Archive

New Zealand’s Apex Predator

Posted 11:09am Saturday 24th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

I love cats as much as your average white girl. I tear up a little bit when I see them doing something cute, and I will quite happily watch video after video after video of cats I don’t know doing their cute shenanigans, like not landing a jump, hiding in boxes, and mewing. Heck, I even own a Read more...

Land of the Long White Cloud – but for how much longer?

Posted 11:02am Saturday 24th September 2016 by Gini Leatham

Tourism marketers love to portray New Zealand as an untouched Shangri-La. However, us humans have touched it with our clumsy, greedy fingers, and now we risk losing everything that makes our environment precious.  Gini Letham met some of the people trying to stop that Read more...

10 things you can do to combat the climate crisis

Posted 10:54am Saturday 24th September 2016 by Florence Dean

1) Take part in the movement.  If the heart-warming Disney-Pixar film ‘Bug’s Life’ taught me anything, it is that there is power in numbers. If people come together against the climate change cockroaches, then there is a chance that the devastating effects of climate change Read more...

Cold Water Corals: Ornately Splendid, Inaccessible & Under Threat

Posted 10:45am Saturday 24th September 2016 by Freya Mae O´Sullivan

In the deep ocean trenches surrounding Iceland, one would expect a barren, dark and empty terrain. Yet, exciting footage from submersibles reveals the seemingly impossible; lush coral gardens in abyssal canyons and trenches off the South-East coast. China Bone delicate and intricate as lace, these Read more...

2017 Te Rōpū Māori Nominations

Posted 12:55pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Critic

Tumuaki (President) Rangiira Barclay-Kerr Ko Taupiri te maunga Ko Waikato te awa Ko Tainui te waka Ko Waikato te iwi Ko Maketū, ko Te Kōraha, ko Pārāwera ōku marae Ko Ngāti Mahuta te hapū   Kia ora whānau,  My Read more...

2017 OUSA Executive Election Nominees

Posted 11:37am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Critic

The nominations for the 2017 OUSA Executive have closed, and an array of good-looking candidates have put their name forward to represent you. Below are the positions and the candidates after your votes! Please note—These are the candidates personal views and in no way an endorsement of Read more...

Realising the Refugee Crisis

Posted 11:30am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Rosa Woods

"So here’s the situation, the coastguard has just picked up a boat that upturned on the way over from Turkey. Seventy people were on board; four have drowned. We expect the survivors to be arriving at camp within the next hour or two. Just remember that these people have lost members of Read more...

Porn 101

Posted 11:20am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Throughout history humans have found ways to etch out, carve, draw, paint, record and recreate sex. This can be (fairly loosely) referred to as pornography. But, despite this being a part of the human experience for centuries, how much does your average person actually know about pornography and the Read more...

Swipe right, strap on, sneak out

Posted 11:42am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Anonymous

It was on the front page. It was a story about this new app – meant you could meet people from the comfort of your couch without a single spray of cologne. My girlfriend had just finished reading it. She said: “Would you use it? Ya know, if you were single?” Sensing a minefield I Read more...

The tales of a clothed Stilettos worker

Posted 11:32am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Katie Thain

Towards the end of last year, facing the rapidly approaching Studylink allowance cut-off date, I came to the realisation that I needed a job, and fast. One night after a few too many drinks, and a game of truth or dare that went too far, I found myself waking up the next morning with not only a Read more...

Grindr

Posted 11:10am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Anthony Gordon

You’ve heard of ‘gaydar’, right? It’s the sixth sense gay men supposedly use to detect other men’s sexual orientation. I’m dubious whether it’s real, but then again I thought the tastefully-nude Lady Gaga posters in my teenage bedroom would be enough to Read more...

The Water of Leith: Past and Current

Posted 11:41am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Charlotte Panton

After heavy rain, it’s more than a kayaker’s playground. It’s also the council’s mission, a property-owner’s disaster, students’ soggy socks and an engineering marvel. The Water of Leith has been a temperamental feature of the Dunedin landscape; some days Read more...

Brunch of Champions

Posted 11:36am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Mel Ansell

Good morning! It’s Sunday, the best day of the week. The sun shines brighter on Sundays - the birds tweet a little louder. Po-tee-weet! Can you hear them over the pounding in your head and the snoring of the cretin you went home with last night? Sure, smother the incoming phone call you Read more...

The Sex Lives of Scarfies

Posted 11:27am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Emma Fletcher

“I was just over guys… so over guys.” Now after a year of celibacy, she’s ready to jump back into the game.  Sarah Hill (not her real name) was tired of the same-ol’ casual, drunken sex she encountered during the weekends out on the town in Read more...

Requiem for a Scarfie

Posted 11:20am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Mel Ansell

The first sign of trouble came on Thursday evening when I announced I would not be drinking. My flatmates became concerned by 8:30 when I had not recanted my claim and refused to run down to Quicker Liquor for overpriced Scrumpy. They flocked around me, asked me how I was feeling in low, anxious Read more...

Bargains Chairlifts & Porn

Posted 11:37am Sunday 21st August 2016 by Charlie O’Mannin

Second semester begins yet again, and with it can come unusual urges, like the sudden desire to purchase A Review of Agricultural Practises in the Nelson Land District 1920-1963 for the price of a bottle of scrumpy, or a first edition Folk Ballads of Serbia instead of vodka. Where should you go to Read more...

The Western Anti-Theist Man's View on Islam

Posted 11:30am Sunday 21st August 2016 by Joe Higham

It would, in my opinion, be fundamentally wrong to publish an issue of Critic that has a specific focus of Islamic Awareness Week without the other side of the argument being presented. Before I go on, this absolutely represents my views on Islam, although the feature could, if I had a choice, fill Read more...

Individuals Creating Peaceful & Harmonious Societies

Posted 11:27am Sunday 21st August 2016 by Hashmat Lafraie

Leadership. Ingrained in the minds of young people, is a concept and a characteristic reserved to describe those who are the subject of daily media attention. These are the heads of governments and the representatives of nations, the innovators of business and economy, the spiritual guides of Read more...

What is it like being a Muslim Student at Otago University?

Posted 11:12am Sunday 21st August 2016 by Critic

Life for me at Otago University is probably quite similar to yours.  Anonymous I have found it quite difficult to write this piece mainly because I do not see myself being any different to the other students here. For me, the environment at Otago has been one that I have been able to Read more...

A Space To Create

Posted 4:11pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Artsenta is a place where people using mental health services can go to do art. The studio is based on an ethos that everybody should be able to access art materials and to use them in any way they want to. Artsenta kindly let Critic in for a chat with the staff. A group of people sat quietly Read more...

Roving Woman

Posted 3:57pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Ceri Giddens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmkP6atHHig Read more...

OUSA City Gallery Crawl

Posted 3:05pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Critic

Every year OUSA hosts the City Gallery Crawl. It is a night to explore the diversity of the visual art scene in Dunedin. Galleries open late, many have free drink and food, and every one has a feast for the eyes. You can either wander round the galleries at your leisure, or meet at the Dunedin Read more...

Mistakes I made That You Can Still Avoid

Posted 11:49am Sunday 7th August 2016 by Chelle Fitzgerald

This year marks my return to uni, at 31 years of age. It’s a bit daunting to realise that now I’m going to be akin to one of those weird mature-aged students who sit up the front, infuriatingly punctuating the lectures with waffling stories of “life experience” that bear Read more...

Why Local Politics Actually Matter

Posted 11:32am Sunday 7th August 2016 by Jarred Griffiths

At the moment most students see the Dunedin City Council (DCC) as a body that does not serve their interests. And ultimately, that’s the point: it doesn’t. Only one fifth of the elected Councillors are women, none are under the age of thirty, and in photos the lack of diversity is Read more...

Sensational Seagulls

Posted 12:18pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Mikayla Cahill

When people ask you what your favourite animal is, they definitely aren’t expecting to hear the word seagull; but that is exactly what my favourite animal is. The seagull is an ethereal being, with wonderful powers of persuasion and a cunning attitude. From their snow white and charcoal grey Read more...

Putin's Nonsense Media

Posted 12:06pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by George Elliott

George Galloway, the abrasive former British MP and leader of the leftwing Respect Party, was once a prolific moonlighter. In 2014 he made as much money working for dubious state-run news broadcasters than he did as a British Member of Parliament. Two years later, after a failed bid at becoming Read more...

Coming Up Short

Posted 11:50am Sunday 31st July 2016 by Joel MacManus

In February of 2016, a post on the reddit forum r/newzealand entitled “Are You My Future Baby Daddy?” caused something of a stir. Rather than an inelegant attempt at internet dating, it told the story of a young couple looking for someone, anyone, who was willing to meet up in Wellington Read more...

From devotion to debauchery

Posted 11:42am Sunday 24th July 2016 by James Tregonning

When you think about it, it’s a bit weird that Monkey Bar used to be a church. It seems kind of disrespectful. I sat down with Trevor Geddes, one of the leaders of Dunedin City Baptist Church – the folks that used to be in that building – and asked him what he thought about the Read more...

Drunk Me Is The Poor Man’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Posted 11:33am Sunday 24th July 2016 by Michelle Fitzgerald

Anyone who knows me, the eternal party girl, will be aware that this is going to be a pretty massive change of pace for me. Although I’ve tried to cut down a few times in the past, placing certain limitations on myself (never at home alone/only once a week/only classy booze that doesn’t Read more...

Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer

Posted 11:15am Sunday 24th July 2016 by Carys Goodwin

The year was 2016. The month, February. And against all rhyme or reason, a poll released by Public Policy Polling confirmed the worst: 38 percent of Floridians genuinely believed Ted Cruz could be the Zodiac Killer-a serial killer who operated in northern California in the late ’60s and early Read more...

The 2016 Darryl Kerrigan "My House My Castle" Awards

Posted 11:51am Sunday 17th July 2016 by Hugh Baird

Since Jesus wore sand shoes, students in Dunedin have been subjected to living in cold, damp and unkempt flats. As part of the OUSA flatting week festivities we decided to run a competition to find those flats and showcase some of the best, and worst of what Dunedin has to offer. Winners of the Read more...

Teaching Kids to Love Learning

Posted 11:36am Sunday 17th July 2016 by Amber Allott

If you, much to your great misfortune, happen to be born poor, there are a lot of opportunities that you are going to miss out on that your more well-off peers will receive. While the differences between the rich and the poor appear much more overt in third-world, they are still very tangible and Read more...

Help, my flat is haunted!

Posted 11:24am Sunday 17th July 2016 by Amber Allott

Dunedin is reputed to be the most haunted city in New Zealand. You could end up living in one of New Zealand’s oldest, most fascinating residential buildings, in various states of disrepair, with a unique and possibly tragic history. You may, like many before you, end up hearing footsteps Read more...

Fairies are scaries

Posted 11:09am Sunday 10th July 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Fairies (or Faeries) are a massive part of our popular culture. The first image that comes to the minds of most people is of Tinkerbelle, or perhaps the fairy godmother in Cinderella. Fairies are seen as cute, pink, little people who exist to help and serve humans. They’re magical Read more...

Why won’t aliens visit us?

Posted 11:03am Sunday 10th July 2016 by Connor Fry

“So I’m certainly not a reptile. I’ve never been in a spaceship, never been in outer space, and my tongue’s not overly long either.” In 2014 a fellow human-being submitted an Official Information Act request for proof John Key wasn’t a reptilian enslaving us, Read more...

Abominable Stories

Posted 10:53am Sunday 10th July 2016 by Anthony Marris

Cryptozology is the study of hidden and mainly mythical animals that mainstream science pays little attention to. Mention cryptozoology in a conversation and people automatically deride you, if they know what the word means. When you can be bothered explaining that it is so much more than the Read more...

An actual real legal high

Posted 11:45am Sunday 29th May 2016 by Sam Fraser-Baxter

I thought I would smell J-Day before I would be able to see it. Like the police burning off a colossal stash of confiscated plants, I imagined Dunedin’s J-Day creating a haze of smoke so large that it would hot box the wider Octagon, a blaze so impressive that it would send a great political Read more...

Personal Statement

Posted 11:35am Sunday 29th May 2016 by Carys Goodwin

When I picture graduate school selection panels, I picture the iconic scene in every genre of movie from Billy Elliot to The Shawshank Redemption – a large, old hall or room; a long desk, with a row of glasses-wearing middle aged examiners sitting behind it; and a single chair, placed Read more...

Breaks & Skates - the revolution of Roller Derby

Posted 11:28am Sunday 29th May 2016 by Jean Balchin

There I stood, gingerly extending my right foot as the wheels rolled across the ground. Clad head to toe in battered protective gear, I resembled a second-rate Stormtrooper, and like the infamous head-bumping guy from Episode IV, I was just as clumsy. I had always envisaged Roller Derby as a sexy, Read more...

Old-Timey Food Tips - From a 1920's health book

Posted 11:34am Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Lucy Hunter

In the age of the internet, food can be scary. On one side, we have the cheeseburger lasagnes and all-bacon burgers of Epic Meal Time, on the other side we have the macrobiotic diet of Gwyneth Paltrow and the “chemical” fearmongering of the Food Babe. Don’t you yearn for a simpler Read more...

Starving For Good

Posted 11:25am Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Sam Fraser-Baxter

Last week I didn’t eat for 48 hours. It was my first fast.For those two days I didn’t consume a single calorie. They were two of the most peculiar days of my life. By the end of my fast I wasn’t quite the empty skulled, staggering zombie I dreaded becoming when I began, but Read more...

Shout It From the Rooftops: I Am A Vegan

Posted 11:12am Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Joe Higham

In February this year, I was sat at a restaurant on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, which winds itself through the sprawling metropolis of Bangkok. It was a typically hot and humid day, and the sun was just setting behind and between the concrete skyline. The menu before me was filled with Read more...

Consent On Campus

Posted 11:41am Sunday 15th May 2016 by Amber Allott

Rape and sexual assault on campus is not a nice topic, but one that everybody at the university needs to think about. Amber Allott discusses consent, the myth of the “grey area”, and resources available for sexual assault survivors.  A little over a fortnight ago, I was scrolling Read more...

I Never Remember A Face

Posted 11:34am Sunday 15th May 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Human beings rely on being able to recognise other people by their faces for normal social interaction. Lucy Hunter talked to three prosopagnosics, people who have difficulty recognising faces, about some of the problems their condition causes in their Read more...

Re-capping The Capping Show

Posted 11:24am Sunday 15th May 2016 by Mikayla Cahill

This week you’ll have the chance to see the 122nd annual Capping Show. “Making Grad” is the latest installment in a long tradition of irreverence and hilarity where nothing and nobody is immune to ridicule. Is it all just good fun? Mikayla Cahill investigates the history of the Read more...

Volunteer’s Experience

Posted 12:06pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Natasha Cox

What made you volunteer in the first place? Growing up I was privileged to have the opportunity to travel with my parents, and various other school groups. This taste of the world, and all of the amazing cultures, peoples, and natural beauties it holds, instilled in me a passion for travelling Read more...

Sayonara, Dignity!

Posted 11:59am Sunday 8th May 2016 by Critic

A rash in Australia I was in Sydney with my new boyfriend and we ended up having sex in a park and falling asleep because it was so warm. I was itchy all over all night and I thought it was because I was hot and sweaty under my clothes. We woke up and there were a pack of Ibis looking at us Read more...

Dating a Backpacker

Posted 11:53am Sunday 8th May 2016 by Vicky Ransom

"Hi mum and dad, meet my boyfriend. He lives in hostels and there's a chance he may have to leave the country one day, but I love him so let's try look past that." No, this isn't the tagline to a cheesy rom-com, this is my reality. I'm dating a backpacker, and let me tell Read more...

Voluntouring the World

Posted 11:45am Sunday 8th May 2016 by Amber Allott

In a recent article, UK newspaper 'The Daily Express,' claimed that the most common regret of people over sixty was not travelling and seeing more of the world.  As such, it is really no wonder that travel has become an essential life experience for those in their twenties, especially Read more...

Exchanging Yarns

Posted 11:33am Sunday 8th May 2016 by Lana Young

In my second and third year I took the opportunity to study at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Think of it as a balmy version of Dunedin but on the beach with your own campus surf-break and the occasional pug riding a skate-board.  Every other weekend was a camping trip to Read more...