New idea

I have a new idea for a story and I actually think its better than kava, although I would love to touch on this subject. I recently wrote a feature article for my work about how Indigenous health is suffering because people in remote communities just can't afford to eat healthily, and the quality is often very bad.

When you are on a limited income, like CDEP wages, you are obviously going to buy the food that is going to keep you and your family full. Unfortunately, most of these foods end up being the unhealthy options and therefore, it does little for your health in the long run.

So I started thinking about broadening the issue, and with Kevin Rudd recently admitting that we will hit recession, I wondered how people's health will cope?

Does a recession force you to seek out unhealthier food choices, where you begin sacrificing nutrition? It's an interesting topic and I haven't researched it yet - it may be the source of several articles. Either way, I would love to find a new spin on it. My friend, who is also doing this subject, gave me a great suggestion to maybe interview the Salvation Army and places like that and I would also interview a dietician or nutritionist.

I am thinking of contacting the Dietitians Association of Australia as I have had dealings with them before. I'm a bit concerned about when I am going to get time to do this assignment though. We actually have to physically meet out interviewees and record using our epirolls. I was under the impression we could do it over the phone and now I am a bit scared about time.

Thank God we got an extension!!

A new round, a new assignment

We were given our rounds for our second assignment a while ago, and I have begun thinking about a topic to start on.

I nearly cried with happiness when I drew the health round out of the hat. It is so broad I can touch on basically anything. Of course, then I realized picking a particular topic was going to be even more challenging - which one will I do?

I have been toying with the idea of kava use, and how it's ban has affected both Aboriginal and Pacific Islander communities in Australia.

I am particularly interested in this idea since reading this story on the National Indigenous Times website:


Police seize kava, cannabis

ISSUE 174, April 2, 2009: Police in the Northern Territory outback have seized kava and cannabis worth more than $160,000.



A Landcruiser travelling on the Central Arnhem Highway towards Arnhem Land was pulled over and searched earlier this month. 

Inside the car, police officers allegedly discovered 137.4 kg of kava in 6,560 separate deal bags and 225g of cannabis in 588 bags.



Police said the drugs had an estimated street value in remote communities of about $165,000.



The haul led to a search of a home in the Darwin suburb of Coconut Grove, where officers allegedly uncovered another 3.4 kg of kava and 7 g of cannabis.



Four men - aged 49, 46, 43 and 41 - are in custody and police expect to charge them with possessing and supplying a commercial quantity of kava, possessing cannabis of a trafficable quantity and unlawfully supplying cannabis to another.



Kava was banned from Aboriginal communities as part of the government intervention purportedly launched to combat child sexual abuse. - AAP


This is interesting to me because of it shows banning a substance doesn't seem to do enough, it only spurs a black market trade. I am also interested in finding out whether kava actually does pose health problems, considering Pacific islanders have been using it for centuries and I have read of differing studies where the health effects are contested.

I am also interested in this topic from a personal perspective. I am of both Pacific Islander and Aboriginal heritage. My dad is both a descendent of the Darumbal peoples of Central Queensland as well as Vanuatu, the Solomons and New Caledonia. So I am conflicted as to whether kava should have been banned. I understand the social importance of kava to islanders, and yet I know there are affects on Aboriginal communities.

But has it's ban affected the mental health of expat Islander communities in Australia? That sounds stupid but i know when you are unable to practice your culture, it can affect health.

I'm probing for an angle around these issues... haven't really collated my thoughts yet.

DONE

I write in celebration because I have finished my editing, my writing and basically... everything... I do still have to burn my two CDs but that takes a majority of two minutes.

I just feel relief because after yesterday's crucial mistake, I seriously doubted my ability with the Epiroll. I figured I would have had about 25 raw vox pops if all of them had worked. Now I have 17. It's funny, I ended up taking most of the interviews from the last outing I made... so I think it shows how much I felt I had improved in my questioning.

The editing process was quite simple- I basically followed the guidelines on the internet and what I had previously learned in class. It didn't seem to be that much of a problem.

I ended up going four seconds over, and I know that if I had cut out a lot of the "ums and ahs" I would have decreased the time to the limit. But when I tried to do this, it would really affect the quality of the recording - there would be either a really awkward "pop" or it would just sound ridiculous.

I still have a few of those "pops" in there, but they are scattered throughout so don't sound too bad.

The only other thing I had trouble with was in multitrack editor with the volumes. As much as I tried - I couldn't get everything consistent. It just wouldn't work. The last person quoted in my vox pop package is very low, and I just don't know how to bring it up. I tried adjusting the volume levels and it just won't work. Most of the other interviews are consistent though.

I ended up enjoying this assignment. At first I was slightly dreading standing on a street and asking random people, but when I got there all the fears just melted away. It's like having a simple chat. I learned that you really have to choose your location well if you want people to speak to you. Simply bouncing on people leaving shopping centres was definitely the wrong approach - I got the most knock backs there.

In contrast, Garema Place, where everyone was just walking around peacefully, was easy. Most people were willing to talk and even seemed happy to contribute.

Lessons Learned

I just got back from redoing my interviews at Garema Place in Civic. I am obviously annoyed that about eight of my interviews were totally wasted by my technological incompetance. I have figured out that I either didn't turn the microphone on, or messed around somehow with the output levels. Two of my interviews at Woden were also wasted - the people sound like chipmunks! I remember my tutor briefly warning us to do something so we could prevent this, but I have no idea what it was. I'm kicking myself for not writing it down.

Thankfully, after three separate outings I feel very confident and stable in my ability to go up to random people and ask their opinion. Woden and Belconnen were definite problem areas and I think it was because where I was situated. Both times I parked myself outside where people were walking in - people were either too busy getting to the shops, or in a hurry to get home. They tended to avoid me as much as possible.

Garema Place was pleasently different. Everyone was relaxed, walking around or sitting. Even the people who refused to be interviewed were nice about it. I ended up having a lot of fun because most of the time it was just me having a quick chat with strangers I would usually never have contact with. I also was able to engage a larger demographic with several different ethnicities within Canberra's community putting their spin on things. Even though I felt a bit rushed and I don't think I did my interviews up to the standard that they were previously, I actually enjoyed the experience alot more.

I really wish I could have saved a lot of my other interviews though. Here were some key interviews that were lost:

- Opinion from a man who had actually become a founding member of the future soccer team.
- Opinion from a man who had signed a petition calling for an A-League team.
- An international perspective from an African man now set in Canberra's community.

I also felt I did better in actual questioning on the interviews I lost - I know it sounds like I am lying or talking myself up, I really felt I interviewed best on my second outing.

I still have to edit the whole piece together so have set aside tomorrow to do that.

Oh no

I just listened to the last seven of my vox pops and they were really low quality - you can't hear anything. I have no idea what went wrong. I have a feeling I may have turned the microphone off by accident. The first one was perfectly clear.... I am very very annoyed and will have to go in and redo them.