New to Brisbane or UQ? Here are some things you might want to check out.

Cool Cafe Culture Tanya's Cloister Café in the Great Court by the library and Wordsmiths near the Bookshop.

Drinks and Chat A fine re-invented tradition among EMSAH postgrads is the Friday arvo Staff and Graduates Club meet. Round off each week of straight progress on your thesis with a contented drink with your peers. Smile, laugh, make light of life, eat at the terrace grill and sometimes stumble off for an excellent pizza at the Pizza Caffé and occasionally even a flick at the Schonell Cinema in the Student Union complex. Contact the Staff Club for details of membership eligibility, but there are always a few postgrad members around to sign you in as a guest. For poverty-striken postgrads the membership fees are not enormous and it's worth it as the bottle shop has excellent discounts.

Shower crooners If you love to sing, but are shy about making a racket on your own, then why not join QUMS (The University of Queensland Musical Society)? Several members of the English department have already infiltrated this sizeable choir and we'd love to see more. No audition is necessary and you don't need to read music. Rehearsals are Wednesday nights and for Students there's no fee: just a refundable music deposit. Check out the QUMS web page.

Sport Check out yoga and other classes at UQ Sport. UQ Sport offers one-off adventure type thingoes such as skiing, surfing or rock-climbing weekends, and innumerable clubs (Kung Fu, Rowing, Ping-Pong) as well as ten-week courses in such recreational pursuits as massage and tap-dancing (not necessarily combined). Additionally, there are regular cheap drop-in classes in aerobics, yoga, and for those of us left tense from wrestling with theorists: stretch. As well as the afore-mentioned delights, UQ Sport has all the other usual facilities for use and hire. If that all sounds too hard: Human Movement fourth year students are required to practise as personal trainers. Put your name down for next semester and you may end up with a free personal trainer for at least two one-hour sessions each week for ten weeks. Feel those muscles ripple! Contact UQ Sport online.

Other on campus delightful thesis avoidance pursuits include the short courses offered by the Student Union in activities ranging from photography to bicycle maintenance. You can check out what's on offer by calling 3377 2202. Cyclists also check out Bicycle Queensland. Please don't be tempted to ride in pedestrian zones on campus though: serious accidents have occured because of this.

If it is thesis writing you wish to develop, how about considering joining the Queensland Writers' Centre to keep in touch with other midnight oil burners?

Back to Nature Or head to the beach to tussle with that introduction. Stradbroke Island is wunderbar indeed, and the Point Lookout Chalets offer eccentric and inexpensive accommodation. Small fibro purple and flower painted huts with international newspapers pasted on the ceilings and views through pandanas palms to the ocean. If mountains are more your thing, then how about the Lamington Plateau or Green Mountains? If you are not into camping from scratch and can't afford a lodge, then check out the huts available at Binna-Burra for around forty dollars a night on the edge of a valley. These are replete with small balcony each, double bed, cupboard and table with chairs.

Thrills and chills The Mount Coot-tha botanical gardens are relatively close (via omnibus) to the university and are certainly worth a visit, as is Brisbane Forest Park. The bike ride up Mount Coot-tha is a groaner for the calves - but omigosh the ride down-hill! Gentle strolls or cycles along the river on the bicentennial UQ footpath/cyclepath it is are a more sedate option. The Saturday markets in the Valley are trés funky too! There are also markets at Riverside and Southbank on various days.

Arty There are some weird and wonderful art happenings in Brisbane: grab the telephone book and see if you can be included on mailing lists for openings. Some places request a small fee. The City Council administers a number of cultural venues. The Institute of Modern Art springs to mind as a potential procurer of social life - however peculiar.

Party on the State For free stuff and nearly free stuff, check out the film screenings and lectures given at the State Library, and the many walks and bus-rides mapped out by the local council. These may not be free, but shouldn't cost too much. The recreation section of the council is always worth a call to see what's on and being subsidised by rate-payers!

Noise and moves Our experts recommend swing on a Tuesday night! Only five dollars for an inestimably cool time from eight thirty at The Zoo in the Valley!! The Zoo often has top Brissie bands on at the weekends. You can also learn about the local gig scene through the cool community radio 4zzz. Just hit the FM dial and listen for an announcer who sounds reassuringly amateur. 4zzz are always sponsoring gigs at the Melbourne Hotel.

Foodies While considering the Valley take into account the huge and inexpensive breakfast platters on offer if you are at war with your arteries and the general range of cuisine in the Valley is great. Check out Boundary Street, West End for other cool bites. Toowong's Sushi Station offers cheap food and regular (first Tuesday and Wednesday of each month) specials where each plate is two dollars.

Brisbane If you are new to the city or the state, don't take our word for it, see what Lonely Planet thinks about your new home. The Brisbane City Council website has detailed information on facilities.

Become (happy) in slave labour M/C - A Journal of Media and Culture is a crossover journal between the popular and the Academic that is published from within the department. It's staffed and driven mostly by postgrads and we're always looking for new people who want to get involved. You don't need to be a computer nerd, by the way. Check out the site and contact the editors if you want to get involved.

Join your peers in sparkling intellectual exchange - by joining one of many research and reading groups (nearly full list in the School handbook). New on the scene are the women's reading circle and the concepts of globality group which is an interdisciplinary thing on globalisation.

Semper Semper, the student union paper pays contributors. Need I say more.

Safe and Sound Now all genders can safely and happily be transported all over campus and environs thanks to the free safety bus services. If you live very near the university, chances are pretty darned good you can score a free trip around campus or a lift home to your door most nights. Hoopla! There is a safety bus on the other side of the river also, for those living around Dutton Park, or wishing to use the Dutton Park railway station. Contact the student centre. Final note for those with desk space outside the Michie building (though obviously Michie-ites can access this also) if you telephone 51234 you can request a university 'unisafe' escort across campus. You need never walk alone in the dark on campus.

Contact the General Editor with ideas for inclusions on this page. This information is based on an original document produced by Guy Redden and Rachel Williams.

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