Archive

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...

Something Came Up | Issue 17

Posted 2:49pm Sunday 26th July 2015 by Isa Alchemist

It’s been a vicious winter so far with very low temperatures, frost and snow! Some of our northern visitors are experiencing a new affliction, which presents itself as raised areas of skin, particularly on fingers and toes. Affected areas will appear white but become red and itchy and swollen Read more...

Editorial | Issue 17

Posted 10:29am Sunday 26th July 2015 by Josie Cochrane

I don’t know what spurred you on last week, but the letters we received were actually important. They were about things that you could be demanding changes to. An unfair disciplinary system, threats to increase a fine if you appeal a decision (and getting ripped off to gain a copy of your Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 16

Posted 2:56pm Sunday 19th July 2015 by Lovebirds

Cedric Diggory He has a fantastic booty but can't remember names. I’ve always been regarded as a little bit of a ladies man, but even I found this hilarious when I chosen from a pool of hundreds after chucking my own name in the hat; like Cedric Diggory awaiting to read his Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 16

Posted 2:51pm Sunday 19th July 2015 by Steph Taylor

Pluto must have felt pretty gutted back in the day when it was reclassified from a planet to a dwarf planet. But now it has a reason to be loved again: a near-perfect rusty red heart formation has been found on the dusty, cold planet. With a seemingly simple article title, you would think Read more...

David Clark | Issue 16

Posted 2:37pm Sunday 19th July 2015 by David Clark

The increasing incidence of homelessness and poverty in the land of milk and honey bothers me. I stood for parliament because I am concerned that our society is increasingly out of whack. When the economy grows, those on modest and middle incomes seem to miss out on the benefits.  Growing Read more...

Dear Ethel | Issue 16

Posted 2:33pm Sunday 19th July 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, It’s us again. So, the rogue flatmate has moved out of Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 16

Posted 2:27pm Sunday 19th July 2015 by Finbarr Noble

Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy, taking over 470 “prizes” in a career spanning just three years from 1719 to 1722. Three years is a pretty decent innings for an eighteenth-century pirate, and Roberts amassed a Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 16

Posted 2:24pm Sunday 19th July 2015 by T. Antric

Pubic hair exists for a reason. It is a line of defence against various nasties down there. Shock horror, it even grows on vulvas and the surrounding areas. But, some time between the bush-whacking 70s and today, pubic hair on a vulva became persona non grata.  Maybe the obsession with pubic Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 16

Posted 2:22pm Sunday 19th July 2015 by Sam Fraser

Einstein once speculated that if bees were to become extinct, the human race would die out in six years. While Einstein was by no means an expert biologist, he was alluding to the remarkable significance of bees to the world’s ecosystems. Bees are most well known for their ability to produce Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 16

Posted 2:19pm Sunday 19th July 2015 by Howard Yuno

If you tune into the History Channel, you get anything but history. Instead, outrageous pseudo-archaeological documentaries about aliens and Atlantis tend to take up the programming. One of the new darlings of the pseudo-archaeological scene is a man named Graham Hancock. Hancock’s theory Read more...

Editorial | Issue 16

Posted 10:33am Sunday 19th July 2015 by Laura Munro

I’m writing this editorial as a somewhat goodbye to Critic. Next week is my final issue as News Editor, so this guest editorial was subtly forced upon me (thanks, Josie). It took me more than long enough to decide what to write about. I considered multiple topics, but when you have been Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 15

Posted 3:13pm Sunday 12th July 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...

Dear Ethel | Issue 15

Posted 3:06pm Sunday 12th July 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, We need some help with a rogue flatmate. There are five of Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 15

Posted 3:03pm Sunday 12th July 2015 by Steph Taylor

A Dunedin woman has found the latest BYO accord hard to swallow, labelling it as having “sexist limits” towards women. Research that really is just common sense has discovered if you exercise, you are more productive. Miserably failed at last semester’s exams? Never fear, one Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 15

Posted 2:52pm Sunday 12th July 2015 by Finbarr Noble

Dunedin is beautiful, the people are hospitable and, unlike in other so-called cultural metropolises, you can still get an actual pint for less than the down-payment on a house. However, it was not always so idyllic. Many of the streets we walk upon, like High Street, Stuart Street and the suburb of Read more...

David Clark | Issue 15

Posted 2:50pm Sunday 12th July 2015 by David Clark

It is hard to believe a week has passed since the Highlanders’ historic first Super15 win. I was lucky enough to be at Forsyth Barr Stadium for the semi-final win over the Chiefs. Suddenly anything looked possible. Although the final was tense viewing, my hunch proved right, my bets were well Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 15

Posted 2:43pm Sunday 12th July 2015 by T. Antric

We, as Dunedin students, have a bit of a reputation. And unlike some of our other reputations, this one is perfectly legitimate. We are “poor”. While we usually battle through this in admirable ways, there are times when being poor throws a spanner (or a dildo) in the works, e.g. buying Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 15

Posted 2:40pm Sunday 12th July 2015 by Sam Fraser

If you’ve been to St Clair lately, you may have noticed a large section of the sand dune behind the Sharks rugby ground missing. It’s a bit of a sight, so check it out next time you head to South D; the sand dune is now a cliff that waves have been eroding. There’s a bunch of old Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 15

Posted 2:37pm Sunday 12th July 2015 by DK MF

A sick mother is taken to a shaman who, through the tradition of rituals, uses the power of the ancients and spirits of the realm to heal. The shaman appears to take out the patient’s guts, chanting and channelling energy into the affected area, before returning them into the patient, who Read more...

Editorial | Issue 15

Posted 10:33am Sunday 12th July 2015 by Josie Cochrane

Just after I read this this week’s feature on Yik Yak and how users are Yaktivists in their own special way, I went on the app to look for some of the latest good examples. It is always a great excuse for a bit of procrastination.  My Yakarma (or Yik Yak activity level) is pretty low Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 14

Posted 3:06pm Sunday 5th July 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 14

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 5th July 2015 by Steph Taylor

In what seems like a miracle after a few seasons of twiddling their thumbs on the fields, the Highlanders have landed a spot in the Super 15 final, with tickets being snapped up like no tomorrow. Well, at least we’re being acknowledged as people now rather than just Read more...

David Clark | Issue 14

Posted 2:46pm Sunday 5th July 2015 by David Clark

The government has to make choices. Limited tax revenue, increasing costs of superannuation and burgeoning healthcare expenses all add up to pressure on our country’s budget. That said, politicians have the job of prioritising spending, and it should be done in a way that creates opportunities Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 14

Posted 2:41pm Sunday 5th July 2015 by Wee Doubt

Acupuncture is a practice in ancient Chinese medicine that involves sticking needles into the skin along the body’s natural “meridian lines” where “qi”, or “life-force”, is traditionally said to flow. The qi flow is redirected to improve the health of the Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 14

Posted 2:37pm Sunday 5th July 2015 by Finbarr Noble

New Zealand women won their right to vote on 19 September 1893, a historic day that made Aotearoa the first self-governing nation to extend this right to all women over the age of 21. The signing of the new Electoral Act was the culmination of years of political agitation by the Women’s Read more...

Unzipping the Myths | Issue 14

Posted 2:35pm Sunday 5th July 2015 by T. Antric

Bring up the topic of masturbation around a group of (maybe slightly under the influence) boys and three of them will tell you, with nary a blushed cheek, about when their mothers walked in. Two will tell you about their first times. Another will mention the pile of tissues beside his bed. This Read more...

Editorial | Issue 14

Posted 10:29am Sunday 5th July 2015 by Josie Cochrane

“Calculus is no use because a calculator can do everything. It’ll be handy if you want to be a maths teacher though.” This is what my high school teacher told me when I asked her why we learn calculus. Aside from the fact she single-handedly made every student in that class lose Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 13

Posted 2:27pm Sunday 24th May 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 13

Posted 2:16pm Sunday 24th May 2015 by Finbarr Noble

On 15 January 1919, Boston suffered one of history’s strangest disasters — a devastating flood of molasses. The “Great Molasses Flood” tore through the working-class North End district and deposited so much of the sticky stuff that apparently residents could still smell it on Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 13

Posted 2:13pm Sunday 24th May 2015 by Emma Cotton

About 13.8 billion years ago, a small bundle of matter expanded to form the universe. In that single expansion, the stars, the moon, the Earth, oceans, land and life all saw their beginning. The theory of the big bang, which has been pieced together by scientists over nearly a century, explains what Read more...

A Broad View | Issue 13

Posted 2:07pm Sunday 24th May 2015 by Reese Sun

A Broad View is written by different international students each week who wish to share their impressions of their time here or unique experiences. Email critic@critic.co.nz if you are an international student wanting to tell your tale. Last week, my Kiwi friend messaged me a screenshot Read more...

David Clark | Issue 13

Posted 2:03pm Sunday 24th May 2015 by David Clark

You can’t build an economy on houses, dairy and natural disasters alone. The government’s chance to get back on the front foot lay in last week’s budget. They’ve told us they will fail for the seventh time to achieve a surplus, despite making it the central promise of the Read more...

Crush on Campus | Issue 13

Posted 2:00pm Sunday 24th May 2015 by Record Player

Each week Critic wants to hear from you if you’re struggling to approach the man or woman of your dreams. Does she always sit on that front row seat and give the lecturer far more attention than you’re comfortable with? Does he stroll past your window each morning and your only attempts Read more...

Sceptic Schism | Issue 13

Posted 1:54pm Sunday 24th May 2015 by Wee Doubt

Lies can be deadly. Last month a story broke in the world of alternative medicine about Belle Gibson, an Australian woman who had made a living from her account of having cured herself of supposed terminal brain cancer with healthy eating. She said the cancer had spread to her liver and kidneys, and Read more...

Editorial | Issue 13

Posted 10:25am Sunday 24th May 2015 by Henry Napier

At the time this went to print, Budget 2015 had just been released. While Twitter was swarming around the various announcements made about social welfare, health and education funding, it’s important that we take a step back to reflect on what this budget says about our political system, how Read more...

Love is Blind | Issue 12

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 17th May 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...

Whole Lotta Love | Issue 12

Posted 2:53pm Sunday 17th May 2015 by Student Support

The month of May is important for two reasons. 17 May is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT). May 2015 is also our first national HIV testing month. IDAHOT represents an annual landmark to draw the attention of decision makers, the media, the public, opinion Read more...

From the Back of the Class | Issue 12

Posted 2:49pm Sunday 17th May 2015 by Finbarr Noble

Much like Leslie Knope, Nellie Bly was a pioneer in her field and a woman before her time. She created a whole new brand of investigative journalism known as “stunt journalism”. She was also the first person to figure out that if you went undercover as a journalist you could actually Read more...