Past editors and staff members have also gone on to write for other publications, such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Australian and Vogue.

[citation needed] The first edition was a four-page newspaper put together for the Wollongong University College Students' Union and featured a number of satirical and journalistic articles.

It also included advertisements for Lance's (a David Jones' store) Maloufs Men's Wear and Rural Bank (which opened on campus for "two hours every pay day").

The right of editorial control versus the censorial privilege of the WUSA President has ofttimes been a source of controversy and tension on the University of Wollongong campus.

In early 2004, then-Editor Anneliese Constable fought the then-President Michael Szafraniec for the right to publish reports critical of his administration of WUSA.

Robert Bruce Keanan Brown (aka b2) (Editor 1988–1990) resigned in an open letter in Tertangala citing the "bureaucratisation" of the magazine as his main reason for leaving.

The Queer Collective confirmed that the publication was intentionally offensive, consistent with a long tradition of subversive student journalism at UOW.

The then Coordinator of the magazine issued a statement instead pointing the finger at the administration which had refused to introduce compulsory consent courses and to combat sexual assault off-campus.

In 1999, the magazine reported the student uproar that followed a university decision to invite conservative commentator Piers Akerman to speak at a graduation ceremony.