the plantation bays on level 2.

For starters, both its initial construction and design were based heavily upon environmental sustainability. A lot of the material used to construct the library came from post-consumer recycled content, while 80% of the construction waste was recycled. Keeping on with the green theme, most of the roofing of the library has plantation. Yeah it looks good, but that isn’t the main reason.  The water that’s collected in the plantation is stored in a massive water tank underground.  This tank is then used for garden irrigation as well as the library toilets. Next time you’re doing your business in the toilet, check out the water colour! (It’s brown). Continuing on, there’s two plantation bays found on both levels 1 and 2.  Covered by glass panels, they provide a vast amount of natural light, reducing energy usage on artificial lighting.

Let’s roll on to other things.  The library contains over 200 computers which of course have the handy use of printing. Can’t find a free computer? That’s ok, you can also hire netbooks for a short amount of time from the service desk. In addition to this, you can also hire out laptop lockers. Charge your laptop while you’re out and about doing other things.

Books? Yeah it has books, lots of books, in fact the library contains over 1.8 million print and electronic items. They are retrieved both online and in the library on levels 1 and 2. More interestingly, a lot of the libraries books are stored underground and are selected for use via computer. This is known as ARC (Automated Retrieval Collection) a computerized machine that retrieves your selection, pretty fancy stuff. The Library also contains restricted access collections of particular books, journals, newspapers etc. They can be accessed but under firm supervision.

More? Yes!  There’s lots more. Every level has some assortment of study areas. Comfortable lounges, desks with laptop chargers and of course group presentation areas, commonly known as practice pods. These pods contain whiteboards, LCD screens and interactive whiteboards, so grab your group together and go nuts! On the odd occasion you get a bit peckish or possibly tired from the strenuous study, check out the library café right near the entrance, great to place to have a coffee and relax. Last thing on the agenda is the exciting exhibitions the library holds. Although I’ve yet to see one myself, they do seem pretty interesting. Have a look at past collections here: http://library.mq.edu.au/exhibitions/archive.html

MQU Library entrance

I highly encourage everyone to explore the library and trust me when I say, ask staff for help, they know everything. Overall, who knew a library had so much depth. 

Discovering Student Life!

By Tim Cheeseman

Hey guys, it's Tim here! As a first year student at Macquarie, I know the difficulties and the struggles of starting uni life straight out of high school. In fact, if you're a first year like me, I'm undertaking this journey with you! Today I'd like to share 7 tips that I've found have helped me, and may help you too during this tough transition. 

1. Meeting People: 

Meeting people was for me (and maybe you) the most important part of starting university. Leaving high school with a whole grade of friends, coming into university with maybe only a handful of friends you have to make some new ones! A good way to make friends is by joining university groups, introducing yourself to the person next to you in tutorials and lectures and overall just being you. Everyone is in the same boat and chances are if you're in the  same classes or course, you're bound to have similar interests! 

     2. Knowing Your Way Around: 

When you're introduced to a new place, it's fairly hard to work your way around. At Macquarie it's no different, where classes are so spread out that it can be near impossible to find places. You definitely don't want to look like the nerdy newbie with a map, so a great way to find your away around is by downloading the smartphone app "Lost On Campus". The app is almost a GPS navigation system of many different campuses across Australia, that gives you directions to each of your classes from the spot that you're standing. It's a great app to have and might save you from looking 'lost'. Here's a link to the website:  http://lostoncampus.com.au/

      3. Choosing your groups: 

Choosing your groups for group assignments are particularly important when starting uni. Usually you'll have to choose groups in the first few weeks of starting your class, and you'll be pretty much stuck with them for the rest of the semester. So here, it's important to be careful about the groups that you choose. Make sure you'll choose people that are hardworking (like yourself) so that one person isn't stuck doing all the work. 

      4. Do your work: 

If you're like me, you leave everything to the last minute. You procrastinate, and do absolutely ANYTHING to put off doing your work. BUT just as a warning, if you do put your assignments to the last minute, at the very least do your readings and listen to your lectures each week. When you're trying to do assignments last minute, it helps if you have your notes and information already, rather than starting from scratch. 

Also, don't be the person in group assignments who doesn't do anything. You let down the team and basically the marks reflect upon you. And quite frankly, they will not like you at all. 

     5. Don't be THAT guy: 

Please, whatever you do, don't be the guy that puts his hand up in every lecture asking questions. That's what the tutorials are for. You don't want to waste the time of everyone else in the room, so only ask questions in a lecture if ABSOLUTELY necessary, otherwise save them for the tutorial. 

    6. Student Lunch Deals: 

Within the Campus Hub or the Macquarie Centre there are many places that offer student deals to get cheaper than normal. Especially during lunch time, take a look at all the deals around and find places you like. Don't be afraid to try new things, especially if they're cheap! 

    7. Know your surroundings

Lastly, and what I believe is the most fun; discover places around the uni. You might enjoy studying outside and finding a good place to relax etc. Go for a walk around the campus and find places you like and you might discover more than what you bargained for. 

Hopefully these tips have helped you to start making the best of your uni experience! 

- Tim Cheeseman

THINGS YOU PROBABLY DID NOT KNOW EXISTED AT MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY!

THINGS YOU PROBABLY DID NOT KNOW EXISTED AT MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY!

By Maya El-hage

1.      Don’t you just hate it when you at uni and your battery is so low or it has actually been drained out by text messaging throughout the whole lecture? Isn’t it annoying having to put the brightness down so low to save that last breath of life? Well that isn’t a problem anymore! At the campus hub (also known as the food court), there are charging bays with 95% guaranteed possibility of having a charger that fits your mobile! Go for a wonder in the food court and find them!

2.      Its 30 degrees (actually you should be drinking 8 cups of water everyday!) and you need a cold crisp bottle of water. Well Macquarie has provided many cold filtered drinking fountains. There are many including one in:

a.      Ground level and level 1 of X5B.

b.      In the campus hub, to your left when you enter near the bathrooms.

c.       In the library on all levels, near the bathrooms

d.      On the walking strip right near BESS (near female bathrooms)

3.      If you want to prepare a snack or lunch, our Student Kitchen and Microwave Hub are available for use in the Atrium. The facilities are available free of charge and are accessible to all students and staff on campus. 

• ·         2 x toasters

• 2 x sandwich presses
• 2 x sinks
• Washing detergent and scrubbing brush
• Hand soap
• Paper towels
• Filtered hot and cold water
  
  
  
  
  
  
  4.      There are more than 30 food and retail offers on campus!! Check out this link: http://www.mq.edu.au/on_campus/food_and_shopping/special_offers_on_campus/

First Blog Post! (About Discovering MQU)

Discovering MQU is the complete guide for student life at Macquarie University. Whether first year or fifth year students, we offer the best of information for you to make use of during your study at the university. Here we will keep you updated on upcoming uni events, review places to eat, study and relax, talk about our student groups… anything to do with student life at MQU, we post about it! With our unique team featuring Maya, Jeremy and Tim, studying a wide range of degrees and subjects, you will receive personal insight into the student life at Macquarie, and help you to discover the best of it. 

Our layout is designed to create a user-friendly experience where people can comment their opinions on topics discussed or suggest topics for us to talk about. Over the next few weeks, we will try to maintain this layout as accurately as possible for your viewing benefit.