Archive

OUSA Gives Club of the Year to the Club that Stole Winnie P Signs

Posted 7:15pm Sunday 4th October 2020 by Fox Meyer

The same club that got in trouble for stealing NZ First election hoardings has won Club of the Year at the Blues and Golds Awards for 2020. Otago University Snow Sports Club took home the teensy-tiny trophy and promptly started drinking from it. “OUSSC held several fun, safe, and Read more...

Wet Ass Phreshers

Posted 5:00pm Sunday 4th October 2020 by Fox Meyer

Last week, a mate and I were peacefully eating curry at Taj Mahal. Two hours later we were drinking alongside a gaggle of well-suited, piss-drunk first years, taking shelter from the midnight rain under a Leith Street bridge. Critic returned to the bridge to find out how this culture started, and Read more...

Māori Voices and Leadership Devalued and Disempowered, Says Pretty Much Every Student Union in New Zealand

Posted 3:11pm Sunday 27th September 2020 by Jamie Mactaggart

Te Mana Ākonga, the national Māori students association, is calling for a review of the tertiary sector following recent accusations of “systemic and structural racism, discrimination, marganalisation and institutional gaslighting” at the Universities of Waikato and Read more...

Critic Breaks Down the OUSA President Debates

Posted 2:57pm Sunday 27th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

The OUSA presidential campaigns kicked off with a night-time forum at Starters last Tuesday, followed by a daytime debate the next day. The two candidates, Sammy Bergen and Michaela Waite-Harvey, are similar in their political views but they insist that they both offer different things to students. Read more...

Otago University Postgrad Association Responds to Potential Abbey College Closure

Posted 2:54pm Sunday 27th September 2020 by Annabelle Vaughan

The Otago University Postgraduate Students Association (OPA) have responded to the proposal to turn Abbey College from a postgraduate to an undergraduate hall with an open letter to staff and University officials. Students have been asked to leave by 15 November. The open letter, which was Read more...

Jack Manning Nominated University Management for Life Membership

Posted 9:54pm Thursday 24th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

Jack Manning nominated two senior University employees for life membership of OUSA. In his statement nominating Stephen Willis and David Thomson for life membership, Jack acknowledged that he was “somewhat bucking the trend of not nominating current University staff”. Both nominees Read more...

Baby Politicians Try to Be Cool and Relatable For Your OUSA Vote

Posted 9:53pm Thursday 24th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

The debate for the 20-hour OUSA positions took place in the Main Common Room last Wednesday at 12pm. The sound of microphone feedback was in the air, and the candidates debated in front of a backdrop of 1980s MTV videos. Hosts Kayli Taylor from Radio One and Caroline Moratti from that annoying Read more...

Court Case Argues Med Admissions Were Unlawful and Discriminatory

Posted 5:53pm Wednesday 23rd September 2020 by Erin Gourley

A court case against the University of Otago claims that the Uni unlawfully admitted students who did not meet the minimum requirements to enter med school. According to the statement of claim, these students were admitted to medicine through the Mirror on Society (MoS) preferential entry pathway Read more...

No Rivals for Four OUSA Candidates

Posted 5:19pm Sunday 20th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

Four candidates for the 2021 OUSA Exec will face no competition at their upcoming election. Josh Meikle is the only person running for Finance and Strategy Officer, Maya Polaschek is the only person running for Welfare and Equity Representative, Sophie Barham is the only person running for Postgrad Read more...

Telehealth Could Become Standard at Student Health

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 20th September 2020 by Naomii Seah

At Alert Level 2, Student Health has been operating under a modified system, relying on “telehealth,” or phone-call appointments to supplement in-person ones. The telehealth appointments last the same length of time as an in-person appointment, and cost the same. To receive an Read more...

Starters 1, Landlords 0

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 20th September 2020 by Sophia Carter Peters

Starters Bar has been granted later opening hours by the DCC, and will now be able to serve alcohol until 3am. Following the controversy surrounding the President of the Otago Property Investors’ Associations (OPIA) outspoken call to arms in the ODT, the new hours are a victory for Starters Read more...

Luke Schneider No Longer Lecturing at UC

Posted 5:10pm Sunday 20th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

Luke Schneider, the Senior Lecturer who made controversial posts about beneficiaries and Covid-19 on Quora, is no longer lecturing at the University of Canterbury. It appears that he is still working for the University as a researcher. The change comes after Schneider’s controversial posts Read more...

“Kai Ora” Gate: Med School Dean Misspells Kia Ora

Posted 5:06pm Sunday 20th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

The Dean of the Medical School misspelt the words kia ora while sending out an email about the legal challenge to the Mirror on Society Policy. Med students have dubbed the incident “kai ora-gate”. The Dean, Professor Rathan Subramaniam, “apologises unreservedly for the Read more...

Otago Students Became Nerds in Lockdown

Posted 5:03pm Sunday 20th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

Turns out that students didn’t even need the Covid-19 grade bump to pass their papers. The pass rate in Semester One this year, even before the grade bump, was just 0.1% lower than the Sem One in 2019 - from 84.4% to 84.3%. The grade bump increased all Semester One final grades by 5 Read more...

Decriminalisation and Decolonisation

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 20th September 2020 by Naomii Seah

“What’s up with that taniwha Judith Collins being chill with the current discriminating laws when she herself has admitted to trying weed? Oh wait, racism, that’s right.” Judith Collins joins Helen Clark, Phil Goff and many other New Zealanders in carrying on New Read more...

Student Group Forces Ravensdown to Care About the Environment

Posted 5:07pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

Ravensdown, the giant fertiliser factory on the Dunedin waterfront, applied to stop reporting on their emissions and then dropped the application after a student group said “nah we’d like you to keep telling us about the levels of chemicals that could create acid Read more...

50% of Sexual Misconduct Investigations at Otago Not Upheld

Posted 5:03pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

There have been just six formal investigations under the University’s new Sexual Misconduct Policy, which took effect in May 2019. Only two of those investigations found that sexual misconduct was proven, according to an Official Information Act request provided to Critic. The policy Read more...

Opinion: I’m Exhausted, Please Extend Semester and Mid-Semester Breaks

Posted 5:00pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Caroline Moratti

Having only a week for a mid-semester break feels like some kind of cruel, sick joke. A week? What is this, a mid-semester break for ants? A week barely gives you enough time to catch up on coursework, let alone give you any time to take some time off and, you know, have a break. Even worse, Read more...

An Explanation of North v South

Posted 4:58pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Oscar Paul

On Saturday 5 September, at 7.10pm, amidst a new lockdown plan, political campaigns, uni assignments and figuring out what to send to your new Tinder match, life decided to give New Zealand a bit of a stress reliever. While every other country has gone and gotten Covid-19, NZ is blessed with a great Read more...

Exec Asks Pointless Question About Moana Pool

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

The OUSA Executive are asking students whether there should be a student discount at Moana Pool - but the discount already exists. The question will go to students as question six in the OUSA Referendum this week, from 15 to 17 September. OUSA Finance and Strategy Officer Josh Meikle pointed out Read more...

Local Student Discovers Cave

Posted 4:48pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Jack Gilmore

On a recent Anthropology field trip, a Dunedin student named Barney Connoly found a rock shelter (crepuscular) that is believed to have been used by both gold miners and local iwi. The cave was found up a “steep-ish” cliff about 15 kilometres away from Cromwell in a hilly part of Read more...

Jack Manning Drops Everything to Give Winston Peters a Tour

Posted 4:45pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Erin Gourley

OUSA President Jack Manning skipped a meeting for Pūtea Tautoko, the University’s student hardship fund, to give Winston Peters a tour of campus. He has apologised for the “clear misplacement of priorities” in making that decision. “I apologise to any student who Read more...

Jack Brazil Posters May Be Illegal

Posted 4:40pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Sinead Gill

The Electoral Commission are investigating whether posters of the Dunedin Green Party candidate’s face are an illegal election advertisement, after several complaints. Other Dunedin electorate candidates have called these posters “a slap in the face” and “reprehensibly Read more...

Student Events Cancelled by Covid

Posted 4:34pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Kaiya Cherrington

The announcement of Alert Level 2 throughout August and September has disrupted popular student events. These occasions are usually marked on the calendar and widely looked forward to, but they haven’t been able to occur with numbers limited to 100 people. Event organisers have struggled to Read more...

Students Less Likely to Vote if Exam Remains on Election Day

Posted 4:32pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Sinead Gill

Students who have an exam on election day said they were less likely to vote than if their exam was on another day. On 17 October, the day of the New Zealand General Election, Otago Uni has scheduled 37 exams, affecting a total of 1530 students. The exam timetable was released a week after the Read more...

Castle Street’s “Most Notorious” Flat Evicted with $34,000 Tab

Posted 4:30pm Sunday 13th September 2020 by Fox Meyer

A group of students were evicted from their Castle Street flat and are now being pursued for an impressive $34,000 in the Tenancy Tribunal. Critic spoke to Tom, one of the tenants, to find out how he managed to get evicted. Diagon Alley, the flat he and his mates rented earlier this year, Read more...

41 UniFlats Dropped for 2021

Posted 10:32pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Fox Meyer

The University will be “relinquishing” the leases to 41 UniFlats at the end of the year, due to the (extremely likely) decrease in international student numbers for 2021. “As the number of international students is predicted to drop next year because of the pandemic, UniFlats Read more...

Starters Criticised By Landlord They Thought They Could Trust

Posted 10:31pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Fox Meyer

Despite her promise to “ensure a safer environment for students” under the Sophia Charter, the President of the Otago Property Investors’ Association (OPIA) spoke out against an extension to Starters Bar’s hours in the ODT. She said that as she did not comment as OPIA, Read more...

OUSA Club Steals Political Signage and Receives Death Threats

Posted 10:30pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Fox Meyer

An OUSA-affiliated club is in conversations with the Proctor this week after removing roadside political hoardings while driving an OUSA-marked van. A Lawrentian man called the police on the club, and they stopped the van outside Roxburgh to recover the signs from the students. The students in Read more...

OUSA Sexual Misconduct Policy in Final Stages

Posted 10:28pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Naomii Seah

OUSA has finally developed their sexual misconduct policy, following allegations of sexual abuse within OUSA in 2009, and again in OUSA affiliated clubs in 2019 and 2020. The policy, which began development in 2019, is now in its final stages. It aims to achieve “a process to ensure Read more...

Cook’s Beer Back from the Dead

Posted 10:27pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Fox Meyer

Scurvy has long been lurking in the shadows of society; a ghost hanging over the heads of malnourished 2nd years. In 2016, the sailing disease was reported to be making a comeback, and in 2017 1 NEWS revealed that one in 10 New Zealanders over 50 were at risk of scurvy. Think about how many days Read more...

CRONCH CRONCH CRONCH Goes The Link

Posted 10:26pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Sinead Gill

Otago Uni and Frucor Suntory have collaborated to gift students with a reverse vending machine in the Link. The reverse vending machine recycles cans and plastic bottles in exchange for a voucher discounting a Frucor (who produce energy drinks and RTD coffee) product on campus. Both the Uni and Read more...

One Brave Student Asks Two Questions in OUSA’s Referendum

Posted 10:25pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Erin Gourley

Just one student submitted questions for OUSA’s referendum this semester. That one student submitted two questions to OUSA, questions 5 and 6, and the questions are about swimming and podcasting, respectively. Georgia Mischefski-Gray, OUSA’s Administrative Vice President, said that Read more...

Opinion: Give Me Coffee in the Late Afternoon

Posted 10:24pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Caroline Moratti

Coffee should be available past 3pm. Hell, it should be available at any time of night but I’m not sure y’all are ready to hear that yet. If you want to get out of your grungy flat and meet a friend, you get a coffee. Want a study break? You get a coffee. You want somewhere nice and Read more...

Tiki Taane Says Nope to Say Nope To Dope

Posted 10:23pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

Tiki Taane called out Say Nope to Dope NZ, an anti-cannabis legalisation Facebook campaign, when they made a post implying he was against cannabis last week. The post on the Say Nope To Dope Facebook page, which has since been taken down, linked to a 2016 NZ Herald article and claimed that Read more...

Lecturer Deactivates Controversial Quora Account

Posted 10:21pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Erin Gourley

Luke Schneider, the University of Canterbury Chemical Engineering lecturer who posted controversial comments on Quora, has deactivated his account. Critic first reported on the story when one of Schneider’s students said that his comments displayed “a lack of empathy” and that Read more...

37 Exams on Election Day

Posted 10:19pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Sinead Gill

Otago Uni will not move the 37 exams they have penned down for 17 October, the day of the New Zealand General Election. Out of the 1530 students affected, 18 have exams in both the morning and afternoon of election day. The exam timetable was released on 26 August, nine days after the Government Read more...

Chinese Law Paper Not Online Due to “Sensitive Issues”

Posted 10:18pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Erin Gourley

A law paper at Otago is being taught in-person under Level 2 due to discussion of “a number of sensitive issues” related to China. LAWS485, Chinese Law, is taught by Dr Anna High in the Faculty of Law. Humanities Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tony Ballantyne, confirmed that Read more...

No New CCTV Cameras In “Immediate” Future

Posted 10:16pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Erin Gourley

The University has “no immediate plan” to introduce new CCTV cameras around the campus area. Currently the CCTV roll-out plan is at phase two, which is an assessment/evaluation of phase one. “An independent review has been completed and is awaiting consideration by the Read more...

Abbey College Residents Told to Leave in November

Posted 10:14pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Erin Gourley

Abbey College residents are being “kicked out” over summer as the University considers a proposal to make the building an undergraduate residential college. The news was “a shock” to residents, said Renata*, a student who lives in Abbey College. “This is not how you Read more...

Otago Uni Has Created A Sustainability Neighbourhood

Posted 4:17pm Sunday 30th August 2020 by Zoe Humprey

Otago Uni has converted three of their UniFlats on Great King Street into a “sustainability neighbourhood” for 20 students in 2021. This “living lab” initiative will allow Otago researchers to study the potential environmental gains when sustainable living is made accessible Read more...

Sweeping Changes to the International Student Sector Receives Mixed Response from Students

Posted 4:14pm Sunday 30th August 2020 by Charlie O’Mannin

A government proposal to overhaul the regulations around international students in the wake of Covid-19 has had a mixed reception from student leaders. While changing the emphasis from quantity to quality was praised, changes to make it harder for international students to get work visas were Read more...

Students Fighting Cap on Māori and Pasifika Entry to Med

Posted 4:11pm Sunday 30th August 2020 by Sinead Gill

Student representatives are fighting a proposal to cap the number of Māori and Pasifika entrants to med school. Radio New Zealand have reported that the proposal includes capping Māori student entrants to Professional Health Sciences programmes (such as Medicine and Dentistry) at 56. Read more...

Skip Days Too Trashy, Recycling Is New Best Friend – Uni and OUSA

Posted 9:35pm Thursday 27th August 2020 by Jamie Mactaggart

Otago Uni and OUSA are proposing an alternative way of disposing waste rather than the designated skip days we currently have.  The proposal is still being reviewed, but aims to give students more options to recycle and dispose of general waste any time of the year, or on specific dates, Read more...

OPINION: Cover Your Damn Face

Posted 9:33pm Thursday 27th August 2020 by Naomii Seah

People fucking suck at physical distancing. Honestly, tell me right now, can you accurately estimate what one or two metres looks like? If you see someone coming towards you on the footpath, can you safely physically distance? How many times have you passed someone just slightly too close at the Read more...

Students Disappointed at Loss of Dietitian Programme

Posted 9:28pm Thursday 27th August 2020 by Naomii Seah

Students affected by the University of Otago’s loss of the Masters of Dietetics programme (MDiet) were disappointed by the lack of communication by the Human Nutrition Department. Rose, the President of the Human Nutrition Students Association, said that students were not given much advance Read more...

Uni’s Shovel Ready Projects Get the Axe

Posted 9:22pm Thursday 27th August 2020 by Oscar Paul

Roughly $300 Million worth of government funding may be deferred from Otago Uni, potentially stalling the five shovel-ready projects the University had planned for years to come. The five projects include a new building for the Te Rangi Hiroa residential college ($90 million), earthquake-proofing Read more...

No Skeletons in the Closet

Posted 9:20pm Thursday 27th August 2020 by Fox Meyer

Although they’re careful not to advertise it, Otago Uni’s Anatomy Department curates a fascinating and rare collection of human cadavers. The collection is an invaluable teaching tool for the medical professionals of tomorrow, and what began as an investigation into a purportedly Read more...

​OPINION: Infiltrating Open Day Is Hard

Posted 10:19pm Thursday 13th August 2020 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

My frequent inability to grow meaningful facial hair played into my favour last Monday, as I joined the hordes of naive high schoolers venturing onto the University campus in order to see how much Open Day had changed since I was a wee lad. My first port of call would have been the Schools’ Read more...

Youth Political Parties as Members of Your Group Project

Posted 10:17pm Thursday 13th August 2020 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

Upon arriving at the Link, I realised that all of the youth political parties lined up for Clubs Day were just a bunch of people in an awkward group project. The assignment is to get the youths to vote come September. And, just like in a group project, none of them seemed to know what they’re Read more...

Criminal Charges, Expulsion “Threatened” if Agnew Residents Host Flat Party

Posted 10:16pm Thursday 13th August 2020 by Erin Gourley

The Campus Cop told a flat on Agnew Street that they could face criminal charges and be expelled from the University if they hosted a party in their flat. The Campus Constable, John Woodhouse, emailed one of the flatmates on 7 August stating that “the holders of such an event may be liable Read more...

OUSA Advocates For More Gender Identities In Stats NZ

Posted 10:10pm Thursday 13th August 2020 by Fox Meyer

In addition to “male” or “female”, OUSA is advocating for Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) to include “another gender” and “no gender” when listing genders on census documents. They have submitted these suggestions to the Sex and Gender Identity Read more...

Otago Uni Loses Dietitian Programme Accreditation

Posted 10:08pm Thursday 13th August 2020 by Sinead Gill

Otago’s Master of Dietetics (MDiet) programme has suspended new enrolments because they have lost their accreditation. Students who are already enrolled in MDiet will be able to complete this degree.  The NZ Dietitians Board notified Otago Uni that they would lose their accreditation Read more...

Lockdown, Part Two: Isolation Boogaloo

Posted 10:07pm Thursday 13th August 2020 by Fox Meyer

At an impromptu announcement at 9:15pm, August 11, Jacinda and Ashley Bloomfield broke the news that Covid-19 has resurfaced in the community. It takes the form of one cluster: four family members. Aotearoa resumes lockdown protocol.  As of publishing, Auckland will be at Level 3 until Read more...

Dumpster Fire Breaks Out in Dunedin News Facebook Page

Posted 10:06pm Thursday 13th August 2020 by Fox Meyer

Last week, Dunedin News admin Daryl Taylor convened a heavy Facebook debate on an article about a Dunedin man being acquitted of rape. The article in question named the accused, Michael Fraser, but did not name the two women who accused him of rape. Daryl linked the ODT article with the caption Read more...

Is Your Flat a Piece of Shit? Signs Point to Yes

Posted 8:44pm Thursday 13th August 2020 by Annabelle Vaughan

In just one day, the Dunedin Tenancy Tribunal ordered $7040 of compensation for two groups of student tenants who had their flats disrupted by construction work. Critic spoke to the two groups about what the process was like. One group of tenants, who flat on Leith Street, took Edinburgh Realty Read more...

“Lack of Empathy”: Lecturer’s Quora Posts Made Students Uncomfortable

Posted 8:38pm Thursday 13th August 2020 by Erin Gourley

Content warning: suicide, shootings. Luke Schneider, a Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at the University of Canterbury, implied that beneficiaries should commit suicide, wrote about why he would “shoot to kill” in a riot to protect private property, and suggested that a virus Read more...

Beer Pong Tournament Attracts Brotherhood of Punters

Posted 8:29pm Thursday 13th August 2020 by Oscar Paul

On August 9, the Landers Army - the official fanpage for the Highlanders - hosted the inaugural Beer Pong Masters at Starter Bar. Teams of two played for the rights to be Dunedin’s Best Team, and to head up to Auckland to demolish those northern fuckwits at the best sport ever Read more...

PSYC SOC Targeted by Facebook Scammers

Posted 10:42pm Thursday 6th August 2020 by Kaiya Cherrington

The Otago Students’ Psychology Society (PSYC SOC) has been targeted by scammers trying to sell unauthorized Wine and Cheese tickets using fake Facebook accounts.  PSYC SOC advertised their Wine and Cheese night during late July, to be held on Thursday 13 August at IBs. The event Read more...

Man Floor-Sucked Own Piss in the Zoo

Posted 10:40pm Thursday 6th August 2020 by Sophia Carter Peters

During the 2 August rugby match at Forsyth Barr, the tragic loss of the Highlanders to the Blues was briefly interrupted with a student literally drinking his own piss.  In the middle of the Zoo, a little before halftime, a breatha unzipped his pants and peed onto the seat in front of him. Read more...

OPINION: Crunchy Peanut Butter is the Best Type of Peanut Butter

Posted 10:39pm Thursday 6th August 2020 by Annabelle Vaughan

Crunchy peanut butter is the superior type of peanut butter, and if you disagree with that, then you should take a good, hard look at yourself. There are some big issues going on in the world, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for debate about peanut butter. Usually, I Read more...

Landlord “Nit-Picking” to Keep Bonds from Tenants

Posted 10:36pm Thursday 6th August 2020 by Erin Gourley

A lost kitchen sink plug, dirty chairs, blown light bulbs, and a missing oven knob were among the reasons a Dunedin landlord claimed her tenants should not get their bond back.  Since August 2016, Karen Brown has appeared in 31 orders from the Tenancy Tribunal and one District Court case Read more...

No Visa Applications For International Students

Posted 10:22pm Thursday 6th August 2020 by Sinead Gill

From 10 August, applications for “most visitor, work and student visas” will be suspended for three months. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) announced this change in their 31 July update. The suspension means that tertiary students who have been studying online from their home countries Read more...

OUSA Reviewing Clubs for “Inappropriate Behaviour”

Posted 10:18pm Thursday 6th August 2020 by Erin Gourley

OUSA has begun a review aiming to understand and deal with inappropriate behaviour within affiliated clubs. OUSA’s CEO, Debbie Downs, listed several aims for the review. “To understand the extent of inappropriate behaviour within OUSA-affiliated Clubs and Societies,” is the Read more...

Discussion of China Could “Endanger” Auckland Students

Posted 10:16pm Thursday 6th August 2020 by James Joblin

A lecturer advised students taking PHIL105: Critical Thinking at the University of Auckland not to discuss issues that are controversial for the Chinese government, because of a risk of danger from “Chinese governmental agents”. The course is taught on two campuses in mainland China, as Read more...

Putting the “Toxic” in “Intoxication”

Posted 10:11pm Thursday 6th August 2020 by Fox Meyer

Alcohol is a chemical drug, and our bodies are biological machines. When you put too much of that drug into your body, it becomes difficult for the machine to function properly. And even though our bodies process alcohol subconsciously, there are a few decisions you can make to help your Read more...

Discussion of China Could “Endanger” Auckland Students

Posted 5:14pm Wednesday 5th August 2020 by James Joblin

A lecturer advised students taking PHIL105: Critical Thinking at the University of Auckland not to discuss issues that are controversial for the Chinese government, because of a risk of danger from “Chinese governmental agents”. The course is also taught on two campuses in mainland Read more...

OUSA Did “Nothing” About Alleged Sexual Assault in 2009

Posted 1:43pm Sunday 2nd August 2020 by Sinead Gill

Content warning: sexual violence, murder.  The alleged perpetrator of a sexual assault in 2009 continued to work at OUSA for years after the complaint was brought to them. OUSA still does not have a sexual misconduct policy, despite telling the complainant that they were developing a similar Read more...

Vending Machines Breakdown on Campus

Posted 10:21pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by Jack Gilmore

Just like Health Scis, the vending machines in the Link have been suffering from multiple breakdowns over the past two weeks. Critic has noticed five vending machine breakdowns over the past two weeks. In a statement, a spokesperson for the University said: “There has been an issue lately Read more...

The Climb: An Investigation into the Most Efficient Way to Get Up the Richardson Building

Posted 10:19pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by Annabelle Vaughan

The Richardson Building is one of Otago’s most iconic pieces of architecture. It is obscenely tall and radiates an obnoxious amount of big dick energy. However, it’s also one of the most challenging, harrowing and exhausting buildings to climb up. Getting to class in Richardson is Read more...

“Sophia Charter” Signed to Make Student Parties Less Risky

Posted 10:16pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

The University of Otago and Sophia Crestani’s parents hope to see permanent changes in the student community as a result of The Sophia Charter. The Sophia Charter is named after Sophia Crestani, an Otago student who died during a flat party in October last year. The Charter aims to make Read more...

Is Sal’s really the 22nd best pizza in the world?

Posted 10:13pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by Phillip Plant

The following is one man’s (who may actually just be a butch lesbian in disguise) account of Critic’s least significant investigation to date. You may be shocked, you may be horrified, you may be disgusted, but no matter what you feel, please keep reading because I worked really hard on Read more...

Student Votes Split Between Labour and Green

Posted 10:06pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by Fox Meyer

Otago Uni students can’t decide how far left they want to lean. Colmar Brunton sampled only 0.00031% of the eligible voting population for their national poll, so Critic beat their standard by sampling 52 students to get this data, or 0.0029% of students at Otago (almost 10x more Read more...

PSA: On-Campus Food Gets Discounted in the Afternoon

Posted 10:00pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by Jackson Burgess

Food available at cafes and restaurants on campus is cheaper towards the end of the day. A Critic reporter was pleasantly surprised to discover that their sandwich cost $2.50 rather than $5.00. Saint David’s cafe, Albany Cafe and other university-owned cafes all offer different deals to Read more...

Students Struggling To Pay International Fees

Posted 9:57pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by James Joblin

International students facing financial hardship feel that Pūtea Tautoko does not address their needs. “I spend more on tuition fees than anything else,” said Syd*. The funds available to help international students provide living costs, but avoid the expensive international Read more...

Rental Properties Alarmingly Expensive

Posted 9:42pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by Kaiya Cherrington

Student flats are being advertised on Facebook by private landlords requesting as much as $270 per room for a typical shared flat.  Facebook groups such as Otago Flatting Goods, Otago Buy Sell and Trade, and Dunedin Rentals have had private landlords advertising their properties for students Read more...

OUSA to Adopt Bill and Bill

Posted 9:41pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

The first working day after our beloved Bills returned to the University campus from their alleged ab-duck-tion, OUSA began the process of informally adopting our gay icons.  According to OUSA Welfare and Equity Representative Michaela Waite-Harvey, the Executive are currently Read more...

New OUSA Clubs and Socs Representative Elected

Posted 9:39pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

702 students have elected their new Clubs and Socs representative for OUSA - Dushanka Govender. Dushanka was “kind of” surprised by the win. She told Critic, “everyone who ran was so capable and experienced, anyone would have done a good job in the role”. OUSA elections Read more...

Ransom Paid to 'Attacker' Who Potentially Stole Otago Alumni Information

Posted 12:43pm Thursday 30th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

A data security breach from May of this year may include information on Otago Alumni. The breach has since been contained following Blackbaud's negotiation and ransom settlement with "the attacker".   According to an email sent to Otago Alumni, Blackbaud (not to be Read more...

Happy 130th birthday OUSA, have a tree

Posted 2:12pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Fox Meyer

OUSA celebrated its 130th birthday by doing what any 130-year-old would do: planting a tree. However, in an unexpected and ghastly turn of events, the poor baby was forced to stand naked in Union Lawn for five days, an activity I’ve only ever done by choice. The tree was planted on Wednesday 8 Read more...

First Person to Vomit Inside The Maharajas Speaks Out

Posted 2:10pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Oscar Paul

Popular BYO restaurant The Maharajas have survived their first in-house vomit. The vomit, which occurred at 9:15pm on Friday 17 July, broke The Maharajas’ massive three year streak of puke-less student BYO curry nights. "I had two bongs before I came to dinner and my flatmate pressured Read more...

Below Average Pay for Summer Studentships

Posted 2:09pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

Students working summer studentships at the University of Otago felt that they had to choose between fair pay and academic experience. Some students believe that the academic experience earned was worth it. Some students received pay as low as $10 per hour worked in the summer of 2018 and Read more...

Student Safety Policy to be Released in Light of Sophia Crestani’s Death

Posted 2:07pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

“The Sophia Charter”, a policy named after Sophia Crestani and developed by the University, will be signed into effect this Wednesday.  The Charter is named after Sophia Crestani, the Otago student who died at a flat party in October of last year. “Full details will be Read more...

Dedicated Campus Queer Space Faces Further Delay

Posted 2:06pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Naomii Seah

The University of Otago still doesn’t have a dedicated queer space, despite the promises made about the space by the OUSA Exec back in 2019.  Finding a queer space on campus has been a talking point for the OUSA Executive since late 2018, when then-Welfare Officer Abigail Clark began Read more...

CRITIC TANGENTIALLY TAKES OVER PART OF SALIENT AND MASSIVE MAGAZINES

Posted 2:02pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

Planet Media, the advertising department for OUSA, has taken on an 8-month trial run of managing the sales the student magazines for Victoria and Massey Universities, Salient and Massive. The three incredibly dashing young men behind Planet Media help Critic with our ad revenue and are Read more...

OPINION: Fuck Sexual Violence, and Fuck Anyone Who Thinks it is Excusable

Posted 1:57pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Kayli Taylor

Content warning: sexual violence. The University of Otago is 151 years old, and has likely seen 151 years of sexual violence and abuse on campus. The most recent allegations against Josh Smith, former OUSA Clubs and Societies representative and president of the Dunedin Fire and Circus Club, are Read more...

Series of Evacuations on Campus Inconveniences Some Students

Posted 1:55pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Annabelle Vaughan

Evacuations on campus caused a slight inconvenience for students, and is potentially karma for their eaerness to be on campus this early in the semester. St Dave’s was evacuated on Friday, then Central Library on Saturday, and Mellor Lab was evacuated on Wednesday, all within the span of a Read more...

Bye Bi Birdie?

Posted 1:52pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Fox Meyer

DOC is still to confirm whether Bird Rescue Dunedin (BRD) released the Bills, but it appears that, yes, our darling ducks were relocated to Tomahawk Lagoon. Cue our collective tears. In case you’ve missed it, our resident queer icons recently got in trouble for a brunch date at Kiki Beware. Read more...

Campus-Wide Reports of Sketchy Door-Knockers

Posted 1:51pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Fox Meyer

Two young men have been knocking on North Dunedin doors and asking if any men live in the flat who would like to take part in their religious or University survey. They have reportedly been doing this door-knocking since as early as 6 July.  It’s a bit sus, but might not be anything Read more...

DCC Keeps Promises Like Your High School Boyfriend

Posted 1:42pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Fox Meyer

The DCC say they are doing their best, having made six promises and upholding only one. One year ago, the group that represents students (OUSA) delivered a list of issues to the group that represents the city (DCC), and asked them to pledge their commitment to whichever of the causes they wanted Read more...

ClinicalKey Licence Cut By Uni

Posted 1:34pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

The University has decided to cut their subscription to ClinicalKey after the research database reportedly increased their license fee by “well beyond” 6%. ClinicalKey is a research database for Health Science and Science students. According to the library website, it provides Read more...

OUSA By-Election Not-Debate Not-Analysis

Posted 1:28pm Sunday 26th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

Ah. Another year, another OUSA Exec resignation, another by-election. Despite even fewer people attending this debate than ever (Critic couldn’t see any non-OUSA Execcies or staff members in attendance), all three of these candidates seem to be the most qualified for an OUSA position in Read more...

Breathas Were Nice to Bar Staff in Re-O

Posted 1:06pm Sunday 19th July 2020 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

OMG you guys chivalry is not dead, the breathas are nice now! Bartenders report that drunk students tended to be nicer than normal over the Re-O Week. “Well, as a bartender I’m very used to pretty normal amount of verbal abuse from breathas, being cut off and slurs of poorly thought Read more...

Smith “Taking A Step Back” After Complaint of Alleged Sexual Violence

Posted 10:18pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

Content warning: sexual violence Former OUSA Clubs and Societies Representative, Josh Smith (a.k.a. Josh Smythe), was accused of sexual violence by a student in 2019. At the time, OUSA was informed of the complaint, and OUSA “understands” that a police statement was made. “A Read more...

Former Clubs and Socs Representative Accuses OUSA President of “Blatant Lie”

Posted 10:13pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

After saying he resigned for personal reasons, Josh Smythe has now alleged that OUSA President Jack Manning gave him an ultimatum in a private meeting.  According to Josh, he wanted to stay on as the Clubs and Societies Representative, but was told: “The only option is if you take a Read more...

Sleepovers Possible at UBS Thanks to the OUSA Exec

Posted 8:20pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Caroline Moratti

The upstairs of University Bookstore on Cumberland Street is set for revolutionary change, with the OUSA Exec voting to adopt the “accommodation option” proposed by their Finance and Expenditure Committee.  Although much of the building’s development is shrouded by the Read more...

Restaurant Boom Over Re-Ori

Posted 8:19pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Jack Gilmore

According to workers in Dunedin restaurants, students turned out in droves during Re-O to support the many eating establishments in our fair city. This might explain the proportion of vomit on the streets of North Dunedin. Many restaurateurs, waiters, and cooks have reported to Critic that they Read more...

More Free Mental Health Appointments for Students from 2021

Posted 8:15pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

More students will be able to access free therapy and treatment for mental health from 2021, thanks to a $25million of funding towards mental health services for tertiary students aged 18 to 25.  The funding, announced on 11 July, will target students who are mildly or moderately distressed Read more...

Cutler Told Tenants to Trash the Trash Rules

Posted 8:14pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

Matt Cutler has been advising students to put out low-cost, unmarked rubbish bags for collection, rather than the official DCC rubbish bags.  “[...] With rubbish just put it in low cost bags at night - there’s collection every week day in the city. Just don’t put your mail Read more...

Property Destruction Pretty Lit During Re-O

Posted 8:14pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Kaiya Cherrington

Re-O Week was extra chaotic this year, with couch burning and other property destruction reported in the student area. Students witnessed a notable amount of damage happening throughout the week as parties were held on streets such as Hyde, Leith, Frederick, Queen, and Castle. Couch burning is a Read more...