Archive

Editorial: Dunedin’s Landlords Are Shit and Something Needs to Change

Posted 10:08pm Thursday 29th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Over the past few years Critic has covered a lot of tenancy stories about landlords and property managers being cunts: Mike “Dunedin’s Dodgiest Landlord” Harbott rented properties that were “unliveable” and then just refused to pay when the Tenancy Tribunal ruled Read more...

Boarding Houses and Illegal Contracts: How a Dunedin Landlord Got Her Tenants to Pay Extra Rent

Posted 10:06pm Thursday 29th August 2019 by Erin Gourley

Don’t you just hate it when your landlord emails to say that “your father is DISGUSTING PUTRID AND RUDE”? And accuses you of “RUDENESS, DISGUSTING BEHAVIOR, DISGUSTING MOCKING AND BULLY LAUGHING, RUNNING YOUR MOUTH 10000 MILES AN HOUR WITH BS”? That’s the kind of Read more...

RIP Forever, Captain Cook

Posted 12:23pm Monday 19th August 2019 by Sinead Gill

The Captain Cook has been sold (again), cementing the pub’s status as Otago students’ ex-boyfriend with serious commitment issues.  Michael McLeod, who had operated the Cook since early 2018, told the ODT that he planned on keeping the upstairs venue open for hire under the Cook Read more...

Squash Club Evicted From Damaged Courts

Posted 11:04pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by James Joblin

The Otago University Squash Club has been walloped from their courts at 51 Union Street after being served a closure notice by the University. “We would have loved to stay at the venue,” Squash Club President Jayden Millard told Critic. “It’s on campus, it has history, and Read more...

Sustainable Student Business Gets National Interest

Posted 11:02pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Esme Hall

The University said that new sustainable Otago student-led business ‘Spout Alternatives’ should tender for the University’s milk contract when the current supplier’s three-year contract ends. Spout Alternatives founder Jo Mohan told Critic that cafes all over the country Read more...

Storming the Dundas Wall Kind of a Success

Posted 11:01pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Despite multiple people storming the Dundas Street Construction last weekend, the Otago Regional Council (ORC) is “really pleased that nothing came from the storming of the Bridge” according to ORC Communications Channels Manager Eleanor Ross. Ross said that the storming was a Read more...

“Incident” with Richardson Building Lift

Posted 11:00pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Esme Hall

An “incident” with one of the Richardson Building lifts that made a loud crash was not the lift falling, according to the Property Services spokesperson. “Whilst Property Services is awaiting its full report from the Lift Contractor (Otis), we can advise the lift car did not Read more...

Korean Bible “Cult” Returns to Campus

Posted 10:59pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Esme Hall

International students allege they were targeted by a controversial Korean religious group, described by many as a cult, that has been trespassed from campus. Sela and Mele, residents of a St David’s Street UniFlat, allege two young Korean people knocked on their door with an iPad and a Read more...

OUSA Deciding About Mandatory Club Attendance at Student General Meetings, at a Student General Meeting

Posted 10:57pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

The OUSA Student Executive have decided to take the question of whether it should be mandatory for a representative from every club and society to attend their Student General Meetings (SGMs), which historically have an abysmal turnout, to the next SGM for the students to vote on. Or at least the 90 Read more...

Everyone Agrees Agnew Street Went Pretty Okay

Posted 10:56pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Erin Gourley

Students traversed freezing weather and hiked up a small hill to make it to the annual, un-ticketed Agnew Street Party. The party went ahead despite a steady temperature of 4°C and persistent rain. “You can’t deter Otago students,” said one of the organisers. An organiser Read more...

Locals Leaders Claim Programme is Underfunded and Underappreciated

Posted 10:56pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Sinead Gill

The Locals programme is underfunded and underappreciated by the University, according to three Locals leaders. The Locals programme was established in 2011 to make sure the 25% of first-year students who aren’t in colleges have a way to participate in all of the thrilling fresher events. Read more...

HEARTBREAKING: Local Artist’s Masterpiece Goes Unsold

Posted 10:54pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Sinead Gill

Despite having a fanatic fanbase, James Heath’s fledgling art career didn’t take flight during OUSA Art Week. Art Week is an annual campaign to support student artists. As far as we can tell, James is the first President in recent history to be brave enough to submit his masterpiece Read more...

Guest Editorial: An Open Love Letter to Supré

Posted 8:08pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Henessey Griffiths

The day that Supré closed down in the Meridian Mall was a sad day for Dunedin. Although I was more of a Jay-Jays kid growing up, I remember going there in my early teenage years and it completely changed me. When you walked in, you were greeted with overwhelming fluorescent lights, Taio Read more...

THE MOST INTERESTING THING YOU WILL EVER READ

Posted 6:18pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Get ready you motherfuckers for some motherfucking news. Oh yeah, this is going to be good. Hold onto your hats, because you’re about to be taken on a ride down the sensual slippery slide of journalism. Let me introduce the key players in this high-octane psychosexual drama: the old kids on Read more...

OPINION: Students Are Not Free Labour

Posted 6:17pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by Nina Minogue

It’s that time of year, baby. Halfway through semester two, internships and summer employment are all the rage. And I’m raging. Like two thousand other Otago students, I am graduating at the end of this year. I’ll have a Bachelor of Arts and a bunch of paid and voluntary work Read more...

Physiotherapy Defeats Medicine in Inter-Faculty Rugby Game

Posted 6:12pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by James Joblin

Physiotherapy students have proved that they are about more than just feet after last Sunday's cracking-good rugby game against the Otago University Medical Students’ Association’s team, the ‘Teratomas’ (gross medical word for a gross tumor made up of different types of Read more...

OUSA Exec Restructure Going to Student Vote

Posted 6:10pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by Sinead Gill

It’s Thursday, and OUSA is in an early morning emergency meeting. Education Officer Will Dreyer’s vape cloud dissipates to reveal the Executive flicking through two versions of the OUSA constitution. This document dictates the purpose, powers, and rules of our entire student union, and Read more...

Who Owns Castle Street? A Critic Investigation

Posted 6:07pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by Esme Hall

Most student flats in the stretch of Castle Street from Dundas to Duke and Brook Street are owned by Dunedin locals, a Critic investigation found after trawling through a lot boring information. Of the sixty-three flats whose owners’ information was publicly available, forty-three had local Read more...

Editorial: Critic Officially Endorses Everglades Premium Liquors Peach Schnapps

Posted 4:22pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

If you’ve ever bothered looking at the cool old Orientation posters up in the Link you might have noticed who they’re all sponsored by: Speight’s. And then, suddenly, no more Speight’s. Surprise, surprise, students didn’t suddenly stop being interested in beer, and Read more...

Cutlers Property Management Threatens Students For Talking to Critic

Posted 9:19pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by Esme Hall

Cutlers Property Management threatened to share current Cutlers tenants’ names and address in a Facebook post if they didn’t retract negative comments made to Critic about their flat. Last Tuesday Critic requested comment from Cutlers about claims made by current tenants in a Queen Read more...

World Record Scrum Hopes Crushed By ‘Boomers’

Posted 9:16pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by Sinead Gill

Last week, an effort to break the world record for the biggest scrum during the Agnew Street party was tragically thwarted before it even began. (For those who don’t know sports, a scrum is a “move” in rugby where players on both teams line up, lock arms with each other, and have Read more...

SPORT! STUDENTS WIN!

Posted 9:00pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by James Joblin

Otago University Rugby Club has triumphed at the men’s and women’s rugby premier finals held at Forsyth Barr Stadium on 27 July. The moustachioed University Men A team tallied up a 38-31 win against Taieri, and the less moustachioed University Women defeated the hitherto undefeated Read more...

Students Volunteer For Fox River Rubbish Clean Up

Posted 8:58pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by Erin Gourley

On the weekend of August 9-11, OUSA will send 74 staff and students to help with the Fox River clean up. They will contribute to the removal of “roughly 500 rugby fields worth of rubbish,” said OUSA President, James Heath. In March this year, flooding broke open a landfill near Fox Read more...

Bike Thefts: a Trial, a Tribulation

Posted 8:34pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by Nina Minogue

Earlier this year Critic received a news tip alleging there was a spate of bike thefts happening on campus. To see if it was a story worth pursuing, I contacted the Police Communications team with an OIA request to get some evidence on reported thefts. Simple stuff. For those that don’t Read more...

Editorial: I don’t know, vote or something

Posted 7:49pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

This week’s centrefold is really boring. It’s an enrolment form to vote in the local body elections. In case you didn’t know, there are a bunch of incredibly boring committees and councils, exclusively staffed with people over the age of 95, who make decisions about your lives; Read more...

Editorial: Dunedin Needs its Own Mantracker

Posted 5:10pm Wednesday 31st July 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

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Former OUSA Presidents Hit Up Harlene for CV References

Posted 4:35am Friday 26th July 2019 by Esme Hall

Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne has provided written references for one OUSA President and one OUSA Executive member since August 2011, according to records obtained via the Official Information Act.  To the best of her recollection, she has also provided verbal references for two further OUSA Read more...

OUSA Will Introduce Candidate Pledges in Upcoming Local Body Election

Posted 4:22am Friday 26th July 2019 by Erin Gourley

For this year’s local body election, OUSA will ask candidates to sign a pledge stating that they will commit to student-focused policies if elected. The policy pledges will cover rental standards, landlord regulation, BYO policy, climate change, public transport, and mental health services. Read more...

Opinion: The University Lied About Stationery and I Feel Weirdly Vindicated

Posted 3:57am Friday 26th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

Last week Critic reported that the Archway Shop stationery would move to Campus Shop South (the weird merch store next to the library). This was allegedly due to a high demand for stationary and a need for more space to stock things. We asked the University point-blank if Campus Shop South, which Read more...

Students Felt “Unfriendly Vibe” at Queer Night

Posted 3:55am Friday 26th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

Accusations of homophobic behaviour from members of the crowd have tainted the Queen of Hearts gig, “a queer-friendly event”, which kicked off OUSA’s 2019 Diversity Week. One male student was removed from the gig after tearing down a pride flag, though OUSA and Starters Bar said Read more...

OPINION: Why We Must All Protect Ihumātao.

Posted 3:43am Friday 26th July 2019 by Tiana Mihaere

“Not One More Acre of Māori Land” was the rallying cry of the late Dame Whina Cooper in 1975. 44 years on we use her words to rally behind the Protectors of Ihumātao who call us to stand up against the destruction of Papatūānuku. Ihumātao has seen over 800 Read more...

A Win for OUSA Insiders in the Exec By-Election Results

Posted 3:33am Friday 26th July 2019 by Esme Hall

Georgia Mischefski-Gray is the new Admin VP, Benjamin McCook-Weir is the new Campaigns Officer and Matthew Schep is new Postgraduate Officer in a by-election Critic is calling a win for OUSA insiders. Hoping it’ll catch on. Probably won’t. All the new Exec members are OUSA adjacent. Read more...

Agnew Street Party Organisers Want a More Controlled Party than Last Year

Posted 6:15pm Thursday 25th July 2019 by Esme Hall

The student organisers of the Agnew Street Party are trying to make this year’s party safer after last year’s got out of hand. One of the organisers said the Proctor, Dave Scott, has been “an absolute legend” in helping them figure out how to make the now seemingly annual Read more...

Critic Gets Street Sign Spelling Error Corrected

Posted 6:14pm Thursday 25th July 2019 by Esme Hall

Critic corrected a spelling mistake not in our magazine, but in real life. We’re cool, promise.  Since 26 April, the street sign on Ethel McMillan Pl has read “Ethel McMillian Pl”. Critic’s intrepid reporter stared at the sign for weeks wondering if they’d Read more...

OPINION: VSM is the Worst

Posted 4:30pm Friday 19th July 2019 by Bonnie Harrison

The Otago University Students’ Association exists purely because Harlene Hayne saw a poor little piglet, primed for slaughter, and decided they were too special to be turned into pork mince. The story of OUSA is essentially Charlotte’s Web. Our student union was conceived and born in Read more...

North Dunedin to Get Two More “Barnes Dance” Crossings

Posted 3:20am Friday 19th July 2019 by Wyatt Ryder

Two more ‘Barnes Dance Crossings’ are being installed in North Dunedin in the next three weeks. Barnes Dance is a really lame name for those crossings that let you cross in any direction and have a flashing countdown that lets you challenge yourself to see if you can run across with Read more...

Advocacy Groups Have “No Empathy” for Landlords Scrambling to Insulate Properties

Posted 3:17am Friday 19th July 2019 by Esme Hall

Local advocacy groups are disappointed in landlords who left it to the last minute to insulate the underfloor and ceilings of rental homes for the July 1st deadline, which they had three years to meet. Changes to the Residential Tenancies Act mean that from July 1st rental homes must have ceiling Read more...

Who to Vote For in the By-Election

Posted 3:13am Friday 19th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

As per usual for OUSA events the seats in the Main Common Room were vacant for the candidates forum, all bar the current Executive, the candidates’ friends, and depressed Critic reporters. But no worries, we’ve assessed the quality of the candidates for you. For the more discerning voter Read more...

My Editorials: A Review

Posted 1:57am Friday 19th July 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

This is a review issue. We’ve got a bunch of reviews. Here’s a review of my editorials so far:    Editorial #1 Drugs are lame. 2/10   Editorial #2 We still haven’t had an answer from AskOtago. 7/10    Editorial #3 The University Read more...

Archway Shop is Dead and There is Nothing We Can Do About It

Posted 10:01pm Thursday 18th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

Despite having a name that confusingly refers to another building on campus, the Archway Stationery Shop has been a staple of the Link for decades. But as of last Thursday, the University pulled the plug. Campus and Collegiate Life Services Director, James Lindsay, said that this move was to Read more...

DCC VERSUS DCC: WHO WILL WIN?

Posted 9:59pm Thursday 18th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

One bold, annonymous Dunedin local has perfected community outreach by launching a ‘Dunedin City Council - DCC’ Facebook page that people actually engage with. Overnight they became a city-wide hit and quickly superseeded the 1k-follower mark. While unfortunately their posts are just Read more...

Writing About The Executive Reports So They Stop Asking Us To

Posted 12:46am Friday 12th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

If you noticed that we never covered the first quarterly reports of the OUSA Executive back in March, then you are either Will Dreyer or... (no, you’re just Will Dreyer). Now that the second quarterly reports are out, though, Critic can compare what goals and promises they kept first semester, Read more...

The University & The Sexual Misconduct Policy

Posted 12:43am Friday 12th July 2019 by Caroline Moratti

Under the new Sexual Misconduct Policy, which was made public at the end of May this year, the University is obligated to “ensure that students are informed of this policy, related resources, and education programmes,”. However, according to Thursdays in Black Otago, the University has Read more...

Editorial: I Don’t Want to Live in a World Without the Giant Mountain Lobelia

Posted 12:40am Friday 12th July 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Ok, buckos. It’s happened. I’ve snapped. This was the last fucking straw. I was on board, but now I’m jumping off. Don’t count on me no more. We all know that climate change is destroying the planet and that as humans we’ve pretty much proved ourselves to be unworthy Read more...

NZUSA are Preparing to Fight “Tweaks” to the Fees-Free Policy

Posted 11:28pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

Although the National Student Union, NZUSA, started the year at a $74,000 deficit, the entire staff of James Ranstead (President) and Caity Barlow-Groome (Vice-President), with the blessing of the NZUSA National Executive, have decided to invest in a 20-hour staff member for a Read more...

Student Enrolment Numbers Double

Posted 11:27pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by James Joblin

The number of students enrolled to vote in the upcoming local elections is on the rise, with the number of Otago students enrolled doubling so far this year. These numbers still remain a fraction of the total student body. In recent years, the percentage of Otago students enrolled has remained at Read more...

Savoury Scroll “No Longer Worthy” Of Hilarious $4.20 Price Tag

Posted 11:25pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

An anonymous student has accused St. David’s Cafe of shrinking the size of their savoury scrolls. In an interview with Critic, they allege that the portions are “no longer worthy” of the hilarious $4.20 price tag, but that “the real betrayal is that they never even Read more...

Otago University Trades Suicide Prevention Framework For ‘Wellbeing Matrix’

Posted 11:24pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

Despite working on a Suicide Prevention Framework for over a year, the Healthy University Advisory Group (HUAG) have decided to replace it with a ‘Wellbeing Matrix’. A framework is basically a set of ideas and principles about how something should work (so, how suicide could be Read more...

University Set to Start Charging for Cup Libraries

Posted 11:22pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Caroline Moratti

In your daily update of ceramic news, the University is set to start charging for use of cup libraries, with borrowers paying $1 to get a cup and on returning it will get $1 off their next coffee purchase. You may have seen the colourful, quirky cup libraries around campus, looking like something Read more...

Otago Uni Says Nup to 126,000 Cups

Posted 11:21pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Nina Minogue

Otago Uni has announced that as of July 15, they will be phasing out disposable cups across all campus cafes. The first three cafes to be affected by this change will be St. Davids, Te Mātiti and Staff Club. While some students already use reusable cups at the campus cafes, the University has Read more...

OPINION: My eQuals is Bullshit

Posted 11:20pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Erin Gourley

“Pay $30 so that employers can trust that your grades are what you say they are, you lying/untrustworthy/deceitful student.” Underneath it all, that’s the vibe of My eQuals. The system is based on the idea that students want to scam employers by sending them false academic Read more...

OUSA Welfare Officer Will Resign If President Does Not Think She Has “Stepped Up” Her Game

Posted 1:50pm Monday 8th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

Disclaimer: Kerrin has had ongoing health issues that she says affected her ability to communicate her progress on goals. Critic has previously addressed that the Welfare Officer role is fucking massive and it is easy to over-commit: however, this does not mean Exec members should not be held Read more...

OUSA Exec Members Resign Over Mid-Sem Break

Posted 1:43pm Monday 8th July 2019 by Sinead Gill

Three OUSA Exec members resigned from their posts during the mid-semester break. Administration Vice-Prez Porourangi Templeton-Reedy resigned to take a job in Wellington. Post-Graduate Officer Dermot Frengley resigned to focus on his studies, and Campaigns Officer Georgia Mischefski-Gray resigned so Read more...

ORC Oligarchs Condemn East Dundas Residents to Three More Months Behind Wall

Posted 1:38pm Monday 8th July 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Otago Regional Council has confirmed the Dundas Street Bridge construction will be postponed for another three months, opening in October instead of August. This delay is apparently because it is very mysterious “what happens underground and where” and apparently there was no way for Read more...

OPINION: Stop knocking on my front door

Posted 11:38pm Thursday 4th July 2019 by Mary Hawkes

Get off my fucking lawn. I can’t believe I actually have to say that. It’s way too soon to be looking for flats, and I don’t want to talk to you, so the roaming groups of star-eyed undergrads wandering around the inaccessible hilly back ends of nowhere need to stop hammering on Read more...

The Best Anonymous Comments From the OUSA Referendum

Posted 11:36pm Thursday 4th July 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

The latest OUSA referendum was one of the most interesting referendums in recent memory, which is to say it was slightly less interesting than green top milk. Highlights included 88.5% of students agreeing that fucking freshers shouldn't be allowed to go to Hyde, and a tragic minority of Read more...

Sausage with Substance: Fight Night Returns

Posted 11:32pm Thursday 4th July 2019 by Caroline Moratti

Tom “The Tank Engine” Tremewan lives up to his name. An aura of childlike mischievousness cascading through a tight, streamlined body of pure mechanical engineering. Much like his fictional counterpart, his tank wasn’t built overnight, but rather through a labour of love for last Read more...

OUSA will run drug testing again for Re-Ori

Posted 11:31pm Thursday 4th July 2019 by Erin Gourley

OUSA, the New Zealand Drug Foundation and KnowYourStuffNZ are collaborating to make drug testing available to students (again) during Re-Ori. The testing model is very similar to the initiatives run during O-Week and before the Hyde Street Party. According to students who used the tent last Read more...

Guest Editorial: The Exec is Broken

Posted 10:57pm Thursday 4th July 2019 by Esme Hall

The Exec is falling apart. Last week, three of them resigned. Admin VP Porourangi Templeton-Reedy abandoned his post for a job in Wellington, Post-Grad Officer Dermot Frengley was overloaded with study and Campaigns Officer Georgia Mischefski-Gray resigned to run for Admin VP in the upcoming Read more...

Editorial: We Summoned a Ghost to Write This Editorial

Posted 12:21am Friday 24th May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Welcome to Issue 13, the Occult Issue. Instead of writing an editorial this week we decided to construct a Ouija board and channel the eternal spirit of His Miraculousness Archibald Campbell, the First Critic Editor, may he forever be in our loins. Critic Illustrators Asia and Saskia combined Read more...

Government Will Not Repeal VSM This Term, say Student Lobbyists

Posted 11:49pm Thursday 23rd May 2019 by Sinead Gill

OUSA Exec members Will Dreyer and Bonnie Harrison have said that Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Education Minister Chris Hipkins will not repeal Voluntary Student Membership (VSM) in this term of government. OUSA Finance Officer, Bonnie, said “it seems abundantly clear from Grant Read more...

Critic Breaks Down the OUSA Referendum Questions

Posted 11:15pm Thursday 23rd May 2019 by Esme Hall

In an impressive show of #studentengagement, 38 student submitted questions ended up in the upcoming OUSA Referendum. Admittedly, Critic submitted 21 questions, but most of those were actually submitted to us by students. Critic Editor Charlie O’Mannin is still sad his question to get OUSA to Read more...

University’s ‘Walk Your Wheels’ Campaign Labelled Ableist

Posted 9:39pm Thursday 23rd May 2019 by Oscar Francis

A student with a physical disability is saying that the wheeled transport ban on campus is more than just an inconvenience for skateboarders; it does not consider the needs of students for whom walking around campus is not an option. Disability Services said students will be able to apply for an Read more...

Students Still Waiting For a Sexual Misconduct Policy

Posted 9:36pm Thursday 23rd May 2019 by Sinead Gill

A month after the University approved a Sexual Violence Misconduct policy, students are still waiting to find out what that policy actually entails. In a statement to the media last month, the University explained that the policy would be operational once “a specific team of suitably Read more...

OUSA Executive Give Dying Man Life Membership

Posted 9:34pm Thursday 23rd May 2019 by James Joblin

Last month, the OUSA Executive bestowed the honour of lifetime OUSA membership on Michael Tull. The Exec gave the life membership after seeing a Facebook post by Tull that said he was “nearing the end of [his] days” and had always been disappointed he’d never been granted OUSA Read more...

SOULS to Decline Russell McVeagh’s Money

Posted 2:19pm Tuesday 21st May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

After consulting its members, the Society of Otago Law Students (SOULS) has decided not to accept sponsorship from law firm Russell McVeagh. SOULS cut ties with the law firm in 2018 when it was accused by multiple students, including one student from Otago, of systematic sexual harassment. In a Read more...

Editorial: The Menstruation Issue One Year Later

Posted 5:26pm Friday 17th May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

This time last year, Critic made international news. There were Slovak opinion pieces and arguments on French radio. There were stories in Reuters and CNN rung the editor at 2am. That’s right, it’s Issue 12, which makes it the one year anniversary of the Menstruation Issue. This time Read more...

Four Walls still M.I.A.

Posted 10:46pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Nina Minogue

In the wake of Critic’s recent article on Four Walls Property Management, the current tenants of a Leith Street property have come forward with allegations of poor communication in regards to broken appliances and delayed payment for pest extermination. They say action was only taken after Read more...

Auckland Students’ Association President Resigns

Posted 10:44pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Esme Hall

AUSA President Anand Rama has handed in notice of his resignation just nine weeks into his first semester as head of the organisation. In a Facebook post after his resignation, Rama said he was not “in a good headspace” during his tenure and said resigning was “[putting] myself Read more...

“Excessive” Police Presence at Graduation Party Called “Racial Profiling” By Students

Posted 10:41pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Sinead Gill

Māori students are calling the police presence at a graduation party “excessive” and “racial profiling” after 7 police and noise control officers turned up to a 30-40 person event. On Friday 10 May a group of 30 to 40 Māori students gathered at a flat to Read more...

Third Year Pharmacy Students Miss Out on Hospital Placements

Posted 10:39pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Erin Gourley

Changes to the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme mean thirty-two third year students will miss out on placements in hospitals this year. A new Bachelor of Pharmacy curriculum has introduced clinical experiences earlier in third year. Dean of the School of Pharmacy, Professor Carlo Marra, said that Read more...

Critic Office Broken Into Twice

Posted 10:37pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Critic office has been the target of two break-ins over the past month, with two non-students, reportedly highschoolers with links to youth gang the “Vit-Cs”, facing court action over the second break-in. At the first break-in, which happened over a month ago, the thieves stole Read more...

Eight Cases of Flatmate Violence Reported to OUSA Student Support This Year

Posted 10:36pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Esme Hall

OUSA Student Support has dealt with eight cases of flatmate violence reported by students so far this year. Acting Manager of OUSA Student Support Hahna Briggs said that flatmate violence is “basically any behaviour where the purpose is to gain power and control over a flatmate,” and Read more...

Students Sent to Proctor for Hayward College-Themed Meme Pages

Posted 10:35pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Wyatt Ryder

Last week two Facebook meme pages, “Hoyword College Memes” and "Hoyword Confessions, were unpublished from the site and their admins were sent to the Proctor. The admins of the pages were told by Hayward College staff to remove the pages to avoid getting in trouble. The primary Read more...

OUSA Call DCC Parking Proposal “An Absurdity”

Posted 10:33pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Nina Minogue

Last week OUSA made a submission to the DCC, calling the proposed Tertiary Precinct and Jetty to Police Street parking changes, which would see paid-meter parking rolled out to more streets in the student area, “an absurdity”, and recommended it be changed to benefit the student Read more...

The Future of Thursdays in Black in Question

Posted 10:32pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Sinead Gill

It’s been well over a year since NZUSA lost a $1.4million contract with ACC to fund sexual violence prevention campaigns on university campuses. They were awarded it on the back of the mahi behind a report NZUSA’s Thursdays in Black (TiB) team released called “In Our Own Read more...

Editorial: Boomers Are Upset About Something

Posted 3:00am Friday 10th May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Buying drinks in a bar is like artificial insemination. It’ll cost more than your entire student loan and you’ll end up being disappointed. Last week the media latched onto OUSA pointing out that buying alcohol in a bar costs too much. The ODT ran the inflammatory headline Read more...

Trapped Between Four Walls

Posted 12:35am Friday 10th May 2019 by Nina Minogue

Students have claimed Four Walls Property Management ignored tenant requests for maintenance in a flat at 61 Grange Street that was deemed “unfit to be occupied”. Interim manager of Four Walls Rob Woodhouse described the company’s situation as a “clusterfuck” and Read more...

Stolen Flat Signs Returned, Others Still Missing

Posted 12:33am Friday 10th May 2019 by Wyatt Ryder

Early last week the stolen sign for The Birdcage flat was returned to their doorstep. One of the residents managed to contact a friend of the thief, who convinced them to return the sign. When The Birdcage residents contacted the suspected thief directly, they denied the allegations and told the Read more...

Caity Frickin B from NZUS-frickin-A

Posted 12:26am Friday 10th May 2019 by Sinead Gill

You’re right in wondering what the heck NZUSA is. NZUSA is the New Zealand Union for Students Associations (the daddy of OUSA, if you will). The idea is that there are issues that all campuses share, so the national team based in Wellington does all the lobbying and schmoozing with Read more...

OUSA Fails to Get Extended Opening Hours for Central Library

Posted 12:25am Friday 10th May 2019 by Erin Gourley

On 2 May, OUSA Education Officer Will Dreyer asked for a one-hour extension to Central Library’s hours in a meeting with University representatives. Instead, he came out of the meeting with a trial one-hour extension to the hours of the Marsh over exams. Over the upcoming exam period the Read more...

OPINION: It’s Too Soon For SOULS to Accept Funding from Russell McVeagh

Posted 12:24am Friday 10th May 2019 by Kelly Stitely

In its ninth issue this year, Critic addressed that the Society of University Law Students (SOULS) is considering accepting money from Russell McVeagh after the sexual assault scandals that broke last year. I don’t think that Critic, in its short interview with two random law students, really Read more...

Students Hit Out at DCC Over Parking Proposals

Posted 12:22am Friday 10th May 2019 by Nina Minogue

A public meeting hosted by student activist group Student Voice last week saw students and the DCC go head to head over a parking proposal. As Critic previously covered, the DCC has recently installed more Pay and Display parking meters around North Dunedin, and have proposed that 185 free Read more...

Harcourts Markets Illegal Boarding House as a Studio Room

Posted 12:20am Friday 10th May 2019 by Sinead Gill

If you are living in a flat with at least five other people, you share common areas, and you are all on individual tenancy agreements: you are possibly living in an illegal boarding house. Bri was one of these students. Just two weeks ago she had to move out of her flat due to accessibility Read more...

Students Struggle To Navigate Lime’s Claims System

Posted 12:19am Friday 10th May 2019 by Sinead Gill

Critic spoke to two students who tried to navigate the Lime claims system and were unhappy with the result. Sam returned from a night out with mates to find his car damaged in three places. The offending Lime scooter was left at the scene. After completing two separate forms, sending Lime photos Read more...

Saving Private Quackers: Otago DebSoc’s Multi-Day Search and Rescue Operation to Save an Injured Duck

Posted 9:13pm Thursday 9th May 2019 by Owen Clarke

Say you’re a duck, right? Say you’re a duck, and your leg is busted up. Classic. Probably got into a fight with an evil goose gang while trying to defend some helpless babies or something. Either way, on most University campuses, you’d probably be out of luck. But not at Otago, Read more...

Editorial: Critic Announces Bold Plan to Make the OUSA Referendum Suck Less, Again

Posted 2:25am Friday 3rd May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

The OUSA Referendum is always boring as shit and no one ever submits any questions. Mostly because it seems like it takes actual time and effort and requires a passion for student politics that most people simply don’t have. The thing is, it’s not that hard to get stuff added to the Read more...

DCC Already Back on Their Paid-Parking Bullshit

Posted 12:22am Friday 3rd May 2019 by Sinead Gill

Last week we covered the new Pay and Display parking meters that popped up in North Dunedin seemingly “out of nowhere,” according to one resident. These meters were introduced in portions of Dundas, St David and Union streets, as well as further North along the two one-ways. The DCC said Read more...

Cutlers Pulled ‘Exploitative’ Campaign and Apologised Within Two Hours of Media Attention

Posted 10:12pm Thursday 2nd May 2019 by Sinead Gill

At the start of last week, Cutlers Property Management launched a bidding campaign for the infamous student flat, Debacle. In a Facebook post, the property management company asked groups of students to email them with an offer of rent, with the group that offered to pay the most leasing the Read more...

Yarns With Otago Uni’s #1 Food Trucker

Posted 10:07pm Thursday 2nd May 2019 by Sinead Gill

Catherine Page is not just the leading lady of the People’s Food Truck, Rising Sun Two, but she is also my new best friend. Our interview was so lovely that we finished with a hug before I had time to realise that probably wasn’t the most professional thing to do. But fuck Read more...

The University is Selling Your Email Account to Evil Corporations That Are Trying to Steal Your Soul and Turn You Into a Corporate Drone

Posted 10:06pm Thursday 2nd May 2019 by Owen Clarke

Over the course of the year, you may have received emails on your Otago student email account advertising for various postgraduate jobs and entry-level positional vacancies. Or maybe you haven’t, which probably means your degree (like mine, Interpretive Pole Dancing) is so useless that no Read more...

Series of Well-Known Flat Signs Stolen in North Dunedin

Posted 10:04pm Thursday 2nd May 2019 by Wyatt Ryder

Several North Dunedin flat signs have been stolen throughout April. The thieves are rumoured to be two rival Castle Street flats in a competition to see who can steal the most flat signs. Currently, Critic is aware of at least four stolen signs. The thefts were well planned. One stolen sign, The Read more...

OUSA Pushing for Central to be Open Until Midnight

Posted 10:03pm Thursday 2nd May 2019 by Erin Gourley

OUSA has met with the University to lobby for Central Library’s opening hours to be extended until 12am. Currently, Central is open from 7am until 11pm, when freaky sirens sound, the lights flash on and off, and students are made to leave the library. Last Thursday, OUSA requested a change Read more...

Cumberland College Replaces Reflective Bathroom Ceiling Tiles After ‘Peeping Tom’ Allegations

Posted 10:02pm Thursday 2nd May 2019 by Nina Minogue

A male resident at Cumberland College has allegedly used highly reflective bathroom ceilings to watch fellow showering students. “It’s disgusting and taking advantage of an unfortunate design error,” one student told Critic.  Residents at Cumberland College said that they Read more...

‘What I Was Wearing’ Exhibition Shares Personal Stories of Sexual Violence

Posted 10:00pm Thursday 2nd May 2019 by Nina Minogue

Content Warning: sexual violence, child sexual abuse, rape, intimate partner violence     Thursdays in Black have collaborated with Students Against Sexual Violence (SASV) for Rape Awareness Week, bringing the ‘What I Was Wearing’ exhibition back to campus, Read more...

University Upgrading Wi-Fi Network

Posted 9:59pm Thursday 2nd May 2019 by Esme Hall

The Uni has been upgrading the University Wi-Fi network to cope with increased student and staff demand. The Uni have increased internet bandwidth, whatever that means, and also completed the installation of wireless in all the Residential Colleges in time for the start of semester one, said the Read more...

Cutlers Pulls ‘Exploitative’ Campaign and Apologises

Posted 12:36pm Wednesday 1st May 2019 by Sinead Gill

Earlier today we published a piece on Cutlers Property Management’s recent tender campaign, where instead of students applying for a flat at a fixed price, they must send Cuttlers their “best offer.” The highest offer, and best ‘quality’ of applicant, will Read more...

Students Call Cutler’s Latest Campaign “Exploitation”

Posted 10:49am Wednesday 1st May 2019 by Sinead Gill

On Monday, Cutlers Property Management launched a ‘tender campaign’ of “arguably the most notorious flat on campus,” the ‘Debacle’, on their student Facebook page. This means that instead of students applying for a flat at a fixed price, students must send them Read more...

Editorial: Student General Meetings Are Very Boring and Very Powerful

Posted 1:11am Friday 26th April 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

In 1999 the Rowing Club’s shed burnt down. It was a little shack on the waterfront with a single shower and space for a couple of kayaks. Jump forward a few years and OUSA had built a giant $1.39 million Aquatic Centre in its place that was, and is, used by only a handful of students. OUSA Read more...

Law Students Considering Accepting Russell McVeagh’s Money Again

Posted 1:10am Friday 26th April 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Society of Otago University Law Students (SOULS) is polling its members as to whether they should go back to accepting sponsorship from law firm Russell McVeagh after they cut ties in 2018 when the firm was accused by multiple students, including one student from Otago, of systematic sexual Read more...