Diverse identities
Student newspapers provide a space for students and others on campus (including staff) to develop, explore and define their identities. This space, outside of the mainstream media but still with a circulation and audience, enables conversations and arguments and is a place for minority or disadvantaged groups to be heard.
Despite this possibility of open and free speech, the publication of these discussions often relies on the editorial team and their direction and vision, and in this collection of excepts from Hungappa we highlight the various ways that diverse identities have been presented throughout the years.
Women and gender
In October 1989 Hungappa reprinted an article publishing in Interpellator, the Bathurst campus student newspaper, titled 'Where Men and Men - and sheep feel threatened' (Power & Maher), along with an editorial response to the claims made by the authors. The safety of women and other minority groups on campus was raised, and then refuted, and it is clear that these discussions (often framed through a lens of 'aggies' vs 'chalkies'/'men' vs 'women') were the source of ongoing dialogue and discussion throughout the years.
Letters to the (mostly male) editors at times challenging the discourse around women on campus were refuted with simple claims such as 'Stop whinging and write something' (Hungappa 1995, Vol. 8 No.7).
Over time, the presence of Women's Officers (see 2005) and Women's Equity Officers (2012) on campus becomes more visible in the pages of Hungappa, although the 2012 advice from the Women's Equity Officer that "all you have to do is portion what you eat" seems in stark contrast to many of the earlier discussions around gender issues on campus.
In 2005 the then Editor chose to reprint articles from earlier publications (including precursor institutions), including a article from 1976 by a 'Rivcol woman' about her experience having an abortion. The article was printed without comment or context, and would have likely passed as a current day story in many ways.
By 2017 articles and opinion pieces such as 'Stop slut shaming' (Issue 1) were more likely to appear than calls for women to start writing.
International Students
Hungappa provides ample opportunities for international students to engage with on-campus news, although at times it's difficult to imagine whether the work is tongue-in-cheek or literal. In 1989 (No. 2) the editors published a four page section called 'Oztentation', saying "Overseas students, here is your four page supplement. A guide to Australia". Later in the same year however it becomes obvious that tensions had been rising on campus, with reference to a 'violent confrontation between particular overseas and Australian students' in the dining hall (Vol. 1 No. 24).
In 1990 (Vol. 2 No. 10) we see the formation of the South Pacific Students Association ('not a breakaway' from the International Students Association') and in 1994 there's a report on the end of session BBQ hosted by the International Students Club with over a hundred in attendance (Vol. 7 No.6) and the promotion of the Singapore Students Club (Vol. 7 No. 9).
Excerpts from issues in 2008 and 2012 show contrasting narratives of the international student experience at Charles Sturt; Hungappa provides a space for both to be published, and for those reading to see their own experience or develop an awareness of others.
Sexual identity
Sexual identity in regional centres is a still emerging field of research and understanding; Lyons, Hosking and Rosbroj found in their 2014 research that gay men aged 18-39 years living in rural and regional areas were 'significantly worse off on a range of indicators of mental health and well-being compared with their urban counterparts' (p.93). In 1989 Hungappa printed a series of articles and letters about homosexuality - commissioned by the Editors in response to an article they published titled 'Against Homosexuality'. The dialogue has been ongoing in Hungappa.
In 1991 Hungappa included a call from the University of Sydeny SRC for the first evr gay and lesbian student conference in NSW - Queer Collaborations - an opportunity for regional students to paricipate in the wider conversation about queer issues. Which they would have needed, given that future issues of Hungappa continued to publish homophobic and unconfirmed opinions onf the root causes of homosexuality (see 1989 Vol 11 No 7 for example). In 2012 the discussion had moved from defining homosexuality to rights, with a open discussion about same sex marriage in repsonse to views published inthe local Wagga newspaper.
Jaffas vs. Aggies vs. Chalkies
Identity on campus isn't just a political one however; for Wagga based students Hungappa provides a platform for the ongoing debates between different student cohorts - Aggies, Chalkies and Jaffas. These excerpts highlight some of the debates, from Aggies claiming 'Aggie bashing' - "Why is it that one faculty's (now we're a Uni, school=faculty) students are continually singled out and identified as the rascals" (1990 Vol 2 No 7) - to definitions of Chalkies (Education students) as needing to be "treated with caution - only people with the maturity of those they want to teach choose to be teachers" (2008 O'Week edition).