Got a 78% for my Pol. Sci. essay... and while it's a pity I didn't hit 80%, especially since I noted that I was given an 80%, before the tutor erased it off and revised it down to 78%, Jeremy and me snooped on the stack of essays outside the Pol. Sci. office and realised that most ppl. actually got like 65% or so - actually I would say I didn't see anyone above 78% in that stack... so yeah, it's a pretty decent mark to get.
So for Pol. Sci, 55% of the unit is already calculated (remainder - 5% for tutorial participation + 40% for examination).
Textual Analysis - 80% = 16/20
Major Essay - 78% = 19.5/25
Tutorial Presentation - 80% = 8/10
i.e. so far after 55% calculated, = 43.5/55 = 79.1% (argh! 0.9% away from 80)
But yeah anyway, this is a much improved mark compared to at this same moment last semester... so with a bit of more hard work, hopefully the exams will push the overall score a bit to 80 and above.. and that's my HD. Heard the Dean sends a personal letter of congratulations if you can get all HDs for all units in one academic year. anyway....
The Anthropology essay can be collected after 9am tmrw from the office... a bit scared cos' I'm not that confident about this one. Probably might get back History tmrw also, and definitely European Studies on Thursday.
Was hearing bimbos with their high-pitched voices talking very loudly during Pol. Sci. tute just now, and how the Aussie electoral system works... and I was drawing OUR electoral system on a rough piece of paper and I showed it to Jeremy:
Singapore General Elections
Tanjong Pagar constituency
Candidate
1. Lee Kuan Yew (PAP)
------- End of ballot paper-------
We must be have the most efficient electoral system in the world, eh? At times, we don't even need to vote. Gee.
And Jeremy added sth to the bottom of my sketch.
2. XXXXXXXX (SDP)
(you dare?)
lol. I thought we might as well have added "your vote is being watched".
Anyway, Australia has a pretty interesting electoral system which they use to elect their House of Reps. (i.e. the government, John Howard and gang). In their ballot, they have a list... and they elect people according to 1st preference, 2nd preference, and so on... i.e. you list your preferences for ALL that is contesting in that constituency.
So, let's say the final tally (based on primary vote - 1st preference) is:
And let's assume this constituency has 100 voters.
Candidate A - 35
Candidate B - 45
Candidate C - 20
So, no one actually has a majority right? (at least 51). So what happens is that Candidate C is eliminated, and C's 2nd preferences is distributed to Candidate A and B.
So perhaps then the result is:
Candidate A - 35 + 7 = 42
Candidate B - 45 + 13 = 58
Clearly, B then is the winner. That's called the "alternative vote" system, and I think it's unique to Australia... anyway, I hope you enjoyed my mini politics lecture.
French voters have voted "non" in the referendum for the EU constitution, and it seems that the future direction of the EU is in a limbo. Basically, what the EU constitution does is that it gives more power to Brussels, and it concurrently reduces the legislative powers of national governments. In order for it to pass, ALL 25 EU members have to ratify it. 9 had already done so before the French. Btw, the result was 45.5% "oui" and 54.5% "non" - and this is supposedly one of the most pro-"EUropean" countries in the continent... people apparently voted against it cos' of the fears of unbridled capitalism, loss of jobs to the Central European EU states... interesting to see how the far Left and the far Right joined forces to defeat the referendum.... very interesting indeed.