Archive

“Toss the Boss” off Forsyth Barr

Posted 2:14pm Sunday 19th March 2023 by Zak Rudin

On May 12th, Co-President of the National Disabled Students Association (NDSA) Sean Prentice is going to be “tossed” off Forsyth Barr Stadium to raise money for charity. Sean is “petrified of heights”, so this will be a fun one.   The irony of being Read more...

Dental School Patient Fees Change

Posted 11:48am Thursday 16th March 2023 by Fox Meyer

Patient fees at the Dental School now cost a flat rate of $120 per session, or $90 with a Community Services Card. The Dental School announced this change with the explanation that it will ensure their financial sustainability without sacrificing their level of care.   Previously, fees Read more...

OUSA Reacts to Uni Name Change Proposal

Posted 2:41pm Wednesday 15th March 2023 by Fox Meyer

On Wednesday, 15 March 2023, the Uni announced that they’re opening feedback for their new visual identity proposal. Essentially, they’ve come up with a new Māori name and logo for the uni, which is one piece of a “long-term plan is the desire to become a Te Tiriti-led Read more...

Dunedin SS4C Strike Underwhelms

Posted 2:04pm Sunday 12th March 2023 by Emily Esplin

School Strike 4 Climate (SS4C) and Fridays for Future joined forces in a nation-wide intergenerational climate strike across the motu on Friday, March 3. The Ōtepoti event, whose organisation was outsourced to Extinction Rebellion (XR), was smaller than most other cities, prompting some Read more...

Back in Black

Posted 2:01pm Sunday 12th March 2023 by Anna Robertshawe

Thursdays in Black is a nation-wide student-led campaign devoted to preventing and responding to sexual violence in tertiary spaces - and it’s back for another year in Dunedin.   Thursdays in Black is aimed at removing stigma and spreading awareness around sexual violence, whilst at Read more...

Sophia Charter Display Launched

Posted 1:06pm Sunday 12th March 2023 by Nina Brown

A new display was launched in the Link last Wednesday, March 8, in honour of the Sophia Charter. The event included speeches from Deputy Vice Chancellor Tony Ballantyne, Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich, representatives of the student group Hold On To Your Friends, and Sophia’s parents Elspeth and Read more...

Bureaucracy, Constipated.

Posted 1:00pm Sunday 12th March 2023 by Lotto Ramsay

It’s taken the University nearly ten years to make more plans than progress on gender-neutral toilets. This is a story about a minority group’s representation on campus, yes, but it’s also an example of a wider problem: how the University’s institutional bureaucracy can get Read more...

Started from Baduzzi Now we Here

Posted 12:54pm Sunday 12th March 2023 by Nina Brown

Former Critic Te Ārohi food columnist Alice Taylor is moving from two-hatted Auckland restaurant Baduzzi to the three-hatted Amisfield in Queenstown. For those of you who don’t know, restaurants are like balding men: the more hats, the better. Three is very impressive.   Last Read more...

Inside that 800-Person Backpackers Party

Posted 2:47pm Sunday 5th March 2023 by Anna Robertshawe

On the Wednesday night of O-Week, View Street throbbed with DnB and pheromones as hundreds of third year students migrated to Backpackers flat for a “sports-themed” host. It was shut down by police in protective gear, and widely criticised online as a “dangerous 800-person Read more...

Gravy Train Derails in NZ

Posted 2:03pm Sunday 5th March 2023 by Fox Meyer

Students from Otago and Victoria Universities had a bone to pick with Yung Gravy’s Ori performances. While the Otago attendees' main complaint was about the American rapper’s stage presence, who “appeared to be fucked out of his mind”, Wellington gig-goers were Read more...

Pride Night officially joins O-week

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th March 2023 by Lotto Ramsay

An open space in the Ori ‘23 lineup led to what organisers have called a “golden opportunity” for our queer student community. OUSA Queer Support partnered with Dunedin Pride and UniQ to bring a pride event to O-Week for the first time ever, on Friday 24 February. Hosted on the Read more...

Flat Burgled While People Drank Downstairs

Posted 12:58pm Tuesday 28th February 2023 by Anna Robertshawe

On the Friday of Flo-week at approximately 10pm, a boys’ flat near Queen St had nearly $4,000 worth of stuff stolen from their bedrooms. The theft took place during a party while about 10-15 people were drinking downstairs. It is assumed that the thief came down some steps from a back road and Read more...

No, Adventure Time Wasn’t Shut Down for Playing NWA

Posted 12:51pm Monday 27th February 2023 by Zak Rudin

A party at Adventure Time was shut down at midnight on O-Week’s Thursday, right as NWA’s “fuck the police” came on. This was a coincidence. At around five to midnight NWA came over the speakers, and a roaring crowd sang “fuck the police!” However, when the Read more...

Campus Watch Scores Free Period Products

Posted 7:47pm Sunday 26th February 2023 by

Over the summer break, Campus Watch legend Annabel Cole secured ten pallets of menstrual products for students. They’ll be available for free at the Campus Watch office, OUSA buildings, and at any of the uni colleges while stocks last.   Periods aren’t cheap. While a cool Read more...

Students Oppose Octagon Bar

Posted 5:56pm Sunday 26th February 2023 by Rauri Warren

Students and police united to object to Eleven Bar’s liquor licence renewal at a public hearing on Friday February 17, concerned about the potential harm the establishment could be causing to the “vulnerable student population”. An ex-employee has called the bar “the most Read more...

Arise Church Asked to Leave Tent City

Posted 5:47pm Sunday 26th February 2023 by Fox Meyer

Arise Church has been asked to leave Tent City. As far as we can tell, they’re gone.   Tent City is run by OUSA, and stalls are given contracts to be there. Critic Te Ārohi, also a part of OUSA, has reported extensively on Arise’s allegations of intern abuse and their Read more...

Study: Some Students Intentionally Caught Covid, Didn’t Report Positive Tests

Posted 5:07pm Sunday 26th February 2023 by Zak Rudin

A recent study by a group of sixth-year Otago Med students claims that students significantly under-reported positive Covid-19 RAT tests, both to the Uni and Government. The study was conducted in 2022 between Flo-Week and the end of Semester One. 160 households in North Dunedin were randomly Read more...

Pride Night officially joins O-week!

Posted 6:32pm Saturday 25th February 2023 by Lotto Ramsay

An open space in the Ori ‘23 lineup led to what organisers have called a “golden opportunity” for our queer student community. OUSA Queer Support partnered with Dunedin Pride and UniQ to bring a pride event to O-week for the first time, ever.    Hosted on the museum Read more...

Selwyn River Run Returns

Posted 1:07pm Saturday 25th February 2023 by Hugh Askerud

Earlier this morning, the Leith river became host to the first ‘Water of Leith Run’ since 2021. Around 100 students gathered in the underbelly of the botanical gardens to ready themselves for a sprint down the slippery stones of the infamous river. Another 50 students watched from the Read more...

Arise Church Asked to Leave Tent City

Posted 1:53pm Tuesday 21st February 2023 by Fox Meyer

Arise Church has been asked to leave Tent City. As far as we can tell, they’re gone.   Tent City is run by OUSA, and stalls are given contracts to be there. Critic Te Ārohi, also a part of OUSA, has reported extensively on Arise’s allegations of intern abuse and their Read more...

No, that Landlord Website Wasn’t Taken Down

Posted 4:40pm Saturday 11th February 2023 by Zak Rudin

“What Does My Landlord Own?” came online last Wednesday, allowing users to enter an address and see all other properties tied to that owner. It uses publically available data, but nonetheless the Privacy Foundation has called for it to be taken down.   The website saw 75,000 Read more...

Cone Antics Subvert Police

Posted 3:39pm Monday 23rd January 2023 by Rauri Warren

On Saturday, January 21, at around 11:15pm, trouble was brewing on State Highway 1. Biff*, an Aussie bloke with the mullet to prove it, was about to try his hand as a traffic director, steering cars away from a breathalyser station just down the road.  Biff was staying at the Leviathan, a Read more...

Global Ice Skating Celebration Starts in Dunedin

Posted 3:19pm Saturday 3rd December 2022 by Fox Meyer

The Dunedin Ice Stadium is about to make history. On December 4, it will become the first ice rink to see the sun on the first-ever World Ice Skating Day. This is ironic for several reasons. The most glaring bit of irony is that it’s the middle of summer. World Ice Skating Day (WISD) was Read more...

“Totally Sick” Pint Night Sees Meningitis

Posted 10:40am Tuesday 25th October 2022 by Nina Brown

On Wednesday the 12th, someone with meningococcal meningitis went to Pint Night.  While this bacterial infection can be dangerous, it’s also not the easiest to spread around. A statement from the University described that “it passes from person to person by regular close, Read more...

New Details on Uni Security Lapse

Posted 5:00pm Wednesday 12th October 2022 by Fox Meyer

Last Wednesday, a student tipped us off to the fact that a trove of private University files were accessible online because a security “door” had been left open. This door has since been closed, and we can share more details about exactly what went down.   In June, the Read more...

International Students Brag About Snow

Posted 6:29pm Sunday 9th October 2022 by The Critical Tribune

During last week’s snowfall, international students (mostly American) took to the streets to remind everyone how good they were at dealing with snow. “Kiwis here really can’t handle snow”, said one American, kitted out in jeans and jandals for a brisk walk down snowy George. Read more...

Local Man Warns of Rampant Scam

Posted 6:28pm Sunday 9th October 2022 by The Critical Tribune

Dave, local pisshead and student, contacted the news to report a scam. “Hey bro, I just realized the other day that I’m actually being scammed, and I need to tell other people about it”, he warned. It was very serious. “So, turns out, I’m being scammed by my Read more...

Stop Your Crying, It’s a Sign of the (Local Election) Times

Posted 6:27pm Sunday 9th October 2022 by Jamiema Lorimer

Many signs showed that local elections were in full swing over the last three weeks – including plenty outside student flats. What encourages people to turn their front yards into a massive election advertising space? Critic Te Ārohi talked to some of these flats to find out.  One Read more...

Cutlers Allegedly “Pressures” Tenants

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 9th October 2022 by Denzel Chung

A student has accused Cutlers Property Management of using “pressure tactics” to force them to re-sign their flat as early as June. This included advertising their flat for rent before they’d decided what they wanted to do next year, and preparing to hold flat viewings without Read more...

Lecturer Brings Protests, Podcasts into Classroom

Posted 6:24pm Sunday 9th October 2022 by Nina Brown

Computer science students in COSC203 have voiced concerns (and confusion) over a recent ethics lecture and assignment by lecturer Iain Hewson. Despite ostensibly being a web, databases, and networks paper, students Critic Te Ārohi spoke to claimed that neither the lecture nor the assignment Read more...

“Big Yikes”: Heaps of Uni Data Unprotected

Posted 5:03pm Thursday 6th October 2022 by Denzel Chung

Using an alarmingly simple exploit, pretty much anyone with an Otago email could access a trove of official University data until late on Wednesday night, October 5th. This included personal contact information, transcripts, academic misconduct warnings and even Otago Uni invoices - but it Read more...

$50k of Library Fines Charged in 2021, but Very Little Paid

Posted 2:39pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by Denzel Chung

Otago Uni charged almost $50,000 in library fines over 2021. Despite this, only a tiny fraction of this amount was actually paid.  According to a publicly available Official Information Act request on FYI.org.nz, the Uni issued $49,941.42 worth of fines for late, overdue and damaged books in Read more...

Unipol Step Fit Legend Retires to Save Lives

Posted 2:37pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by

Three years and 340 classes later, Unipol Step Fit legend Corben Brown has officially retired from his position as a group fitness instructor to take a job at the Dunedin Hospital as a junior doctor. So, fair enough, really. Critic Te Ārohi nabbed the local star for a chat after his last class Read more...

Fire Department Releases Report on Taj Mahal Fire

Posted 2:34pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by Denzel Chung

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ)’s investigative report into the Taj Mahal fire was released last week. While the cause was officially unable to be determined, FENZ pointed to electrical devices under the counter as the likely cause of the conflagration.  The 31-page report, Read more...

20% of Drugs Were Not as Advertised

Posted 2:28pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by Zak Rudin

The annual drug checking report published by KnowYourStuffNZ (KYS) just dropped. Critic Te Ārohi delved into the numbers to uncover the highs and lows of drug testing over the 2021-2022 season. KYS are a “community organisation of volunteers,” operating in partnership with the Read more...

Annual Awards Affair Airs Astounding Achievements

Posted 2:24pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by Keegan Wells

The annual Blues and Golds awards night was held last Wednesday, with a veritable swag of student achievements (outside of the standard uni grind) being celebrated.  Awards were handed out for community service (Silver Service Awards), sporting achievements (Blue Awards) and arts Read more...

Ski Club “Coup” Nearly Sweeps Exec Elections

Posted 2:20pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by Denzel Chung

Your student leaders for 2023 have been voted in. Less than 10% of the student population bothered to cast their ballot. Ski Club members, who had heard that many roles were uncontested, stacked the ballot with their club. They took home five positions, and ousted the returning Vice Read more...

Showtime For Capping Show

Posted 2:18pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by Zak Rudin

Capping Show has hit Otago University for the 128th year running. This year’s theme: Campus Nine-Nine. Critic Te Ārohi sat down with Martha and Nina, two of the directors of the show, to get the lowdown. With well over a century of shenanigans, the Capping Show has certainly been Read more...

Pollinator Workshop at Te Oraka

Posted 1:41pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by Zak Rudin

Last Saturday, Animal Aquatic Plant Ecological Society (AAPES) and Slow Food Youth Otago (SFYO) joined forces to host a pollinator workshop at Te Oraka. The workshop had it all: “pollinator activities, groovy tunes and yummy snacks”. What even are “pollinator activities,” Read more...

(More) Student Food Outlets Closed

Posted 1:39pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by Nina Brown

The already emaciated student food scene has taken another blow with the closure of three more campus food outlets for the rest of the year. In their most recent communications email (the one you stopped reading mid-way through the pandemic), the Uni announced the closure of Hunter Cafe, Frankly Read more...

US Air Force Plane Spotted at Dunedin Airport

Posted 1:37pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by Fox Meyer

An international intelligence group is meeting in Queenstown, and it appears that an American Air Force plane hopped over to Dunedin for Monday night last week. Why would American spies take a break from their busy schedule to visit Dirty Duds? We can only speculate. The Five Eyes are an Read more...

Students “Giving Back” to Rescue Choppers, Blood Donations

Posted 1:36pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by Zak Rudin

Following a gnarly Mt Hutt crash, two Otago Uni students recently partnered with the New Zealand Blood Service (NZ Blood) and the Canterbury Westpac Rescue Helicopter to take blood and money from students. For a good cause, of course.  Last year, Isaac suffered a compound fracture to his Read more...

Otago Student Joins Highlanders Squad For 2023

Posted 1:33pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by Denzel Chung

It’s common for students to have a side hustle alongside their study commitments. It is, however, a bit rarer for that side hustle to be playing professional rugby in one of the world’s top competitions.  For business student James Arscott, however, playing top-level rugby has Read more...

Uni Staff Vote For Strike Motion

Posted 1:31pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by Zak Rudin

A nationwide strike of Tertiary Education Union (TEU) members, including some of your professors, could be on the cards.  On Tuesday 21st, around 150 Uni staff united in the Main Common Room as part of a nationwide TEU “stop work meeting” to vote on a motion to go on strike. The Read more...

Starters, Student Engagement and Ski Shenanigans Dominate OUSA Forums

Posted 1:22pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by

This week, we’ll get the chance to vote for our very own student leaders. Critic Te Ārohi attended OUSA’s Exec candidate forums last week to get a vibe check on the candidates, and found them agreeing on a surprisingly large range of topics, from student bars to low student Read more...

“Curry Grenade” Smashes Through Castle St Window

Posted 9:55pm Sunday 18th September 2022 by Denzel Chung

A Castle St resident got a rude shock on Sunday 11 September, when their first-floor room’s window was smashed by a “curry grenade” hurled from a nearby flat.  Elaina told Critic Te Ārohi that she was sitting downstairs with her flatmates when she heard “a Read more...

Radio One Keeps Ice Hockey Trophy with OUSA

Posted 7:43pm Sunday 18th September 2022 by Fox Meyer

Last weekend, the Kinoko Homes Beavers defeated the Aotea Amps to win the coveted B-League Dunedin Ice Hockey finals, because nothing is more important than B-level ice hockey in a city about as far away from Canada as physically possible. This meant that, for the second year in a row, student Read more...

Merino Muster Marathon Mastered by Muscle and Malcholol

Posted 7:37pm Sunday 18th September 2022 by Keegan Wells

Ian Hardenbergh, an international student from Colorado, came second in his age group and third overall out of 200 competitors at the Merino Muster cross country ski race at Snow Farm. The race was 42km long, and he only stopped at 18km to yak and felt “much better after”. How does such Read more...

Night Market Held at Te Oraka

Posted 7:35pm Sunday 18th September 2022 by Zak Rudin

Te Oraka held a “night market” for students last Thursday. It was a chilled, incredibly wholesome night featuring student-run stalls, live acoustic music, thrift shopping and (most importantly) hot choccies. Te Oraka is a student-run sustainability hub, thrift shop, “repair Read more...

Students Take On Ōtepoti’s First Marathon in 3 Years

Posted 7:31pm Sunday 18th September 2022 by Hugh Askerud

Sunday mornings are often a challenge for students indulging in a life of Hemingwayesque hedonism; even more so if you’ve got a 42.2km run lined up in less than an hour. This was the exact predicament a number of students found themselves in as the first marathon to be held in Ōtepoti Read more...