Archive

OUSA Election Special. Their Two Cents

Posted 3:36am Monday 3rd October 2011 by Critic

Critic sent the Creme-de-la-Creme of OUSA political pundits along to the Presidential forum. James Meager Internet Conspiracist 2010 OUSA Finance and Services Officer Last Wednesday, Parliament passed Heather Roy’s voluntary student membership legislation, which some are saying Read more...

OUSA Election Special. More OUSA politics than you're wildest nightmares

Posted 3:33am Monday 3rd October 2011 by Critic

In the spirit of informed decision making, Critic asked all ten of our candidates (who are vying for eight of the ten exec positions on offer) to tell us why we should give them our vote. There are two uncontested positions, which means that there will be some empty seats in next year’s boardroom. Read more...

Scary Art Galleries for Beginners One girl's battle with abstract art

Posted 5:46am Monday 19th September 2011 by Kari Schmidt

We all know that familiar feeling. You walk into an art gallery and you just don’t know what the fuck is going on. I experienced this recently at an exhibition opening. A few of the gallery regulars were hanging around outside, and as I entered into the space I saw a few streamers Read more...

I need ten dollars, dollars, dollars is what I need

Posted 5:42am Monday 19th September 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

I didn’t get the nickname “Feed me” for nothing. My favourite part of school was lunchtime, closely followed by morning tea. For me, and many other such kindred spirits, life at university has proved no different: life revolves around food, glorious food. So what to do when you’re stuck at campus Read more...

No Rush- the intriguing world of Poet David Merritt

Posted 5:35am Monday 19th September 2011 by Critic

It’s a brisk spring day in Dunedin, and David Merritt sits on a bench by Rob Roy, flanked by Bonita boxes. His hair is grey, his face weathered, a woollen beanie warms his head. He’s self described as “creased and crinkled in all the wrong places but pleased”. He could be homeless, save for the Read more...

OUSA Art Week

Posted 5:32am Monday 19th September 2011 by Kari Schmidt, Lauren Hayes, Shristi Vinayagan

It’s OUSA Art Week, and art works are dotted around the campus. Among the more impressive are Emilie Truscott’s golden bones, Levi Hawken’s graffiti art and Spencer Hall’s collaborative robot. We introduce you to these artists; their backgrounds, their ideas, and most of all their artworks. Read more...

End of Existence

Posted 5:28am Monday 19th September 2011 by Hana Aoake

Hana Aoake chats to local artist James Robinson about life, art and the end of the world. Dunedin-born James Robinson is one of New Zealand’s most successful artists. He completed a BFA from the Otago Polytechnic School of Art in 2000, and his work can be seen around campus. Each of his Read more...

Eyes and Ears

Posted 5:22am Monday 19th September 2011 by Siobhan Downes

Let’s be honest. Most of us probably feel more at home in the mosh pit of a rock concert than in a posh, please-do-not-touch art gallery. In the ‘art vs music’ debate, it seems we’re way more in tune with pop stars than painters. But take a moment out of your headbanging to open your eyes – because Read more...

Which Religion should you sign up to?

Posted 2:34am Monday 12th September 2011 by Basti Menkes

  1) Do you believe in God/an all-powerful equivalent? Yes (go to Question 2) / No (go to Atheist)   2) Do you identify with modern society? Yes (go to Question 3) / No (go to Question 4)   3) Are you chilled as fuck? Yes (go to Buddhist) / Nah I’m Read more...

Jesus Loves You

Posted 2:31am Monday 12th September 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

Or at least, the Evangelicals New Zealand is not a country known for its religious piety, even within the increasingly secular Western world. Confirmed atheists and agnostics can happily occupy the role of prime minister, there has never been a ‘church of New Zealand’ and 1.5% of Read more...

Don't be a Chicken Burger

Posted 2:26am Monday 12th September 2011 by Kari Schmidt

Most of us aren’t dicks. We don’t want animals to be harmed, and we don’t like hearing about it when they are. And yet, many of us never stop to think about the impact of consuming animals, both on the environment and the animals’ standard of living, and we continue to eat factory-farmed products, Read more...

WARNING: The Following Contains Rugby

Posted 5:31am Monday 5th September 2011 by Critic

Some of you will be giddy as a school girl over the arrival of the Rugby World Cup. The rest of you will be burying your head in your textbooks waiting for the whole bloody thing to be over so New Zealand can stop being a one dimensional man cave. The ever-considerate Joe Stockman has put together a Read more...

A to Z of weird sports & sports Events

Posted 5:27am Monday 5th September 2011 by Critic

Maybe you were always the last picked for teams at school. Maybe you (shh, not too loudly) hate rugby. Maybe you’ve never quite found your athletic niche. Never fear! Phoebe Harrop has compiled an alphabet of unusual sports and sports events is here to match-make even the most unusual individual Read more...

Workin' Up A Sweat

Posted 5:23am Monday 5th September 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

When I was told that my next article was reviewing various forms of exercise, visions of sweat, short shorts and Powerade flashed before my eyes, quickly followed by the burning question: why? Or more specifically, why me? “It’s like Bridget Jones,” said the editor, “Bridget Jones does sport.” Read more...

Not All Papers Created Equal

Posted 11:03pm Monday 22nd August 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

We all know it. There are some papers that are easy and some that are hard. You may have been warned to steer clear of the legendary POLS101 if you value your grade point average, or that Biochem will endanger the mental health and social life of every first year Health Sci. As one professor Read more...

New Zealand’s Sporting Soul: thirty years after the Tour

Posted 10:59pm Monday 22nd August 2011 by Joe Stockman

It has been thirty years since NZ was rocked by the 1981 Springboks tour. Society was divided between rugby fans, who wanted politics kept out of sport, and protesters who believed the rights of black South Africans outweighed Kiwis’ right to watch the rugby. One hundred and fifty thousand Read more...

Pilling: The Diary of a Lab Rat

Posted 10:56pm Monday 22nd August 2011 by Annie Inamouse

I'm no prostitute, but I did sell my body. In light of recent tales in the Sex Issue, I think I could have done worse, but I'll leave that up to you. Dunedin has a good little industry going for it, one not of the chocolate or dishwasher varieties. Pharmaceuticals is where it’s at. Read more...

Chronicles of Kronic

Posted 3:44am Monday 15th August 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

Kronic is just one of a number of cannabis-like legal highs available (until recently) for purchase in Dunedin and around New Zealand, and has in recent weeks been the subject of a veritable media storm. Hype about Kronic, especially its naughty, phenazepam-laced (and consequentially recalled) Read more...

WEARING THE PANTS

Posted 3:30am Monday 15th August 2011 by Siobhan Downes

Consider these three words: ‘Equal Employment Opportunities’. What comes to mind? Probably imagery from the feminist movement, hordes of angry, high-heel clad power-women protesting their way up the male-dominated corporate ladder in the name of gender equality. But what happens when the shoe is on Read more...

Sexism, Something for Everyone

Posted 3:27am Monday 15th August 2011 by Reuben Black

Brutal, oppressive, domineering, selfish and gleefully misogynist. The stereotypical (heterosexual) modern man is staunch in manner and cold at heart. His animalistic sex drive is only matched by his pulsating lust for sport and violence. His pastimes include gazing, groping and the general Read more...

Ode to the Vagina

Posted 12:19am Tuesday 9th August 2011 by Joe Stockman

A Man’s View on Women’s Liberation As a man writing an article on women’s liberation, there is a lot of room to get into Alasdair Thompson-style trouble. I am a twenty something, straight, white male. While I have on occasion dated women, dressed as a woman, and spent many hours Read more...

Madonna in a Corset

Posted 12:14am Tuesday 9th August 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

Charlotte Greenfield explores the strained dichotomy between the sexualisation of women, and the judgement of women’s sexuality. It starts early. A marketing exercise in the US analysed language used in advertising aimed at children. Boys got words such as “battle”, Read more...

Not only one Wright track

Posted 12:11am Tuesday 9th August 2011 by Anonymous

A while ago, Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright was in town, and without really knowing exactly what her job entailed, I seized upon the opportunity to interview someone from the real world, outside of OUSA. It emerged that Jan Wright was appointed as Commissioner for the Environment Read more...

DICKS OUT FOR THE GIRLS

Posted 12:04am Tuesday 9th August 2011 by Siobhan Downes

Innocent-minded Siobhan Downes experiences the genre of ‘female porn’ - pornography made especially for women. It was the worst timing. When I set out to become a connoisseur of female porn, I was actually snowed in at my parents’ house. Thus the initial stages of my research were, Read more...

Out on the town

Posted 4:33am Thursday 4th August 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

One happening Saturday, Critic decided to brave a suitably cold winter’s night in order to find out whether Dunedin can justify its urban identity with sufficiently sordid nightlife. Much to everyone’s surprise, it can. We may have no White House or Mermaid, but what we found was more than enough to Read more...

Between the Sheets

Posted 4:27am Thursday 4th August 2011 by Siobhan Downes

Or, like, on the d-floor at Monkey Bar, on a bike, or in the celebrity squares of Central Library. Critic goes Cosmo and talks to six students about the world’s favourite pastime. Emily I wanted it. But I was also real scared. What happens if I get cum in my eye, or if it smells down Read more...

Into the Wild

Posted 4:22am Thursday 4th August 2011 by Mrs John Wilmot

Mrs John Wilmot ventures outdoors, and rates locations for their al-fresco sex appeal. I have nothing against basic insertive vaginal, anal or oral intercourse. In fact, I happen to be somewhat, and by “somewhat” I mean “extremely and borderline obsessively”, Read more...

In Memoriam: the Death of the Scarfie

Posted 12:27am Tuesday 26th July 2011 by Joe Stockman

If you’re reading this, chances are that you’re an Otago student (or else have a taste for cutting-edge journalism), but does that automatically make you a scarfie? It seems that fewer and fewer students self-identify as scarfies, thinking of scarfies as unfocused pissheads who don’t care about Read more...

SURVIVAL OF THE LINGUIST

Posted 12:15am Tuesday 26th July 2011 by Siobhan Downes

Maori Language Week has been and gone for another year and, as always, its presence was most perceptibly marked by the embarrassingly eager bilingual efforts of television broadcasters, whether it be John Campbell’s ‘kee-ora, good evening, hairy-my New Zealand!’ or ‘celebrity’ chef Richard Till’s Read more...

Fed up with Pandering to Racists?

Posted 12:04am Tuesday 26th July 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

“Its so racist against white people, wheres my free uni?” [sic] says Angus Anderson on the Facebook page “GETTING A UNI SCHOLARSHIP IS SOOOOO HARD lol jk I’m 1/64 Maori” (although Critic speculates that a scholarship might be necessary to improve grammar that bad). And how can we forget ACT’s ads Read more...

Film Festival Comes to Town

Posted 4:31am Monday 25th July 2011 by Sarah Baillie

Local boy, former Critic film reviewer and director of the New Zealand International Film Festival, Bill Gosden visited Dunedin last week for the launch of the festival programme. Sarah Baillie caught up with him for a chat about his cool job and what to expect from the film festival this year. Read more...

Out of This World

Posted 4:17am Monday 25th July 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

300 kilometres above us, a long way in the context of Earth, but a miniscule distance in the vast expanse of the universe, is the home of the first continuous ten years of human occupation in space. It is an odd kind of home. With its conglomeration of wires and mechanics lining the 109-metre length Read more...

Making change for climate change

Posted 4:09am Monday 25th July 2011 by Josh Hercus

All too often we hear about the dire consequences of climate change. However, one thing I’ve noticed is that we don’t really hear that much about the solutions. Climate change is a big problem that requires a big solution. So what can you do? What can one person do? Maybe you’re like me Read more...

Cancer Cells

Posted 4:04am Monday 25th July 2011 by Siobhan Downes

What’s the hang up on cell phones? Could they be the next cigarettes? Siobhan Downes investigates the World Health Organisation’s recent statement that radiation from your cell phone could cause cancer.   It’s the icon of the wireless age: the cell phone. We have been dubbed the Read more...

Winter Wonderland

Posted 5:16am Monday 11th July 2011 by Rueben Black

Winter presents the most practically challenging and aesthetically captivating season for both men’s and women’s fashion. But if you’re not a law student or a rich Auckland hipster with mountains of Country Road and ASOS winter gear, it can be a living hell. Waiting weeks on end for your only Read more...

Voluntary Apocalypse

Posted 5:06am Monday 11th July 2011 by Joe Stockman

You probably don’t realise, walking around campus all rugged up in your puffer jacket, that the world is going to end. It’s not the Mayan calendar, Global Warming, or thermo-nuclear war that’s going to take us all out. There is a tiny little bill in front of parliament right now that has the power Read more...

Private Parts

Posted 5:01am Monday 11th July 2011 by Sam McChesney

With the recent furore around Darren Hughes’s sex scandal allegations, and now our very own Dan Stride, Sam McChesney decides to delve into the wild world of privacy law. Privacy is an issue which has received increasing attention in recent years. In years gone by, individuals were largely Read more...

I wanna have sex baby

Posted 4:49am Monday 11th July 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

Phoebe Harrop talks to renowned sex therapist and author of Sex Life Dr. Pamela Stephenson-Connolly about, well, sex. Dr. Pamela Stephenson-Connolly is a serious MILF. There’s the long and lustrous platinum blonde hair, the come hither gaze, that hard-to-place accent… Oh and Read more...

Back in the golden days

Posted 4:36am Wednesday 6th July 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

It’s fair to say that Otago students don’t always receive the most favourable media coverage. While some of it is well-deserved, some of it is clearly a little hyperbolic. Phoebe Harrop considers the New Zealand media’s particular pleasure in outing the latest controversial exploits of students, and Read more...

Their Land, Our Land

Posted 4:33am Wednesday 6th July 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

After Israel attacked an aid flotilla headed for the Gaza Strip in May 2010, investigative journalist John Pilger accused members of the Western media, including the trusty BBC, of “deception” in their coverage of the event. The promulgating of propaganda is a charge commonly leveled at the Israeli Read more...

Powerful People

Posted 4:29am Wednesday 6th July 2011 by Josh Hercus

Crazy, stupid or downright hopeless; politicians often don’t garner much respect. But they’re not all so terrible. Political fiend Josh Hercus considers the most badass leaders of them all. Theodore Roosevelt Teddy Roosevelt was the twenty-sixth President of the United States and quite Read more...

No More Burying Our Heads in the Sand

Posted 1:16am Friday 1st July 2011 by Josh Hercus

What do climate change and tobacco have in common? Josh Hercus investigates how scientific research is often supressed for corporate gain. We’ve known the end result of both for a long time Contrary to what many of you might think, scientists were well aware of the connection between Read more...

Gonna Take Pollution Down to Zero

Posted 1:11am Friday 1st July 2011 by Students for Environmental Action Otago (SEA)

You don’t have to buy a hybrid or deck your flat out with solar panels in order to save the world. There are many inexpensive ways that students can minimise their impact on the environment. Students for Environmental Action Otago present twenty tips that will both make the planet a better place to Read more...

Clean’n’Green Costa Rica – a True Tropical Paradise?

Posted 1:07am Friday 1st July 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

Lucky Phoebe Harrop spent her summer in Costa Rica, and looked Costa Rica’s own environmentally friendly image. Bill is the man. He can only be described as a real-life Costa Rican Rafiki, down to his Jamaican-esque lilt, missing-a-few-teeth grin, Dairy Milk chocolate skin and the wisdom that Read more...

God Save the Queen

Posted 6:52am Thursday 26th May 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

The Royal Wedding was a smashing occasion; a time for the females of this country to live out (vicariously) their girlhood princess dreams; a time to gobble scones with jam and cream; a time to sip tea with one’s little finger extended. It was a time to giggle at Eugenie’s choice of hat and to Read more...

PDA: What is it and why you should stop doing it

Posted 6:50am Thursday 26th May 2011 by Josh Hercus

PDA stands for “public display of affection”. It’s not PDF, that’s a computer file you moron. A PDA has absolutely no place in civilised society because it is distasteful and rude. Not only that, it’s absolutely unnecessary. It’s not a big deal that you have a partner and love them. But touting it Read more...

When the Double Down came to Town

Posted 6:45am Thursday 26th May 2011 by Lozz Holding

When the Double Down landed in little old New Zealand, Julia, our editor-in-chief, was inspired by the beauty of such a creation and came up with a fantastic idea for a feature: someone should eat only Double Downs for a week and see what happens. Obviously, anyone stupid enough to volunteer for Read more...

Divin’ to Survive

Posted 6:39am Thursday 26th May 2011 by Oscar the Grouch

With food prices sky rocketing, Oscar the Grouch gives dumpster diving a try. People are getting hungrier. It’s becoming more difficult to walk into a supermarket and buy food, and alternatives are becoming more attractive. At the OUSA Food Bank, they’ve noticed a recent upswing in Read more...

Out of the Closet

Posted 7:40am Thursday 19th May 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

A History of the Queer Community in New Zealand When Chris Brickell began to research New Zealand’s gay history for his book Mates and Lovers, people told him “I don’t know if you’ll find much prior to the 1970s”. In fact his research led him to unearth a world that Read more...

Born this Way?

Posted 7:14am Thursday 19th May 2011 by Siobhan Downes

We all remember t.A.T.u’s “All The Things She Said” video – you know, the two Russian chicks in school uniforms kissing in the rain. Not long after that, Britney and Madonna were sucking face in a highly choreographed public stunt at the MTV Video Music Awards. Then Katy Perry kissed a girl – and Read more...

Tunes about Town

Posted 11:08pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Critic

We may be at the bottom of the world, but there’s still a sort-of-happening music scene. Sometimes the tricky part isn’t knowing what’s on, but where to go. With that in mind, Critic gives you a run down of the music venues you should be frequenting. Most aren’t “cool” in the traditional big city Read more...

Antipodean Elite

Posted 10:49pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Sam Valentine

It’s that time again. New Zealand Music Month. A time to reflect on the good, the bad and all that is ugly in New Zealand music. In half celebration, and half disgust, we here at Critic thought we’d put together a list showing you that New Zealand Music isn’t all sales projections, Autozamn, Kids of Read more...

7 stupidest song lyrics ever

Posted 10:43pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Josh Hercus

There are a lot of stupid lyrics about, from the nonsensical to the downright disingenuous (Rebecca Black’s “Friday” comes to mind). An avid listener of music with “inspiring” lyrics, Josh Hercus rates the 7 stupidest song lyrics. Song: Hootie and the Blowfish – “Only Wanna Be With Read more...

Cinderella Has A New Name: KATE MIDDLETON

Posted 10:39pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Siobhan Downes

Once upon a time there lived a band of women’s magazine editors, who ruled the media empire with their weekly chronicles of gossip and slander. One day, a fair young maiden named Catherine appeared in their midst – for she was courting the handsome Prince William. In November 2010, a royal Read more...

You wouldn’t steal a handbag

Posted 10:29pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

The recent Copyright Amendment Bill was created to protect artists’ copyright, and ensure that the money for their ideas went to the right person. But how effective is the legislation? Will the change encourage people to buy CDs? Charlotte Greenfield asks the million dollar question: is it possible Read more...

Four Ridiculous Things that Sparked Wars

Posted 4:19am Monday 9th May 2011 by Josh Hercus

A golden stool   Throughout history, the British are well known for not giving a flying fuck about the customs and traditions of natives. Back in 1900 an African state called the Ashanti Empire had a sacred golden stool that essentially embodied the spirit of nation as a whole Read more...

Silent Casualty

Posted 4:15am Monday 9th May 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

In general, war isn’t good. And it’s especially not good for the environment. “The environment?” I hear you say. “What about the innocent victims, the countless civilian lives lost to bloodshed, the ghastly conditions, the hate, the fear, the violence? I mean, sure, no one wants Read more...

Breaking Dawn

Posted 4:04am Monday 9th May 2011 by Siobhan Downes

My first experience of an Anzac Day dawn service was cold, wet, and about the only time I’d ever been up early enough for the McDonald’s breakfast menu. Suffice to say it was the thought of hotcakes rather than heroes of war that had gotten me out of bed that morning. Anzac Day had always seemed Read more...

iD Dunedin Fashion Show

Posted 5:19am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Julia Hollingsworth

After begging the previous two editors for a ticket to iD to no avail, I wasn’t letting go of my seat. Finally, I was in a dream scenario. I was Anna Wintour without the entourage or expensive clothes, armed only with a notebook. I had expected the crowd to be comprised primarily of antipodean Read more...

Size Her Up

Posted 5:09am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Siobhan Downes

“I don’t think you ready for this jelly,” chants Beyonce, waggling her voluptuous hips. Kim Kardashian poses seductively on the red carpet, her ample, orb-like backside splashed across magazine pages. “Real women have curves!” screams the slogan of a marketing campaign. It is the Plus Size Read more...

Men’s fashion...um what?

Posted 5:05am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Rueben Black

What a strange and treacherous place men’s fashion can be. When flannel-loving Al Borland becomes a hipster style-god, you know some weird shit is going down. With a few tweaks, the look has now become suitably pretentious for our beloved self-obsessed Auckland hipsters. So, over summer the shirts Read more...

Rachel Easting of Twenty-Seven Names

Posted 4:59am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Grace Averis

Rachel Easting is one half of Wellington label Twenty-Seven Names, for which she designs with childhood friend Anjali Stewart. Twenty-Seven Names have gained a cult-like following worldwide, drawing praise for their airy carefree aesthetic. Their most recent collection “Fearsome Five”, which showed Read more...

Sara Aspinall of Company of Strangers

Posted 4:51am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Hana Aoake

After working alongside NOM*D designer Margarita Robertson for six years, Sara Aspinall formed Company of Strangers in 2008. Company of Strangers’ third collection, Strangelove, which focuses on the notion of obsessive love, was recently shown at the iD Dunedin fashion show. Aspinall has reworked Read more...

Lela Jacobs of Lela Jacobs

Posted 4:45am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Grace Averis

Lela Jacobs is the brain behind her eponymously named label. Although only 30 years old, Wellington-based Jacobs has become a New Zealand fashion staple, known for her dark, moody looks which focus heavily odetails. Jacobs’ love of quality fabrics, draping and contrast is evident in her most recent Read more...

iD International Emerging Designer Awards

Posted 4:39am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Grace Averis

“LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED”  These were the fabulously cringe-worthy words (courtesy of Her Royal Highness Carol Hirschfeld) that opened this year's International Emerging Designer Awards. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Emerging Awards show is an annual event run as part of Read more...

5 Iconic Fashion Trend Setters of our Time

Posted 4:34am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Josh Hercus

5 Iconic Fashion Trend Setters of our Time Lady Gaga: Lady Gaga is a true fashion inspiration. Her style is diverse and difficult to pinpoint, but clearly contains vibrant elements of what 8-year-old girls use to play dress up in, mixed with a heavy dose of Marilyn Manson’s wardrobe. This Read more...

Fake or real?

Posted 6:15am Thursday 14th April 2011 by George Harrison

George Harrison discusses the pros and cons of weed and its legal counterparts Availability and risk   To those of us who have often struggled to find real weed, fake weed of the “puff”, “illusion” and “chronic” varieties have been a revelation. Well, Read more...

INTELLIGENCE ON DEMAND

Posted 6:11am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Christopher Ong

It will be a few more weeks before most university students experience the soul-crushing pressure pot that is the examinations period, but scarfies typically appear to labour through with the “tried and true” methods. Multiple doses of V or Red Bull will be ingested, coffee addictions will be Read more...

Getting Above the Influence

Posted 6:08am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Siobhan Downes

The homeless bum, shooting up with a dirty needle in a dark alleyway. The street-walking prostitute, snorting cocaine between each fuck. The old man with blood-shot eyes, staggering along the street and swigging from a bottle in a brown paper bag. Our perceptions of addiction are tainted by Read more...

Fear and Loathing in the N.E.V.

Posted 6:04am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Dr. Z

When Critic decided they needed a first-person account on the effects of the legal and/or easily available highs found around Dunedin for their upcoming “Drug” issue, I volunteered for the task immediately. I had never tried any of the substances that follow, but as an aspiring Read more...

SIX INSANE OLD -SCHOOL USES OF DRUGS

Posted 5:59am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Josh Hercus

Everything has a history. Josh Hercus looks at some of the past uses for modern day drugs. Giggle party Most of you know that nitrous oxide is used in a wide range of things, from anaesthetics to speeding up cars. But it’s better known as “laughing gas” and back in the Read more...

Around the World Drug Tourism

Posted 5:53am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Anonymous

Travelling is one of life’s greatest joys. However, for many the intrepid explorer, cheap and available ways to elevate that joy well beyond the body’s already soaring levels of dopamine and serotonin remains a primary reason for the journey in the first place, and with that I bring you...drug Read more...

Wanna be on Top?

Posted 3:02am Tuesday 5th April 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

It was an afternoon that left me feeling decidedly average - in both height and hotness – yet strangely entertained. Nevertheless, the first round of New Zealand’s Next Top Model, Cycle Three, Dunedin chapter, was disappointingly devoid of drama. The most exciting thing to happen was when the Edge’s Read more...

Back to the Future

Posted 2:52am Tuesday 5th April 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

We’re all curious about the future. We can guess at it, make inferences about it, and hope or fear for it, but some people take this a step further and - or claim to belief - that they can tell the future. And people believe them. According to a recent study, 48.8% of New Zealanders believe in Read more...

FAR OUT, MAN

Posted 2:37am Tuesday 5th April 2011 by Siobhan Downes

As Calvin and Hobbes said, “the surest proof that there is intelligent life out there is that it hasn't tried to make contact with us”. In December last year, New Zealand’s Defence Force uncovered fifty years’ worth of its documents on UFO sightings. These include claims that extraterrestrial life Read more...

Ghostbusters

Posted 2:12am Tuesday 5th April 2011 by Josh Hercus

Wellington-based paranormal investigators Strange Occurrence started off as an idea for an art project, which was meant to be “a bit of a joke” until they started getting actual enquiries. With all the members having a lifelong interest in the paranormal, they realised that they would need to get Read more...

R.I.P. Journalism

Posted 4:56am Monday 28th March 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

Charlotte Greenfield discusses the effect that the fast paced internet and the rise of “churnalism” have had on the art of journalism. Try telling someone you want to be a journalist. In my experience the most common response is “but journalism is dying.” As much as Critic hopes this Read more...

Duckface, begone.

Posted 4:48am Monday 28th March 2011 by Josh Hercus

A Public Service Announcement by Josh Hercus There are many, many problems in the world. We have uprisings and corruption. We have climate change and natural disasters. We have war and mass starvation. However there is one problem that needs to be addressed immediately. A problem that has spread Read more...

Duckface, begone.

Posted 4:48am Monday 28th March 2011 by Josh Hercus

A Public Service Announcement by Josh Hercus <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face Read more...

The Arab Spring

Posted 4:35am Monday 28th March 2011 by Joe Stockman

Fuck this shit, I’m lighting myself on fire. Way back in December 2010, while future freshers waited patiently for useless NCEA results, and the rest of us prayed for twelve weeks of living with the olds to come to an end, something big was happening. Something really big. In Tunisia - a country Read more...

The annual BYO review

Posted 3:48am Monday 21st March 2011 by Anonymous

There’s more to student life than just downing Southern Golds on Castle Street and eating fish’n’chips on Fatty Mile. Indeed, the past few years have seen the rise of a new tradition: the BYO. Nowadays there’s no need to wait for a birthday or graduation in order to fill a bottle with goon and Read more...

Red Card 101

Posted 3:38am Monday 21st March 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

For more on the history of Red Cards in Dunedin, check out: How The Red Card Became a Dunedin Cultural Phenomenon An introduction to, and critical appraisal of, a Dunedin student tradition The red card is a mysterious phenomenon. No one knows quite where it came from, but I like to imagine Read more...

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

Posted 3:33am Monday 21st March 2011 by Josh Hercus

Josh Hercus reviews Dunedin ice cream.   Critic ice cream review criteria   Ice cream type: how good it tastes. Obviously, some places use the same stuff. Price and quantity: is it a good size for the price? Standard size = two scoops, always on a cone. Structural Read more...

The Great and Glorious Annual Critic Fish and Chip Review

Posted 3:28am Monday 21st March 2011 by David Milner and Cory Dalzell

Critic’s been reviewing fish and chips for yonks and yonks, or eleven years to be exact. It seems there’s nothing as universal, nor as all-embracingly glutinous, as consuming a greasy packet of deep fried goodness. And so, at least for the sake of keeping tradition alive, we’ve taken it upon Read more...

Wikileaks; Freedom, Law and Politics

Posted 4:58am Monday 14th March 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

The New Yorker's George Packer calls him "super-secretive, thin-skinned, [and] megalomaniacal." Sarah Palin claims he's "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands" whom we should pursue "with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders." Meanwhile, he is the darling of left Read more...

System Overload

Posted 4:53am Monday 14th March 2011 by Georgie Fenwicke

In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt But being season'd with a gracious voice Obscures the show of evil? - The Merchant of Venice III.II At any time of the week, Courtroom One in the Manukau District Court is a busy place; in the half-hour or so before lunch, it gets pretty Read more...

Bizarre Crimes

Posted 4:44am Monday 14th March 2011 by Josh Hercus

If you’re gonna get locked up, it might as well be for something that will make a good story. Josh Hercus has done his research, and come up with eight of the most bizarre crime and court cases from around the world. Something smells off A man in Singapore was sentenced to 14 years in prison Read more...

Sam Johnson

Posted 2:29am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Georgie Fenwicke

On a normal day, Sam Johnson is a Canterbury University student majoring in Law and Political Science. Unleash a natural disaster onto his city, however, and Sam becomes one of the co-ordinators of the army of student volunteers working tirelessly to restore Christchurch to its former glory. Each Read more...

O Week

Posted 2:20am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Charlotte Doyle and Georgi Hampton

Each year, Critic conducts a review of OUSA’s O Week - the highlights, the spew-y lowlights, the great bands and the bands that sparked hateful scarfie chants. This year, however, we did things a little differently. For a while now Dunedin bars have been offering up “alternative” OWeeks, often Read more...

Face Value

Posted 2:16am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Siobhan Downes

As of 2011, over 500 million of us are living our lives within the cornflower-blue-and-white themed webpages of Facebook. For most of 2010, Facebook surpassed Google as the most visited website. We’re over searching porn, celebrities and LOLcats. We’d rather search each other; our friends, families, Read more...

Seven irritating ‘friend’ types on Facebook

Posted 2:12am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Josh Hercus

There’s a good chance some people are going to defriend me as a result of this piece... The Liker: Known for: ‘liking’ everything and anything  What they think they’re doing: I’m really bored so I’m just gonna like all this stuff cause it’s just so Read more...

I know what you did last summer…

Posted 4:01am Monday 28th February 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

If the extent of your summer current events knowledge came from: a) doing the occasional Stuff quiz; b) checking the Facebook statuses of your socially-conscious friends; or c) reading the ODT; then this alphabet of Important Summer Happenings, compiled by news-savvy Phoebe Harrop, will bring you up Read more...

It's What He Didn't Say

Posted 3:58am Monday 28th February 2011 by Georgie Fenwicke

Recently, Georgie Fenwicke was set the ambitious task of interrogating John Key on his leadership style, election plans and policies for students. Key turned out to be as evasive as any head of state should be, and thus what follows is compelling both for what he actually said, and what he carefully Read more...

Fresher FAQ

Posted 3:55am Monday 28th February 2011 by Josh Hercus

Most Freshers look like confused puppies as they wander eagerly through campus, giggling loudly about getting OTP and the guy on their floor they pashed last night. It’s the point when freshers still think that their law degree will make them successful, rather than drain their soul, and that doing Read more...

Books are the new Black

Posted 3:50am Monday 28th February 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield

The demise of the hard copy book has been predicted by technophiles since the birth of the personal computer. After all, with surf the channel and youtube at our fingertips, who has the time to struggle through Jane Eyre, or, god forbid, Tolkein? Charlotte Greenfield talked to Politics lecturer Read more...

New Zealander of the Year 2010 – Shane Cortese

Posted 2:18am Wednesday 3rd November 2010 by Staff Reporter

Shane Cortese; a man with more talents than there are shades of blonde streaks in his hair. A man who bravely made a comeback after a tragic fake tan incident during Dancing With the Stars that has permanently left his skin a strange, inhuman, yellowy-brown hue.   2010 was a triumphant Read more...

ADJUDCIATION BY THE NEW ZEALAND PRESS COUNCIL ON THE COMPLAINT OF THE OTAGO MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT TRUST AGAINST CRITIC TE-AROHI

Posted 2:03am Wednesday 3rd November 2010 by Critic

  Mike McAlevey of the Otago Mental Health Support Trust has complained to the New Zealand Press Council that an article in the Otago University student newspaper, Critic, headed The Bum at the Bottom of the World, was among other things, inaccurate, discriminatory and in poor Read more...

Scamming Studylink

Posted 1:52am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by Staff Reporter

Ralph grew up in a $7m beachfront house in Auckland’s affluent Cheltenham. His Dad made “serious coin” working as a partner in a prominent law firm for 14 years, enough to retire when Ralph was in fifth form. Ralph has spent the last four years studying physiotherapy at AUT. Throughout those four Read more...

Taking away of a Nun

Posted 1:46am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by Caitlyn O’Fallon

and other odd laws past and present. Most people would agree that politicians are capable of some entertainingly stupid actions. It's one of the redeeming qualities of politics in general. But according to the lists of stupid laws that do the rounds on the internet or, in earlier times, in Read more...

The Most Dangerous Places on Earth

Posted 1:44am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by Staff Reporter

The Most Dangerous Places on Earth Colombia:    Dirty little drug-running Escobar wannabes have made Colombia one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Paramilitary groups have waged war on the government with no end in site, contributing to a frenzy of murders. Another Read more...