Coups and Cups

There's actually quite a lot to write about this week given the hive of activity in Australia and abroad. Much has transpired worthy of notation, both notable and unbelievable. At last, though, I can relax for a while.

What I hope to be my penultimate semester has finally reached its conclusion. This morning I had the last of my exams, intellectual property. It was a fairly brief exam, not even 2 hours long, and it did pose its own unique challenges. There was no way, given the number of issues, that the exam could be completed entirely in silken erudition and by the end of one of the questions, I had resorted to dot-pointing. However, I feel that I imparted and identified all that there was and I feel equally confident that my resulting grade will reflect this. I think the professor understands that the amount of issues he put into the exam made in-depth description impossible all the way through. With this final exam over, I can look forward to a few weeks of rest, maybe with some time spent in Sydney and Melbourne.

Perhaps the greatest news story in Australia has been the rather unfortunate removal of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd from office by his own party. In an early morning session, the Australian Labor Party voted for a new leader, Kevin Rudd did not himself stand for re-election, and the party chose Julia Gillard, who ran unopposed. She is Australia's first female prime minister and my thoughts immediately went to the ill-fated Kim Campbell of Canada. This situation, is slightly different, as the Labor Party still enjoys popular support, although the election is only a few months away, according to popular speculation. I just wonder if Gillard will last longer than 20 weeks. Gillard was, by the way, the Deputy Prime Minister and had been spoken of as a future Prime Minister. I saw on the television that she once said that there was a greater chance of her becoming the full forward for the Western Bulldogs than the Prime Minister in the near future and I cannot help but wonder if she will now accept that post as well.

The unusual thing behind this is that not only was Kevin Rudd a sitting Prime Minister, he was also reasonably popular. While his popularity had slipped in recent months given the failure to get the Emissions Trading Scheme through the Senate and the current debate over the mining supertax, it was not at Brian Mulroney-like levels. Furthermore, Kevin had only faced the voter once and didn't even make it to a second ballot, which is unfortunate. The Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, said that, "a midnight knock on the door was no way for an Australian Prime Minister to go" and that Kevin should have been given the opportunity "to face the voters of Australia." While the now-ex-Prime Minister's removal was not as conniving as Abbott claims, I do feel sorry for Kevin. I feel he is a victim of circumstances not entirely within his control. As perhaps a final solace, he will live in the Lodge, the PM's official Canberra residence, until the next election. He will also continue to sit for his riding and will run in the next federal election.

I suppose the lesson from all this is that it's just politics. It has been called a bloodless coup but I'm not sure how accurate that statement is. Interestingly, at the moment the top 3 jobs in Australia are held by women --- the Prime Minister, the Governor-General and the Queen.

From one ground-shaking event to another, I read about the earthquake that struck Ottawa recently that measure 5.0 on the Moment Magnitude Scale, popularly, though somewhat inaccurately, known as the Richter Scale. While I'm sure it was surprising, I think Ottawans should really just get over it. This is not the first time an earthquake has struck Ottawa, though I will grant that it was one of the larger ones. Ottawa is shielded from most natural disasters and the majority of people don't realize that after the West Coast, the Ottawa-Montreal area is the most earthquake prone area of Canada. Earthquakes are just one of those things that very occasionally livens Ottawa up considerably.

From coups to cups, there have been some spectacular developments in the World Cup rounds as 2 major upsets played out. In the first, South Africa beat perennial powerhouse France, which must have sent a wave of enthusiasm through the host Rainbow Nation. Infamously, the French coach refused to shake the hand of the South African coach at the end. Although both teams are out, I think South Africans will long remember this victory.

The second great upset was Slovakia downing the reigning World Cup champions, Italy, 3-2. Probably one of the most entertaining games to date, Slovakia managed to pull off a stunning victory to knock Italy out of the World Cup. I think that there must have been rampant and exuberant jubilation in the streets of Bratislava all night long.

On another kind of upset, the Australians managed to defeat the Serbs 2-1 but it was not enough to keep them in the World Cup. Despite hopes of bettering their 2006 success, the Socceroos have been sent home in the round robin phase. I guess they'll have to try again in Brazil in 2014.

In keeping with the sporting theme, at umpire training, some of us underwent a 3-km time trial. I ran it in 14:16 which works out to about 12.6km/hr; I was happy enough to beat 12km/hr, or 1km/5 mins. This would be about an average speed. I think that had I done this a few months ago, the results would have been better as I was able to make more Thursday sessions and I was running an additional 2 night per week. Unfortunately tutorials and the cold weather prevent me from exercising fully so I think I could have done better but this isn't too bad for such a run. By the end, I could barely stand and I hope to improve my times in the future.

On a completely different topic, there has been a rather large shake-up in Australia's permanent residency regime. In a reorganization of the area, several occupations were removed from the skills list, among these was legal practitioner. While it is not fatal to me being granted permanent residency if I stayed, it does make things more difficult. It means that I have to get either territory, state or employer sponsorship in order to be granted a permanent residence visa. If the government had held off for another year, I wouldn't have this problem but there's nothing I can really do about it now. Although legal practitioner has been taken off the Commonwealth list, it may still appear in a specialized list for the Northern Territory, my preferred work jurisdiction. If that is the case, then all may not be lost and maybe I'll be allowed to stay in this country if I choose.

Also on immigration, one of my neighbours, Florian Widmann, left Fenner Hall and Australia recently. He was a tall and thin German fellow who is dating our former senior resident, Lisa Liu, and who I gave a good ribbing to whenever I could. He was also very funny when he wanted to be, which is a little unusual for Germans. He was doing his Ph.D. in computer sciences and now that it has finished, he has taken a post-doctoral position and Imperial College in London, UK. If I ever go there, I shall be sure to visit him, and Lisa (although she's staying in Australia for the moment).

As you can see, much to discuss. However, I feel that there will be considerably less to write about during the break. Nevertheless, I've earned my repose.

Auspices

The big news in Australia has been the Soceroos' perceived underperformance at the World Cup. In their first game, against mighty Germany, the Socceroos fell 4-0, an inauspicious start to their campaign. Later, they tied 1-1 with Ghana and have kept their hopes alive but they now must win against Serbia. With Serbia beating Germany, that whole group is up in the air. It was Germany's first round robin loss since 1986. Of course, Australians are also upset at the dismissal by red card of their star Harry Kewel after only 25 minutes on the field. He seems to have hand-balled in the penalty square but Australia may appeal the automatic 1 match suspension that comes with a red card. It would be rather bad luck for Kewel who missed out last time with an infection and has been much hyped this time around. Auspices

Also on the World Cup, I've managed to collect all 6 McDonald's contour glasses. In Australia, and I assume elsewhere, McDonald's has been providing free contour glasses with selected meals. Each contour glass was a different shade and depicted a different aspect of soccer. I now have them all, still in their packaging, and may even use them one day.

Earlier on in the week, I was invited to an "engagement" party for one of my acquaintances from law school. She and her "fiancee" had a surprise for everyone, which turned out to be that they had already been married for 3.5 months and had kept it a secret until now. It was still a great party.

I also had a good performance review at ACTTAB this week. Although supervisor training will be suspended for a while, I have been given a pay increase such that I am now at the maximum level for my rank. I'll be earning $28.36/hr starting mid-July, increasing to $29.55/hr on September 1st, due to our union agreement. It feels good knowing that you're going to get more money.

During my performance review I was also informed about the new system we'll be getting sometime towards the end of the year. If you don't particularly want to read about this, I suggest skipping over the next 2 paragraphs. Essentially, in order to bring ACTTAB as close to the 21st Century as possible, a new betting system is being introduced. Each racecourse for the day will have an assigned number which we will input. Later, touch screen will be introduced as well as automated betting terminals. This will bring ACTTAB close to what other states have already. It's not yet clear if all of the features (such as PIN pads for depositing money into a betting account) will be introduced but it will be a vast improvement on what we have at the moment. The new system will also allow us to offer more species of bets, particularly ones that are popular elsewhere but are currently unavailable here.

The catch is that the new system, including new betting options, will only be available via the telephone service at first. This is bound to create some confusion but I hope and pray that it won't be too disruptive. Also, the trainees who will be trained as extra staff for the Melbourne Cup-Canberra Cup period will be trained on the old system as that is what will still be available. However, those that are kept on will have to quickly be trained on the new system. As you can see, there are clearly areas where problems may crop up but I only hope that the changeover will be less taxing than when we switched sporting events betting providers. We had an issue last Sunday where the betting went down on the day Australia was going to play Ghana. Luckily it was fixed in time but it did take a few hours. It wasn't even our fault but the provider's.

Saturday was a bit of a strange and dispiriting day. I woke up only to realize that my alarm clock had died during the night and I was late for an aussie rules game I was to be a goal umpire for. I made it in time for the 2nd half but I wasn't very happy. Later, I went to work at the Civic West ACTTAB outlet and our principal machine froze. My supervisor did not restart it, as it would have meant our entire outlet would be unable to function for a few minutes, but at the end of the day, none of the figures added up. My supervisor wrote an e-mail to Jenney, our boss, about the problem so I, hopefully, won't have to repay the $42 my till was under. I think that it was because of a system error.

Another party I went to was held at the Wig and Pen, a pub in the city. My floormate, Dimitris, had his birthday party there. Many people showed up and a fun time was had by all.

On Sunday, the Canberra branch of Plast had its annual Svyato Yuriya (St. George's Day) out at Uriarra Crossing, west of the city. The day was perfect and we had a barbeque lunch followed by a hike; I even saw a wedge-tailed eagle.

And finally, my brother has returned to Canada following the completion of his teaching diploma in New Zealand. Where he ultimately ends up is anybody's guess. I'm hoping he'll choose New Zealand.

Cup of Bane

Since time immemorial, exams have been the bane of students everywhere. They are nerve-racking, long and determinative of many of your short-term plans. Originally they were oral, but in 1792, the old men in charge of Cambridge University realized that they could assess students more efficiently (more students = more money), if they created a set test on which students would produce their knowledge. They had invented the exam. Although I'm sure there are records, I wonder who were the first people to pass and fail such an exam? Since that time, students have awaited the end of semester with great trepidation, and are on tenterhooks until the results are released, which is just as bad. I have had the unfortunate instance of having to sit 2 such exams in fairly rapid succession and now I too find myself anxiously awaiting my results, which won't be available for about a month.

The first exam was property law, on Friday. I had prepared very thoroughly for this one as it is a required course and it has a historically high failure rate. I, along with 2 learned colleagues, set up a small study group and we each took portions of the course and created our summaries. Law school exams tend to be open book and these summaries (which summarize the course) are the law student's greatest sword and shield. I studied for days to make sure I understood the principles and law in question, although once written, one is never sure how one actually did. As a reward for my hard study, I watched an episode of Yes, Minister called The Skeleton in the Cupboard which dealt with a property issue.

The exam itself was held on a cold sunny morning. I did what I feel is my best and we shall see how the lecturers assess me. With the exam worth 100% of the mark, I hope I did well. To be honest, I'm happy enough just to pass the course. The exam wasn't overly difficult and I think I spotted all the critical issues, but only the assessment will determine that. I live in hope. Last year, nearly half the class failed the exam due to the application of Torrens system (registration of property) mortgage principles to an old law question. The differences between the Torrens system and the old law are too technical to be worthy of description here, but sufficeit to say, that the error described was a fundamental flaw. To that end, I think the professors treated this year's class with kid gloves. I can only hope that is the case.

The next day, I had my exam in litigation and dispute management, also a compulsory course; keep in mind that this was a cold Saturday morning of a long weekend. This particular exam was worth 90% of my mark and I also hope I did well. I had prepared earlier but had to make way for property. With less than 24 hours between the exams, I had to do a quick brush up but I think I recognized all the principle issues in the questions after discussing with my learned colleagues.

A good number of us were rather disheartened about the date of this latest exam. Originally it had been set for the following Friday (18/06) which would have given about 1 whole week between each of my exams. I was happy about this but then the course convenors decided that due to the potential graduation of some students in the class, the exam should be moved forward to assist them. It created a rather anomalous situation where I now have 2 full weeks between my penultimate and ultimate exams, the last one being intellectual property. The only benefit I can see is that it gives me more time to study for this last exam, but I think the situation was undeserved. I hope that it did not affect my results or if it did, that the examiners take the proximity of the property exam into account, and if they do not, I plan to raise it. However, I live in hope.

On the day before my property exam I did receive a certain boost to my spirit. I found out that my final mark for the postgraduate course I had enrolled in, Freedom of Information and Privacy, was a Distinction. That is a very good mark, especially for a postgraduate course at law school, and I was very pleasantly surprised. This came as a result of the assessment of my second paper in that course, worth 50%. My first mark had been a Credit and I actually thought that this subsequent essay was not as good as the first, but fortunately, the professor disagreed. I used this as incentive to keep going and to keep my spirits up through this trying time. I live in hope.

Finally, of course, the world's largest single sporting competition, the FIFA World Cup has begun in South Africa. I wish all the competitors "Qaplah!" --- Klingon for "success". After only a few short weeks, one team will stand victorious on the field of Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg. It also is a great chance for South Africa to showcase itself as more than just the crime-ridden and troubled richest country in Africa. If the country can pull this off, it will mean a huge boost for South Africa, in terms of increased tourism, exposure, good press and standing in the world. Let's all hope this World Cup proves to be everything South Africa hopes and needs. For a while at least, let's all live in hope.

Leased Time

Semester 1 has more or less officially ended and that is left for me know is the joy of exams, like a desert stretching to infinity. My original exam schedule consisted of 3 exams, each with a week between them, which was quite acceptable for me. However, the Litigation and Dispute Management exam was moved a weak earlier so that now I have 2 exams in succession and then a 2 week break until the last one. Add to that, that last exam is on the last possible day meaning I shall have a much truncated vacation period. I'll just have to bear it, I suppose, but I'm not exactly ecstatic about it.

I did have one ray of hope, though, which involved my property exam. Some potentially examinable material on leases was not mentioned in class but put in course notes. Before I had a chance to read those, I had a tutorial where we dealt with some of that material. While I won't bore you with the technicalities of leases, in the example problem we went through, there was a question about clause in a lease which purported to prevent the lessee from subleasing. As I read that, knowing what I do about property, I questioned whether or not such a clause would be upheld by a court. The answer was that it probably wouldn't. I was quietly proud of myself for surmising the answer without actually having read the material. I hope it means I have the hang of property.

In slightly more distressing news, recent crime statistics reveal that the suburb I live in, Braddon, has the highest crime level in the city. While nothing of mine has been stolen and I've never been threatened, even at night, I have heard stories. Part of the problem seems to be the large amount of government and low income housing in the area. However, it would be unfair to say that those things in and of themselves are the sources of crime. It seems that most student housing is in rather dodgy areas, though, I assume because of the low cost of property. In any case, I don't have that much longer in the area.