Ka-ching!

$70 for an outsiders conception day ticket? Really? I thought that was a bit much. For those of you who might not know, Conception Day unlike the name suggests is a festival day at our Uni, with live bands, renowned DJ's performing on a different stages. And alot of beer :P Students of the university purchase $10 tickets, which seemed fair enough, however outsiders tickets might have been over priced... Although it says outsiders can come along, I dont think too many uni students who have just started earning would want to spend $70 to see a couple of bands, even if it meant to hang out with their friends from Mac uni. Yes, they must cover costs but looking at it from a student's perspective, I found that many students preferred to stay back and do something with their whole bunch of friends including those who weren't at Mac. But its not just Conception day tickets, it applies to parking, lunch at the food court, printing and the list goes on.

There's not much one can do when Sydney is the 7th most expensive city in the world. Yup, in the world :) Feels good doesn't it :P Good luck to those who have a weakness for shopping. For those of us who have moved out and need to go grocery shopping on a weekly basis, looking at the Sydney-Melbourne grocery price comparison doesn't really help...

The purpose of this blog is not to rant on about how expensive Sydney is, but atleast to be a considerate when it comes to students, as we are just starting off on part time jobs and trying to balance things off. Feel free to VURO if you think otherwise :P

Take care!

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Heroes

There are many preconceived ideas that we are asked to accept in this life. Amongst these thoughts is the definition of a hero.

We are told that a hero is someone who:

Are they really heroes???

• Wears a costume
• Saves the world on a daily basis
•  Has special/supernatural powers.
• Is  super strong and has super strength
• They would be someone like superman, Spiderman, batman and so on….

This preconceived notion is hardly realistic as there is no one in this world who has been bitten by spider and evidently developed ‘super powers’.

Then who is a hero exactly?

Is he the guy you see acting on the screen? No, that’s an actor.

My view of a hero is a human being who helps a stranger on the street without expecting anything in return. A person who does not have to ‘save’ the world, rather they just have to give a helping hand to someone when they need it.

My hero is that lady who saw me and my mother walking home with very large and heavy grocery bags and without asking us anything or wanting anything in return, offered to give us a ride home in her car. I don’t remember the face of this lady. However, she will always be part of my memory.

My hero is that person who informed me, as I was about to board the train, that I had left my very expensive and brand new textbook on the platform bench.

According to me, my dad is a hero. My dad found someone’s iPad in his shop. He was suggested by his employees to keep the iPad. Rather than doing that, my father immediately contacted the customer whose iPad it was and returned it to him. Upon returning the iPad, the customer offered my dad $50.00 for his generosity. My father declined.

Rock in Japan: Do not build anything below this level

According to me, the person who engraved in this rock in Japan (see image on the left) thousands of years ago that “Do not build you home below this level” is a hero. The person who wrote this is truly a hero because he attempted to warn those people that he has not met and will not ever meet. Yet, he provided the future generations with a warning not to build anything below this point. Even after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, this stone was and is still there.

In this world, ordinary people are heroes. Those people who, without hesitation, assist someone in need.

This blog post attempts to recognize those heroes and also attempts to change our society’s definition of a hero.

It doesn’t take much to help another person out. It just takes a little courage, a little bit of willingness and a little bit of time. The reward is truly amazing.

Is someone a hero in your life? Do share your experiences and your thoughts.

Thank you for reading.

I hope that you get an opportunity to be a hero or meet someone who can be your hero….

-Suman :)

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GOGOGO Gaming

Hey all! Maria here :)

I'm sure some, if not many of you enjoy spending you free (or busy :P) time gaming. Games are just getting better and better, with releases such as MW3,Gears of War, Diablo and Minecraft to name just a few. The graphics, gameplay and versatility are constantly being re-vamped and improved upon.

Although for most people, gaming is a way of relaxing after a long day, or having fun on the weekend....just like anything else, it can go over the top. Gaming addiction can be quite serious, but is often looked upon as a trivial issue. There's a youtube series titled: "The Online Gamer" heres a link to the first episode:

This series, although mainly being comedy, actually deals with a real issue. Excessive gaming can lead to things such as: becoming socially distant from friends/family, falling behind with school work and lack of sleep. Games these days are so technologically advanced, that players can be so easily immersed into their gaming worlds and pay less interest to their real world.

One main game which is usually associated with addiction is WoW(World of Warcraft). There have been horror stories of gamers who have stayed up countless hours, not eaten enough, and not left their homes for serveral days. Scary right?

But the purpose of this blog isn't to lecture you guys on how gaming can be dangerous and lead to being addicted, as some overprotective parents seem to think so. It's just to make you guys aware, that yes it is possible, but don't let it affect the fun you're having. It's so easy to spot the signs. If you find yourself spending more time online/gaming, than not....then you may have a problem. But it's usually just a case of you enjoying yourself. Just try to restrict yourself and prioritise. That's the key!

So to all the gamers out there, remember, everything in moderation ;)

- Maria

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Tasmania: Our smallest state and our most open mind.

Hello fellow citizens of the blog world! 

This is Renee here, a straight and narrow university student bringing you my opinion on gay marriage. 

Enjoy!

Same-sex partners all around Australia rejoiced today after yesterday's announcement that the state of Tasmania has officially legalised gay marriage, the first of all Australian states to do so. For many this has been noted as a huge step forward in Australia's social evolution and there are high hopes that this is the beginning of country-wide political change to follow Tasmania's lead. 

For more information on this change, view: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/tasmanias-giant-leap-for-samesex-marriage-20110921-1kkv3.html

The need for this change, in my opinion, has been overdue for far too long. Marriage is a binding contract of shared love which should be unaffected by gender and religion. The negative attitude held by the Catholic church and Christian belief system towards homosexuals no longer holds any power over marriage due to the separation of the tradition from the church. Marriages are celebrated across cultures and across religions, it is a diverse and universal tradition. There are no logical, unbiased reasons to prevent it from being shared by same-sex partners. There are no feasible, foreseeable effects or dire consequences from these unions. 

Same sex partnerships are equal to married couples in taxation, super-annuation and many other aspects of married life, it should only be fair that they are entitled to the labels of husbands or wives and to have the legal rights of married couples. 

American political commentator, Keith Olbermann on the subject:

Parts of Europe and the US have already legalised gay marriages, it is great to know that Australia has begun to change as well.

According to: http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=27817 there are consequences of same sex marriage. The matters addressed within this article are mostly politically related, having to do with the intervention of the government and law enforcement in religious institutions, mostly in the form of discrimination claims. There are no restrictions on marriage in the present day which state that marital vows must be exchanged within a church or by a priest. Many modern couples choose to marry through civil celebrants rather than sticking with the traditional church and priest setup. In today's society there are ways around discrimination suits such as those mentioned in the above article. 

It is of my opinion that matters of politics and religion should remain separate, religions should be able to have their own attitudes to same sex marriages without interference by the government. There are christian institutions who support or in the least tolerate same sex unions as well as civil celebrants. Discrimination suits are only consequential of same sex marriage if beliefs are forced or challenged. 

It is true that many people in Australian society will react strongly against same sex marriages, just as many people in the past have reacted to the rise of feminism, Kevin Rudd's apology to the Aboriginal people and the legalisation of interracial marriage. All these things have helped construct the social order we have today, this is simply a new chapter in Australia's history, just another evolutionary step towards universal equality. 

-Renee 

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Travelling: the bad and the ugly (the good...is yet to come)

Time is the most valuable thing that we have. We are giving the opportunity to allocate this time however and whichever we want to. However, the utilization of this time is highly compromised when we have to allocate most of it on travelling.

Whether you travel by car, train or bus you have to face this problem daily. This problem is in relation to the long hours that it takes most of us to get from Point A to Point B.

Most of us do not have the luxury to have our houses near our workplace/university/school and so on. Which evidently means that precious time which otherwise could be used to sleep, spend time with family, or just relax is wasted away.

Is that it? Do we just say that as I cannot do anything about it “I will just deal with it!” Well, though we provide us with the justification that nothing can be done about this; it becomes really hard to comprehend this justification every time we have to wait 20-30 minutes for a train/bus or when we are stuck in a traffic jam.  

Well, so why am I reminding you of the painful moments that you spent waiting. This is my attempt to create awareness and inform you that you should not just “deal with it”. The government is already aware of this issue and it high time that they took some actions to provide us with more efficient means for travelling. It needs to be emphasized that though there are many global issues in play at the moment, this is an issue that is of considerable significance as well. Failure to address this issue not only results in a misallocation of our time, but will also drastically affect the environment.

After doing some research on this topic, I came across the following link:

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/1B7D51A323DFBCC8CA2574A60005622F/$File/TransportFINALindex.pdf

This document discusses transport problems that is faced by Large Cities and has devised plans through which these problems could be better addressed in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The solutions devised were as follow:

• Offering a real alternative to travelling by car, by improving the quality of service of public transport (safety, comfort, accessibility for disabled people, information, pricing and timetabling); 
• Improving public safety and reducing crime on the public transport system e.g. by improved use of video surveillance;
• Better informing drivers about congestion to allow them to use alternative routes;
• Better integrating transport considerations into planning policy decisions and plans;
•  Encouraging the use of vehicles which use alternative energy sources;
•  Complementing the metro network with an improved system of rapid bus links, particularly for travel between suburbs;
• Improving public transport links to out-of town developments;
• Developing a cycle network, with links in particular to stations and major commercial centres;
• Improving road safety for pedestrians and cyclists, e.g. on routes to schools;
• Introducing a parking pricing policy which encourages motorists to make use of other transport modes, especially for shorter journeys.

This document was made in 2005. This is 2011 and Sydney’s transportation problem has increased over the years. 6 years have not seen any major changes.

I won’t deny that the Australian government has made some initiative in relation to this matter. This is inclusive of:

1. The introduction of larger and “free of charge” car parks at train stations: Through this, those people who live a little far from the station can drive to the station and then catch a train accordingly.
   
2. The introduction of a “TXTBUS” Service: passengers here would text their bus stop number and they would be provided with a list of buses that are expected to arrive in that stop for the next 30 minutes.

However, this initiative has not saved people’s time. If there is an accident on the freeway, the travelling time for those motorists increase by at least 30-45 minutes. Furthermore, it is sad whilst catching a train during the peak hours, as most passengers (after a tiring day of work/university/school) have to go home standing and being pushed by other passengers or waiting for the next train/bus to arrive.  

It is high time that some action is taking.

I hope that this blog post is given some recognition and evidently helps in making a difference.

If you have a differing opinion, please do share. If you have any suggestions or comments, please so share…

Thank you so much for reading.

Here is hoping that the next time you travel, you get to your destination quickly and safely…

=)

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Welcome

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to Voice Your Opinion. (VURO)

Thanks for choosing to view and start reading our blog.

This blog is created by four university students. Suman, Renee, Maria and Ashwini.


We started this blog, as it is part of our assignment. We were informed that we could choose any topic of our desire. So, after a lot collaboration we decided "why don't we create a blog that gives us and also our readers an opportunity to express their views?" 

This blog aims to discuss current topics that have become pressing issues in society. This is not a blog which will give you updates about the news. Rather, we would like to discuss matters that we believe are significant but are not being completely addressed. This blog is not planned to discuss only the factors that are considered "wrong" in society, rather this blog aims to discuss those aspects of  society that go unrecognised, whether they be positive or negative.  

The topics that we are planning to discuss is inclusive of:

- The Media and their influence (are we really given the full story or only those that will increase

   readership/ viewership/ listeners and other similar concerns).

-True heroes of society (Kindness of strangers: how a person on the street helps you out without seeking 

  anything in return)

-Gaming (is it an addiction???)

- Olympic Games (How it is a revenue generator and how it might bring countries "together") 

- Transportation and the Government's response to these problems.  

- Same sex marriages 

and many many more...

Before writing a blog on a particular topic, we will do research on that topic and provide you with links that might be relevant to the topic. 

There are four writers of this blog and hence we aim to provide our readers with mixed opinions. We don't wish to change or shape your views. Rather we aim to share our views and understand your thoughts. We would like to create this blog with your help. We would like you to contribute and be part of this blog. 

SELECTING THE BLOG’S LAYOUT, LOGO and FORMAT:

The layout of the page and also our logo represents the theme of the blog. The focus is directed towards freedom of speech, expressing your self and providing your views on the topics that intrigue you. The layout and the logo of the blog are intended to be simple and straightforward so that the attention is directed towards the content rather than the appearance of the blog. This is exemplified through the logo as it centralizes everything around the word “VURO”.

Believe it or not, we have considered your convenience whilst designing the layout and the format of the blog. The very innovative and technology savvy Maria has created a slideshow on the top of the Voice Your Opinion blog page that shows all the recent blogs.

The format and the appearance of the blog have two columns rather than three so that you are not bombarded with clusters of information. All the blogs are posted on the left. On the right hand side we have information about the blog and also the writers. We have also provided a list of all the popular posts, so that you can read over it again if you like. We have also provided external links to twitter and facebook so that if you find a blog to be interesting or intriguing, you can share it. 

So, we want to focus on your comfort as you read the blog. If you have any suggestions of how we can improve this, do let us know =)

We hope that you enjoy this blog. Share your opinions and your views. If there are any topics that you would like us to share our opinions on, let us know. 

Thanks for reading and take care :)

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