Archive

Sexcellent | Issue 01

Posted 2:27pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Sexcellent

Dear Sexcellent, Does every woman REALLY have a g spot? Because I cannot find mine, and not from lack of looking. I have dedicated hours - possibly DAYS - over the past couple of years searching for the little fucker and I swear there just doesn’t seem to be anything there. All this has Read more...

Matters Of Debate | Issue 1

Posted 2:12pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Otago University Debating Society

This column is written by the Otago University Debating Society, which meets for socail debating every Tuesday at 6pm in the Commerce Building. Affirmative, by Old Major Why should we accept more refugees you might ask? Charity begins at home you might say. The government should be feeding Read more...

The Weekly Doubt | Issue 1

Posted 2:06pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Wee Doubt

Of all the strange things I encounter in indulging my love and hate of alternative ideas, the placebo effect is the strangest. A guest writer covered this last year but I wanted to revisit it to hammer home just how weird the placebo effect is. What marks the placebo effect out from other wacky Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 1

Posted 1:55pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Student Support

Dear Ethel, How can we get last year’s bond back? Our landlord from last year won’t answer any of our texts. So broke for Ori. Can’t wait for course related costs… -Cut My Bonds Dear Cut My Bonds, It sounds like you’re all still together this year, which makes Read more...

David Clark | Issue 1

Posted 1:48pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by David Clark

I enjoy life on campus, and all that goes with it.  I wouldn’t have spent so many years as a student here otherwise. Nor would I have returned to take up my previous job as the head of a residential College.  Otago University has been very good to me. One of the best bits about Read more...

Editorial | Issue 1

Posted 10:42am Sunday 28th February 2016 by Hugh Baird

Come late February, there’s no better smell throughout North Dunedin than burning couches and stale alcohol. It tugs at my heartstrings in a similar way to fresh cut lawns in spring, or pine trees at Christmas. It can mean only one thing, that the academic year has began and the students are Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 26

Posted 3:51pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Lovebirds

Critic’s infamous blind date column brings you weekly shutdowns, hilariously mismatched pairs, and the occasional hookup. Each week, we lure two singletons to Di Lusso, ply them with food and alcohol, then wait for their reports to arrive in our inbox. If this sounds like you, Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 26

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Finbarr Noble

On 20 May 1861, Gabriel Read, a lonesome prospector, tried his luck in a gully near modern Lawrence. Heaving away the gravel, he exposed the creek bed and saw, in his words (poetic for an itinerant gold miner), “gold shining like the stars of Orion on a dark, frosty night”. This Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 26

Posted 3:46pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Student Support

Dear Ethel, What’s the story if I can’t sit an exam? My dad recently had an accident and is in intensive care. It looks like I may have to go home to be with him if things get any worse. I’m worried that I’m going to miss my exams. If I have to go home and miss exams, what Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 26

Posted 3:44pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Isa Alchemist

Back in the day when I was a student, things were different. There were no student loans and if you were from a non-university town, your boarding allowance paid all the hostel fees. Bursary was the icing on the cake. Our class was infamous for its bad behaviour. We threw darts, and shouted abuse. I Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 26

Posted 3:42pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Sam Fraser-Baxter

Last time, I argued that the most urgent environmental issue confronting us lies in the environmental perceptions and values we hold today. While global warming, species extinction or deforestation may lead to the eventual collapse of the earth’s ability to sustainably support life, skewed Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 26

Posted 3:40pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Wee Doubt

This morning a friend sent me a link to an article called “Bad Diet the Number One Cause of ADHD”. The author claims food colouring causes ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in children and that the condition does not exist in countries that do not use the dyes. I Read more...

David Clark | Issue 26

Posted 3:38pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by David Clark

Many of you will be preparing for exams. Good luck! After that come some fond farewells, summer and new challenges. Some of you will be flatting for the first time in the New Year. Some of you will be starting new courses. Some of you will be entering the job market. Whatever the change, I Read more...

Editorial | Issue 26

Posted 10:37am Sunday 4th October 2015 by Josie Cochrane

That’s a wrap! 26 issues, several bizarre dramas, and many all-nighters later, we’ve done it.  Looking back on old issues from the last 90 years, there’s been some damn cool stuff Critic has covered — from the Springboks tour to discussing mixed flatting to Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 25

Posted 2:34pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Lovebirds

Critic’s infamous blind date column brings you weekly shutdowns, hilariously mismatched pairs, and the occasional hookup. Each week, we lure two singletons to Di Lusso, ply them with food and alcohol, then wait for their reports to arrive in our inbox. If this sounds like you, Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 24

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Steph Taylor

If you haven’t heard, the uni has a new proctor scoping the campus out. Having served in Afghanistan and the Solomon Islands will no doubt prepare him for the battleground of Castle Street. A British court has convicted a man of plotting a chemical attack and planning to kill Prince Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 25

Posted 2:17pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Finbarr Noble

A head of one of the world’s many religions died in the last fortnight with little international fanfare. Max Gesner Beauvoir was the spiritual leader of Haiti’s voodoo faith, a biochemist as well as a voodooist. Beauvoir became the Supreme Servitur in 2008.  Voodoo originated in Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 25

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Sam Fraser-Baxter

People often ponder what is the most urgent environmental issue confronting us. Is it climate change, species extinction or human overpopulation? The answer could be any of these. It is hard to predict which environmental issue may lead to an irreversible collapse in the planet’s Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 25

Posted 2:11pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Isa Alchemist

The exam cycle is coming around again — following closely will be a nudge up in the average level of stress throughout North Dunedin. It seems like two out of every three students have that haunted look, as if the grim invigilator is two steps behind them (and the third just hasn’t Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 25

Posted 2:04pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by T. Antric

80 percent of all sexually active adults will get an sexually transmitted disease (STI) at some point in their lives. STIs are stigmatised and shamed, which simply contributes to them being spread more. Having an STI is not a death sentence or something to be ashamed of, but they can be quite Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 25

Posted 2:02pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Wee Doubt

Conservatives are a bunch of meat-eating, game-hunting, tax-decreasing, hard-drinking, Bible-bashing, black-and-white-thinking, immigration-hating, oil-fracking-loving, morally dogmatic philistines. Liberals are a bunch of bike-riding, tree-hugging, whale-saving, big-government-promoting, Read more...

David Clark | Issue 25

Posted 2:00pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by David Clark

Healthcare in New Zealand has been underfunded to the tune of $1.7 billion in recent years, according to independent economics advisory firm, Infometrics.  If you are studying health sciences, you may be directly affected by changes in our health system. The lack of funding and the loss of Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 25

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Student Support

Dear Ethel, Shit! It’s only two weeks until exams. I’m streeesssssed out. I really don’t know if I’m going to make it. I feel like dropping out.  What can I do? Y ou’re not alone … exams are really stressful — for some students more Read more...

Editorial | Issue 25

Posted 10:27am Sunday 27th September 2015 by Josie Cochrane

Last week, we published the blurbs for the 2016 OUSA executive candidates. They sent us their blurbs so that you could have an idea of what they stand for. To those campaigning, you are trying to be student politicians. Can’t you rise above the dirty politics? Most students don’t care Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 24

Posted 2:50pm Sunday 20th September 2015 by Lovebirds

Critic’s infamous blind date column brings you weekly shutdowns, hilariously mismatched pairs, and the occasional hookup. Each week, we lure two singletons to Di Lusso, ply them with food and alcohol, then wait for their reports to arrive in our inbox. If this sounds like you, Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 24

Posted 2:43pm Sunday 20th September 2015 by Finbarr Noble

Senator Hiram Johnson is supposed to have opined that the first casualty of war is truth. Hillary Clinton has said that “women have always been the primary victims of war”. I myself have stood in the war cemeteries of northern France and seen the white stakes above the graves of the Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 24

Posted 2:39pm Sunday 20th September 2015 by Vibhuti Patel

"Koro” is an Indonesian word meaning “shrinkage”, which accurately describes what people fear when they have genital retraction syndrome, as it’s called in the Western world. People with this syndrome have an overpowering belief that their penis (though, it has been Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 24

Posted 2:35pm Sunday 20th September 2015 by Isa Alchemist

We were told as children not to pick at scabs, as parents and teachers believed that exposing wounds to the sun would speed up their healing. There was some wise advice in this because picking off scabs with sticky fingers may introduce fresh infection. But these days there is a newer direction Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 24

Posted 2:33pm Sunday 20th September 2015 by T. Antric

Pornography is a controversial subject, but it is now perhaps the most widely accepted and pop-culture-okayed controversial subject (although the discussion seems to be different for anyone who is not a boy). Nearly every boy I know is unapologetic about indulging in porn. Porn is so frequently Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 24

Posted 2:30pm Sunday 20th September 2015 by Wee Doubt

If you decide whether to have tea or coffee in the morning, there’s probably no radical analysis of the situation going on in your head. If you sense straight away that your friend is happy to see you, you don’t have to stop and slowly analyse their body language and speech patterns to Read more...

David Clark | Issue 24

Posted 2:27pm Sunday 20th September 2015 by David Clark

The story of Louise Nicholas is familiar to many New Zealanders. Her battle with the police force over accounts of rape and abuse as a teenager in the 1980s was fought publicly. Since then, she has become a strong advocate for sexual violence prevention. My colleague Clare Curran, the MP for Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 24

Posted 2:23pm Sunday 20th September 2015 by Student Support

Dear Ethel, I’m really worried about my friend. This guy, who’s kind of in our close friend group, sexually assaulted her at a party. I don’t think it’s the first time he’s done this either. The tricky thing is that we’re all at the same college and it’s Read more...

Editorial | Issue 24

Posted 10:16am Sunday 20th September 2015 by Josie Cochrane

This week the OUSA Executive candidate forums kick off with free pizza and too many hours spent listening to wannabe executive members say the same shit. “I will make a change.” “I will buy a student bar.” “I will not let our student culture die.”  Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 23

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 13th September 2015 by Lovebirds

Critic’s infamous blind date column brings you weekly shutdowns, hilariously mismatched pairs, and the occasional hookup. Each week, we lure two singletons to Di Lusso, ply them with food and alcohol, then wait for their reports to arrive in our inbox. If this sounds like you, Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 23

Posted 2:24pm Sunday 13th September 2015 by Finbarr Noble

I was going to write something different this week but, because I am a glutton for punishment, I ventured into the stuff.co.nz comments on a piece about the Tino Rangatiratanga flag — and what did I find? Only the same fucking idiots spouting the same fucking idiocy about Moriori that was Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 23

Posted 2:22pm Sunday 13th September 2015 by Sam Fraser-Baxter

Scientists recognise the Ross Sea as the world’s last pristine, intact ecosystem. The Ross Sea is a huge bay cutting into the Antarctic sea and continent. It is 4000 km from New Zealand, the most remote and southernmost fishery on the planet. Given its position, it is also completely Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 23

Posted 2:19pm Sunday 13th September 2015 by Isa Alchemist

It dogs us in our teenage years, popping out to dampen a big night out. Severe acne can be a serious affliction that causes a normally sociable student to become shy and withdrawn. The good news is that all acne can be treated. Extreme cases will require a visit to Student Health, but options for Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 23

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 13th September 2015 by T. Antric

Ok, so you want to spice up your sex life a bit. You’re bored, it’s not exciting anymore, you want the sense of danger. Whether it’s at the back of the movie theatre or at the beach, everyone seems to have a story about it. This is all well and good, but bear in mind that a) public Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 23

Posted 2:11pm Sunday 13th September 2015 by Wee Doubt

What’s the grossest thing you would do for attention and money? Go on a reality TV show? Film a sex tape? Marry Donald Trump? In Victorian Britain, there was a type of con-artist and liar willing to do something grosser than any of that. They were the “mediums”, and they took Read more...

David Clark | Issue 23

Posted 2:09pm Sunday 13th September 2015 by David Clark

I find it heart-breaking that New Zealand was so slow to welcome Syrian refugees escaping the biggest humanitarian crisis since WWII. Our existing refugee quota of 750 per annum has been in place for decades, and places us 87th in the world for generosity of welcome. When I was a schoolboy, Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 23

Posted 2:06pm Sunday 13th September 2015 by Student Support

Dear Ethel, We’re really worried about one of our flatmates. His drinking is out of control. We all like a bit of a good time, but we can’t remember the last time he wasn’t drunk. He drinks every night and is often passed out on the sofa in the morning. He’s not himself Read more...

Editorial | Issue 23

Posted 10:25am Sunday 13th September 2015 by Josie Cochrane

It’s not often a vacancy comes up for an epic job that will be the coolest and the most challenging role you undertake in your life. There aren’t many jobs where you can say you’ve edited a magazine, produced 30 publications, managed a department and overseen the work of nearly 200 Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 22

Posted 3:33pm Sunday 6th September 2015 by Lovebirds

Critic’s infamous blind date column brings you weekly shutdowns, hilariously mismatched pairs, and the occasional hookup. Each week, we lure two singletons to Di Lusso, ply them with food and alcohol, then wait for their reports to arrive in our inbox. If this sounds like you, Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 22

Posted 3:29pm Sunday 6th September 2015 by Steph Taylor

Apparently not just a kids’ party game, but something Queenstown councillors love to do when they can’t secure office premises. What do you get when you mix curling in Naseby and a couple of Czechs? A delightful introduction to the lip-smackingly good dessert known as Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 22

Posted 3:20pm Sunday 6th September 2015 by Student Support

Dear Ethel, A couple of months ago, I got a job as a kitchen hand and was told that I would be rostered between 10 and 12 hours per week. The first two weeks were OK, but then someone left and I got rostered on for 20 hours. When I said I couldn’t do those hours, my boss said I had signed a Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 22

Posted 3:16pm Sunday 6th September 2015 by Finbarr Noble

This year marks the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta at Runnymede on the banks of the Thames in 1215 AD. If somehow this momentous occasion has slipped your mind, here’s a recap.  The Magna Carta was essentially a peace treaty between the barons and “Bad” Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 22

Posted 3:14pm Sunday 6th September 2015 by Isa Alchemist

Spring is here and, despite the cold weather, the spring flowers are coming up. Along with spring comes the familiar story of blocked or runny noses, sneezing, sore and itchy eyes and maybe a headache. When we suggest that the culprit is hayfever and not a cold or whatever has laid low your Read more...

David Clark | Issue 22

Posted 3:10pm Sunday 6th September 2015 by David Clark

Student politics was lively when I was studying on campus. It was the early days of student loans and sentiment ran high. Memorably, one protestor threw himself under Education Minister Lockwood Smith’s car on a visit to the university. Grant Robertson — then OUSA president, now Labour Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 22

Posted 3:07pm Sunday 6th September 2015 by Wee Doubt

The belief that vitamin C helps with colds and boosts the immune system is so prevalent that probably everybody reading this, including me, has taken a vitamin C tablet in their life. Scurvy is a disease that most people associate with sailors losing teeth from their bleeding gums and is caused Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 22

Posted 3:04pm Sunday 6th September 2015 by T. Antric

Fifty Shades of Grey is a terribly written, (inexplicably) terribly popular book series, originally created as fanfiction for a series that featured sparkly vampires. I myself have a few scarves (and ties and jumpers and even a sock) that have been relegated to the graveyard of items of clothing Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 22

Posted 3:01pm Sunday 6th September 2015 by Sam Fraser-Baxter

Could robots take over? Should we fear a world where robots are smarter than humans? As we moved into the twenty-first century, the world became increasingly digitalised, mirroring fictional visions of the future with robots, instant communication and information sharing. Will the machines we Read more...

Editorial | Issue 22

Posted 10:27am Sunday 6th September 2015 by Josie Cochrane

The United Nations Refugee Agency has recorded 52 million persons of concern this year, the highest number since World War II. New Zealand hasn’t changed its cap of 750 refugees per year in 26 years and per capita, New Zealand is 90th in the world for the number of refugees we admit. The Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 21

Posted 2:48pm Sunday 30th August 2015 by Lovebirds

Critic’s infamous blind date column brings you weekly shutdowns, hilariously mismatched pairs, and the occasional hookup. Each week, we lure two singletons to Di Lusso, ply them with food and alcohol, then wait for their reports to arrive in our inbox. If this sounds like you, Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 21

Posted 2:41pm Sunday 30th August 2015 by Steph Taylor

Not the greatest idea to steal your sister’s child and claim that he’s yours while going through customs. Apparently to get a letter from the Queen, it’s as easy as sending an average drawing of the Queen. Perhaps I’ll start sending in my colouring-in Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 21

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 30th August 2015 by Finbarr Noble

Previously in this column there has been cause to celebrate feminists like Emmeline Pankhurst and the suffragettes for their fearless advocacy for the rights of women. But now, I must castigate some of them for their behaviour during the Great War. In August 1914, at the outset of World War One, Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 21

Posted 2:25pm Sunday 30th August 2015 by Student Support

Dear Ethel, Help! I had to go to my nana’s funeral up north and I now have absolutely no money left. I’ve already had to borrow money off mum to pay my rent this week, and she doesn’t have much money so I can’t ask for any more. I don’t even have any money for food Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 21

Posted 2:20pm Sunday 30th August 2015 by Isa Alchemist

Campus is great for socialising and making friends, but the large number of students living in close proximity to each other also makes it easier for outbreaks of afflictions to occur. If you’ve got something crawling under your skin, it’s likely to be tiny parasite known as scabies. Read more...

David Clark | Issue 21

Posted 2:16pm Sunday 30th August 2015 by David Clark

As more information has leaked about the highly secretive draft Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, I’ve become more concerned about just what the government wants to sign us up for. Don’t get me wrong, Labour supports free trade. That’s why we signed a free trade agreement with Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 21

Posted 2:14pm Sunday 30th August 2015 by Wee Doubt

Colonic irrigation is a process that its proponents claim will remove nonspecific “toxins” from the colon and intestinal tract. Water or other liquids are injected into the colon via a tube inserted into the rectum. It’s basically an enema that goes a lot further up. The idea is to Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 21

Posted 2:12pm Sunday 30th August 2015 by T. Antric

So you want to have a night of hot, consensual, no-strings-attached sex with a person who you have no intentions of seeing or sleeping with again.  You’ve your lube and your condoms (I hate nagging, but I will nag people to wear condoms with their one night stands until the day I die. Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 21

Posted 2:09pm Sunday 30th August 2015 by Sam Fraser

Are humans really as smart as we think we are? In a generally safe, urbanised and scientific world, one might argue that we are now rational, and act upon reason. Sophocles, an ancient Greek playwright, wrote “reason is God’s crowning gift to man”. Sophocles believed that Read more...

Editorial | Issue 21

Posted 10:23am Sunday 30th August 2015 by Josie Cochrane

Welcome back to the final hill of the year! Keep chugging along cause the break is nearly here — ya know, that time when you can stop thinking about study and exams. Instead, you can start stressing about going from hardly any money each week to no income, no job and no idea where you’re Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 20

Posted 2:55pm Sunday 16th August 2015 by Lovebirds

Critic’s infamous blind date column brings you weekly shutdowns, hilariously mismatched pairs, and the occasional hookup. Each week, we lure two singletons to Di Lusso, ply them with food and alcohol, then wait for their reports to arrive in our inbox. If this sounds like you, Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 20

Posted 2:49pm Sunday 16th August 2015 by Finbarr Noble

If you have been paying even cursory attention to your Facebook newsfeed recently, you’ll have  noticed that there’s a thing about a flag coming up and that people have opinions about it. Regardless of the merits (or otherwise) of a $25 million referendum or the value some may Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 20

Posted 2:46pm Sunday 16th August 2015 by Student Support

Dear Ethel, I think we’re in deep shit! We’re in a five-bedroom place, but it’s expensive, so we got another four guys in to help cover the rent. The landlord came around last week to do an inspection and sprung extra beds and extra people in four rooms. He went nuts and is Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 20

Posted 2:43pm Sunday 16th August 2015 by Isa Alchemist

They can come in all sizes, colours and flavours (in theory). Funded versions ($5 on a prescription from a doctor) include coloured, flavoured and gradations of sizes — whether they fulfil the extra promises their packaging suggests is another question — apparently the Read more...

David Clark | Issue 20

Posted 2:38pm Sunday 16th August 2015 by David Clark

I was chuffed to receive an invitation to the University of Otago annual Law Revue a few weeks ago. For me, live entertainment with satire that nudges boundaries is an indispensable part of life on campus. It should be celebrated at every opportunity.  Along with its more grandiose Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 20

Posted 2:36pm Sunday 16th August 2015 by Wee Doubt

The internet is full of fake Einstein quotes that people attach to him to make others pay attention. For example, Einstein is famously credited with saying, “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 20

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 16th August 2015 by T. Antric

You know who I don’t fuck with? I don’t fuck with people who think the number of people a person has slept with has any bearing on their worth as a human being. My sex education was presented to me at 13 years old by a nun at my Catholic, all-girls high school. Presenting two Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 20

Posted 2:25pm Sunday 16th August 2015 by Sam Fraser

Isaac Newton is most famous for his work on the theory on gravity. In 1687, Newton published Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which is right up there with Darwin’s Origin of Life as one of the most influential science books ever published. The book laid down Newton’s three Read more...

Editorial | Issue 20

Posted 10:29am Sunday 16th August 2015 by Josie Cochrane

Last week, in a space of 24 hours, Critic was accused of biased storytelling, untrue journalism and “censorship of the student voice”. LOLs, it was one for the journal! The accusations of biased storytelling and untrue journalism came from friends of the executive member called out in Read more...

My Castle, My Flat

Posted 2:50pm Sunday 9th August 2015 by Sopsy Malone

This week on My Flat My Castle, we take a look at a group of lads who have taken up residence at the mildly more respectable (if that’s even possible) end of Castle Street. Living in what was previously known as “the cardboard box”, for obvious reasons, the ZETA boys are typical Read more...

David Clark | Issue 19

Posted 2:43pm Sunday 9th August 2015 by David Clark

As a student, I ate a lot of instant noodles. Carbohydrates are cheap. In one flat, we budgeted two packs of spaghetti between four for a meal. Filling, but not too pricey. If we had lentils on top — instead of mince — we could afford a recognisable cut of meat the next night. Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 19

Posted 2:41pm Sunday 9th August 2015 by Steph Taylor

Keen for free coffee? Just make sure you’re a breastfeeding mother and you get that all for free at the “Big Latch On”, a breastfeeding event held at the Meridian recently. That niggly old high school friend still bugging you on Facebook? Perhaps it might be better Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 19

Posted 2:30pm Sunday 9th August 2015 by Student Support

OUSA’s Student Support Centre wants to help you with your issues: from dodgy flatmates to unfair grades, email your questions to ethel@critic.co.nz and she will respond to them for you each week, right here in Critic. Dear Ethel, A couple of months ago, I signed up for a flat with five Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 19

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 9th August 2015 by Isa Alchemist

They haven’t been crying, cutting onions or smoking weed — but you will want to stay clear once you know what’s actually going on. The current outbreak of bacterial eye infections is causing fiery red eyes and embarrassing encounters throughout campus. The bacteria that cause the Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 19

Posted 2:21pm Sunday 9th August 2015 by Finbarr Noble

If, like me, you are an avid reader of the Letters to the Editor page of the ODT, not only will you be aware of middle New Zealand’s almost manic opposition to the concept of a cycle lane but also of another current affair that has the denizens of our fine province all riled up. A few weeks Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 19

Posted 2:18pm Sunday 9th August 2015 by Wee Doubt

I magine you buy a new pair of assless rubber underpants (I’m not judging) and you wear them the day that you happen to get your dream job at the waterslide-testing and kitten-cuddling factory. On the same day, you get asked out by the guy from the Old Spice ads, and land a six-digit Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 19

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 9th August 2015 by T. Antric

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. A prince won her heart, and they lived happily ever after. For a while, anyway. But it wasn’t long, however, before the prince started pestering the princess for anal. “Everyone is doing it,” he swore. “It feels so much Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 19

Posted 2:13pm Sunday 9th August 2015 by Sam Fraser

Nature is weird. A recent discovery by a Japanese scientist has once again demonstrated this.  After refuting prior knowledge, Masaru Hojo discovered something that could inspire a horror film script: ants that turn into obedient bodyguards after they receive secret signals from their Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 19

Posted 2:09pm Sunday 9th August 2015 by Lovebirds

Critic’s infamous blind date column brings you weekly shutdowns, hilariously mismatched pairs, and the occasional hookup. Each week, we lure two singletons to Di Lusso, ply them with food and alcohol, then wait for their reports to arrive in our inbox. If this sounds like you, Read more...

Editorial | Issue 19

Posted 10:16am Sunday 9th August 2015 by Josie Cochrane

After a fairly decent year from the OUSA Executive, students have unfortunately been let down. The education officer recently abused staff at a local family-owned restaurant, and this was during an OUSA Executive BYO dinner. “It was the worst behaviour we’ve seen in twenty years Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 18

Posted 3:36pm Sunday 2nd August 2015 by Finbarr Noble

Having been partly raised in Britain, I might say that we love, and are even proud of, a good defeat. The evacuation from Dunkirk evokes notions of good old British pluck in the face of adversity, the Battle of Rorke’s Drift preceded by the Zulu massacre of 1700 British soldiers got made into Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 18

Posted 3:29pm Sunday 2nd August 2015 by Steph Taylor

Tree huggers unite; the university is killing living things for a new paved area. If you’ve been dying for Uber to hit Dunedin because that $5 taxi ride on Saturday night is starting to hit you in the pocket, you’re out of luck. But they are delivering ice cream as a Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 18

Posted 3:22pm Sunday 2nd August 2015 by Wee Doubt

Natural News, a “health/wellbeing website” has 1.5 million followers on Facebook. Scrolling down their page I see articles on why vaccines are harming us, how avocados can cure leukaemia, and how microwaves eliminate all nutrients from food. Any of these could be the topic of a sceptic Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 18

Posted 3:20pm Sunday 2nd August 2015 by T. Antric

So there’s this myth right, and it goes something like “your virginity is actually a really big deal”.  Do you know how much bearing your virginity has on your value as a human being? Approximately absolutely none. “Virginity” barely stands up to the weakest Read more...

David Clark | Issue 18

Posted 3:17pm Sunday 2nd August 2015 by David Clark

One of my favourite artists — Ewan McDougall — recently showed me one of his newly completed oil-on-canvas paintings. The painting is entitled “Pretty Relaxed Akshully”. In it, a suited figure smoking a cigar reclines atop a sea of despairing faces. True to Ewan’s Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 18

Posted 3:15pm Sunday 2nd August 2015 by Sam Fraser

Following the “shark attack” on Mick Fanning recently at J-Bay, Bruce (the shark) has been frequenting news headlines worldwide. The media, as expected, went nuts on the incident, reporting on pretty much anything they could write about, from the attack itself to Fanning’s Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 18

Posted 3:12pm Sunday 2nd August 2015 by Student Support

Dear Ethel, I read some stuff in Critic and it made me think about what happened to me last year. It didn’t seem fair, but I didn’t think I could do anything about it. I was out with my flatmate and got pretty wasted. Campus Watch offered me a ride home. Of course, I accepted! Home Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 18

Posted 3:10pm Sunday 2nd August 2015 by Isa Alchemist

Arriving down from Christchurch, or from other parts of the world with the beginning of the new semester, influenza is here again. Symptoms are more serious than a cold, characterised by a fever, aches and pains, fatigue (more than normal uni fatigue) and a complete inability to concentrate on Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 18

Posted 3:05pm Sunday 2nd August 2015 by Lovebirds

Harry We don’t know what the bathroom talk is about but the guy has a nice deck. It was always going to be a push having a lab finishing at six and the date starting at seven, but I caught up pretty fast as my flat mate greeted me at the door with a shot of gin. As I was preparing myself Read more...

Editorial | Issue 18

Posted 10:26am Sunday 2nd August 2015 by Josie Cochrane

The ever-complicated idea of emotions, and how we could, should and do deal with them, is challenging at the best of times. But good art, great art in this example, somehow helps us find a way of making things make sense. The best piece of art I’ve seen lately is the movie, Inside Out. Yes, Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 17

Posted 3:18pm Sunday 26th July 2015 by Lovebirds

Chrystal Critic may have messed up the night we sent you, but you were cold and lonely. First off, I was totally surprised at how quickly this date was arranged! Monday night my flattie nominated me with the subject line, “Cold & lonely third year seeking company”. Sweet, great Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 17

Posted 3:12pm Sunday 26th July 2015 by Finbarr Noble

New Zealander Nancy Wake was the Allies’ most decorated servicewoman of World War Two, “The Electric Bugaloo” and the Gestapo’s most wanted person with a five-million-franc price on her head. She was code-named “The White Mouse” because of her ability to elude Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 17

Posted 3:09pm Sunday 26th July 2015 by Steph Taylor

Think you’re being smart when you take that sneaky shortcut jumping a fence on the way home drunk? Just make sure you don’t jump over a ledge and get wedged between it and a wall like a young Dunedin man did. I personally cannot survive without coffee, being a postgrad Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 17

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 26th July 2015 by Wee Doubt

Vani Hari, known to her millions of followers as The Food Babe, is an American author and activist who criticises the American food industry. Huge companies, including Kraft, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks and Subway, have changed or reconsidered ingredients in their products as a Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 17

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 26th July 2015 by T. Antric

Hey there, period-havers. Chances are, if you have the ability to get pregnant, you also have the ability to stress the fuck out about it. This is where birth control comes in. Sure, we all know about the pill, but the real champions of period management / not having a child are long-acting Read more...

David Clark | Issue 17

Posted 2:55pm Sunday 26th July 2015 by David Clark

I was disappointed to see students lose their second seats on University Council. The change is part of a 1980s-style downsizing of university councils around the country.  Steven Joyce has dictated that universities should no longer have the broad representation Cambridge and Oxford Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 17

Posted 2:53pm Sunday 26th July 2015 by Sam Fraser

I love to sing. I am by no means an accomplished singer, but I find it’s a hell of a way to pass time and turn something as mundane as a walk to uni or a shift at work into something pretty entertaining. I’m stoked that it’s an instrument I will hopefully have and enjoy until Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 17

Posted 2:52pm Sunday 26th July 2015 by Student Support

Dear Ethel, What do I do if my supervisor’s got it in for me? I failed my last professional placement, and I know it’s only because he’s a hater. He doesn’t treat anyone else like he does me. He yells at me in front of people and makes me feel like I’m just a total Read more...