Archive

Editorial | Issue 05

Posted 11:28pm Thursday 21st March 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Christchurch took a long time to sink in. When I first heard the news I didn’t react at all, I just went about my normal day; I hung out on my back deck, I listened to a podcast, I walked down to the Critic office. It was only as I was walking that it hit me and I started to Read more...

A Letter From the Muslim University Students’ Association

Posted 9:54pm Thursday 21st March 2019 by Muslim University Students’ Association

Today, we went to the mosque to pray for all our brothers and sisters affected by the tragic massacre of Muslims in Christchurch. Today, we went to the mosque and we saw hundreds of flowers outside the main gate. We saw hundreds of people from all walks of life who came to support our community Read more...

A Muslim Perspective

Posted 9:43pm Thursday 21st March 2019 by Ala Ghandour

I have many words, but at the same time I have none that can truly convey the hurt in my heart. Yesterday, I was shocked. I was confused and lost and could not wrap my head around any of it. “How did this happen here? This isn't something that would happen in NZ,” I kept Read more...

Editorial: Sparknotes of the Knox Story

Posted 12:36am Friday 15th March 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

This week Critic’s news section is a little different. Instead of our normal news stories we’ve got a seven-page investigation into the culture of Knox College, a story that Critic has been working on for the past month. There are so many elements to this story, and there were even Read more...

Sexual Assault and Rape Went Undisciplined at Knox College

Posted 12:34am Friday 15th March 2019 by Esme Hall

Apology Critic Te Arohi did not approach the former Deputy Master referred to in "Anne's" story for comment before publishing this story in the 15 March 2019 issue of Critic. Critic apologises to the Deputy Master for not giving her the opportunity to comment on the aspects of Read more...

Some Tutors Getting Better Pay Deal Than Others

Posted 9:27pm Thursday 14th March 2019 by Sinead Gill

Tutors and demonstrators across departments and divisions do not have consistent pay, meaning some tutors are getting a better deal than others, even across similar subjects. While the University has ‘payment guidelines’ for tutors, the final call is made by the department, meaning Read more...

Drug Testing Finds a Quarter of Substances Not What People Think They Are

Posted 9:24pm Thursday 14th March 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

26% of drugs taken to OUSA’s O-Week drug testing service were not what people thought they were. 61 people used the service which was “well received” according to Finn Boyle of KnowYourStuffNZ, who ran the service for OUSA alongside the New Zealand Drug Foundation. Of the 26% Read more...

Uni Flats Still Has “Draconian” Wi-Fi Policy

Posted 10:48pm Thursday 7th March 2019 by Nina Minogue

Despite residents paying normal rates for internet use, Wi-Fi at Uni Flats is provided by the University network, which is subject to “draconian” restrictions, in the words of former student Anton Hovius. During University ‘working hours’ (Monday to Friday 8.30am-12pm, Read more...

Uni Flats Residents Unhappy with Unexpected Landlord Visits

Posted 10:34pm Thursday 7th March 2019 by Esme Hall

Uni Flats residents have complained of unannounced visits from landlords and Property Services. Uni Flats is the University of Otago’s housing service for international students, where a local ‘Kiwi Host’ lives with a group of international students. Its goal is to “ensure Read more...

Editorial: Uni Flats Are Flats, Not Residential Colleges

Posted 10:32pm Thursday 7th March 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

This week we’ve got two stories about areas of tenancy that are technically legal but are still fucked, and in both cases the tenants are the ones who lose out. Erin Gourley looked into tenants being ordered by the Tenancy Tribunal to pay the rent that vanished flatmates have left unpaid, and Read more...

UniCol Drops Residential Assistant Numbers While Piling on Academic Work

Posted 10:29pm Thursday 7th March 2019 by Esme Hall

University College (UniCol) has only hired 18 Residential Assistants (RAs) this year, down from 21 last year, and has given the RAs more responsibility for academic mentoring on top of their pastoral care role. Master Andy Walne said, “University College did not seek to reduce the number of Read more...

2018 OUSA Exec: Where Are They Now?

Posted 6:43pm Thursday 7th March 2019 by Sinead Gill

Even if you don’t fuck with OUSA, there is no denying that people who wind up on the executive have gone on to do fancy things. Here’s an insight into the 2019 plans and goals for the future leaders of our country.   Caitlin Barlow-Groome: President This year Caity is the Read more...

Otago Polytechnic Too Successful for Its Own Good

Posted 6:41pm Thursday 7th March 2019 by Owen Clarke

Last Tuesday Education Minister Chris Hipkins visited Otago Polytech to address concerned students, faculty, and staff, following the Government proposing a merger of all 16 of New Zealand’s polytechs. The controversial merger bodes ill for standout polytechs like Otago, which are Read more...

Dundas Street Construction Is a Pain in the Ass

Posted 6:41pm Thursday 7th March 2019 by Sinead Gill

As Flo Week dawned on the student population, construction on the Dundas Street Bridge began, blocking it off as a part of the Leith Flood Protection Scheme. The long-term benefits of construction are probably worth inconveniencing a few dozen residents for six months, but that doesn’t make it Read more...

Proctorial Justice Stocks Removed For 150th Exhibition

Posted 6:40pm Thursday 7th March 2019 by Wyatt Ryder

The Proctorial Justice stocks were removed from outside the Proctor’s Office in mid-January to be included in a historical exhibition for the University’s 150th anniversary. A University spokeswoman said, “The removal of the stocks was unrelated to the protest held outside Read more...

Law Camp Going Ahead With New Changes

Posted 6:37pm Thursday 7th March 2019 by Esme Hall

Law camp will go ahead for 2019, with new changes from the Society of Otago University Law Students (SOULS) after last year’s Law Camp was cancelled amidst a media furore that erupted when a 2012 attendee told the New Zealand Herald the camp was like “an American fraternity house,” Read more...

10Bar Reopens as Catacombs

Posted 9:24pm Thursday 28th February 2019 by Sophia Carter Peters

A bright and shiny new bar ‘Catacombs’ has risen from the rotten carcass known as 10Bar. The morgue-turned-nightclub has had some serious renovations including new floors, white marble bars and some macabre decorations.  Andre Shi, the owner of Catacombs and Vault 21, drew Read more...

Not Enough People Voted in Boring Referendum so OUSA Will Hold Boring Meeting

Posted 9:23pm Thursday 28th February 2019 by Esme Hall

OUSA is holding a Student General Meeting (SGM) after low turnout meant that its October referendum was invalid.  The meeting will be held at 12:30 p.m. in the Main Common Room, or outside if weather permits, on Thursday 21 March with the aim of “start[ing] our year off right,” Read more...

Which Dunedin Workplaces Allow Office Dogs: A Critic Investigation

Posted 9:22pm Thursday 28th February 2019 by Esme Hall

Reading Critic, you may start thinking University is about ‘the drugs’ and ‘the alcohol’. Don’t be fooled. Everyone knows that University is really about launching yourself into the job market. To do that, you need to be informed. That’s what Critic’s really Read more...

No One Disciplined for Initiations in 2018

Posted 9:20pm Thursday 28th February 2019 by Nina Minogue

In a marked drop from 2017, zero initiation-related events reached the Proctor’s Office last year. In 2017, seventeen students were excluded from University for initiation-related incidents, following an initiation at Cumberland Street flat Debacle that was called “sadistic,” Read more...

University Closes Two Dance Studios With No Plans for Redevelopment

Posted 9:19pm Thursday 28th February 2019 by Esme Hall

The University has vacated and closed its P.E. and Dance facilities, locking out community groups, but has no plans for redeveloping the buildings as yet. “With the finishing of the dance curriculum near the end of last year, the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences has Read more...

Opinion: AskOtago is a Shiny Piece of Nothing

Posted 9:17pm Thursday 28th February 2019 by Sinead Gill

Students have paid almost a million dollars for a Band-Aid. The new AskOtago hub looks pretty, but that’s about all it’s good for. It’s cut down our study space and replaced knowledgeable Departmental Administrators with people on casual or short-term contracts reading off a Read more...

Editorial: We Will Deliver You the AskOtago Domains Unscathed. Do Not Tell Anyone. Do Not Call the Police.

Posted 7:47pm Thursday 28th February 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Last year after a tip off from a concerned citizen, Critic bought the domain names askotago.com and askotago.co.nz for US$24.76, because apparently whoever was in charge of doing that sort of thing was made redundant in the Support Services Review.  We then used our new platform to answer Read more...

Editorial: Just Say No to Mysterious White Powders

Posted 10:04pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

A few years ago I bought some transparent crystals off a guy in a white subaru who insisted on giving me long renditions of his encounters with the police as he rummaged through a big box of miscellaneous baggies.  He had apparently been pulled over on his way to see me, but the officer had Read more...

General Student Offending on the Decline, Sexual Offending Up

Posted 9:57pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Nina Minogue

The University Proctor’s 2018 Discipline Report saw overall offending down but the first sexual offences referred to the Provost since 2015. With total offending down from 2017 by 14% overall, rates of fire, glass breaking and theft are the lowest they’ve been in years. This continues Read more...

Best and Worst of Flo Week 2019

Posted 9:28pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Critic

Before a plague of freshers and the grotesque huckster’s paradise that is Tent City, North Dunedin was overwhelmed by Flo-Week. An age-old tradition (as in it’s been happening for more than a year), Flo-Week (short for Flatting O-Week) occurs a week before actual O-Week. Powered by Read more...

Another Victory in the Tenancy Tribunal Against the Elusive ‘Studio Apartment’

Posted 9:21pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Sophia Carter Peters

Another property rented as a ‘studio room’ has been ruled a boarding house by the Tenancy Tribunal, continuing a trend of Dunedin landlords requiring tenants to sign illegal fixed term contracts when renting studio rooms that turned out to not actually meet the legal definition of a Read more...

Sexual Consent Workshops Back in the Saddle After Failed 2018 Run

Posted 9:19pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Owen Clarke

Te Whare Tāwharau sexual consent workshops are back in 2019 after a botched attempt last semester, which then-OUSA Colleges Officer Norhan El Sanjak blamed on students’ “lack of interest”. 2019 will see three #WannaKnow workshops offered: CommUNIty102, Bringing in the Read more...

Emergency Phones Are Apparently Useful

Posted 9:14pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Sinead Gill

The University has confirmed that Emergency Phones are reliable after members of Campus Watch told new staff members not to use them in an emergency. Critic was informed that members of Campus Watch had told new University staff they were better off using their cell phones in emergencies, rather Read more...

OUSA Ran Drug Testing for O-Week

Posted 9:06pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) ran a drug testing service over O-Week, the first time this has been offered in New Zealand outside of music festivals.  Debbie Downs, OUSA CEO, said that “It’s all very well for people to say ‘just don’t take Read more...

Interview: Paula B at Wiki-O

Posted 8:59pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Hot for Paula

The moment it was announced that Paula Bennett herself would be making an appearance at Tent City, this Critic reporter knew they had to get an interview with her. As she would only be around for two hours, my window of opportunity was as slim as the cut of her pantsuit.  Once I got to the Read more...

Pride Flag Survives Minor Vandalism

Posted 8:52pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Sinead Gill

Like most students in a new flat, Arvan and his flatmates set about making their mark on their home. In mid-January they hung a pride flag on the edge of their property. Within a fortnight, someone tried, and failed, to burn it and then tear it down. To Arvan, the failed attempt is laughable. Read more...

Starters Bar Opens Under OUSA Management

Posted 8:50pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Starters Bar opened for business last Monday after being purchased by OUSA late last year, ending years of OUSA Presidential candidates promising they’ll buy a student bar and then forgetting about it.  OUSA CEO Debbie Downs said that Starters opened with a full house and that the Read more...

Hannah Morgan Beats the Foveaux Strait

Posted 8:36pm Thursday 21st February 2019 by Erin Gourley

About halfway through her swim, Hannah Morgan was ready to give up. Foveaux Strait was a special kind of hell made of seasickness, sub-Antarctic water, and a final landmark that never seemed to get closer. But her cause motivated her to make it to the end.  On February 12, Hannah became the Read more...

OUSA to Introduce Drug Testing for O-Week

Posted 2:09pm Tuesday 19th February 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) will introduce drug testing for O-Week, the first time this service has been offered in New Zealand outside of music festivals. Debbie Downs, OUSA CEO, said that “It’s all very well for people to say ‘just don’t take Read more...

OUSA Buys Starters Bar

Posted 7:03pm Monday 10th December 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Otago University Students’ Association has bought Starters bar, ending years of OUSA Presidential candidates promising they’ll buy a student bar and then forgetting about it.  OUSA Events Manager Jason Schroeder told Critic that OUSA “wanted to ensure that we did Read more...

Med School Finds Credible Evidence of Cheating

Posted 4:37pm Friday 23rd November 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The University of Otago’s Medical School has released the results of third year medical students objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), after holding the results while investigating alleged cheating, despite having have “credible evidence” that cheating took place, Read more...

Med Students Exam Results Withheld After Alleged Cheating

Posted 11:14am Tuesday 20th November 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Third year medical students’ exam results are being withheld after alleged cheating on the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), making some students worried that everyone who sat the exam might be recalled to Dunedin to resit it. In a letter sent out to third year medical Read more...

Critic Wins Big at Student Press Awards

Posted 1:09am Tuesday 23rd October 2018 by Critic

Otago University student magazine Critic Te Arohi was the big winner at the 2018 Aotearoa Student Press Awards this weekend, picking up eight awards and winning the overall award of Best Publication for the second year straight. The awards were judged by some of New Zealand’s most Read more...

RA Speaks Out Against the University

Posted 11:49pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Staff Reporter

There’s a pretty solid argument to be made for the claim that being an RA is the shittiest job in the world, because RAs are forced to do something worse than death on a daily basis – interact with freshers. Charlene Chainz would surely say something along the lines of, “A noble Read more...

Vice-Chancellor Rejects Safe Drug Testing Initiative

Posted 11:38pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Otago University Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne rejected a proposal by Josh Smythe, OUSA Re-Creation Officer, to have pill testing services available during Re:Ori to combat the problem of people obtaining substances that are not what they were sold as, which can have the potential to harm or kill Read more...

Te Roopū Māori Votes to Become Financially Independent from OUSA

Posted 11:35pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Te Roopū Māori, the Māori Students’ Association, has voted at a recent Student General Meeting to separate their finances from OUSA and join the Office of Māori Development, taking their funding directly from the University instead of through OUSA.   At the moment Read more...

Is This the Sexiest OUSA Budget Yet?

Posted 11:31pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Sinead Gill

Every year your student union has to lobby the University for funding (which is fucked, we know) and then has to decide where that money will go. A lot of the time these budgets look like a copy and paste from the previous year, but this year there are some notable changes that you need to look out Read more...

OPINION: Half of the OUSA Exec Positions Are a Complete Waste of Time

Posted 11:24pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Joel MacManus

OUSA just went an entire year without the Campaigns Officer running a campaign, despite it being in their job title. The closest thing to a ‘campaign’ was making a weekly exec roundup video on Facebook that fuck all people watched.  We don’t want to entirely dismiss the Read more...

Selwyn 4 Sale

Posted 11:22pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Sophia Carter Peters

The Anglican Church has placed Selwyn College, one of the four independent colleges left (St Margs, Knox, and Salmond being the others), up for sale. As the oldest college at Otago, being in the possession of the Anglican Church since 1893, this is a historic event. At a recent synod (churchey Read more...

Critic Breaks Down the Second OUSA Referendum

Posted 11:20pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

As winter passes to spring and Mole crawls out of his hole in the ground (casual Wind in the Willows reference for all my peeps out there) the student population gradually come out of hibernation and their minds turn irresistibly to a single end. That’s right, the OUSA Referendum is upon us Read more...

Proctor Protest Was the Biggest Otago Student Protest Since the ‘90s

Posted 11:17pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Tyler West

The 1990s hold a weird place of reverence in campus politics at Otago. Grainy black & white photos of students seizing control of the Clocktower or marching in their thousands alongside the Leith are impossible to surpass. It’s pretty easy when you’re on a march across campus today Read more...

Proctor Offered Resignation After Bong-Taking Revelations

Posted 11:16pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Joel MacManus

University of Otago Proctor Dave Scott offered to resign after it was revealed that he had removed several bongs from student flats while the residents were away. Vice Chancellor Harlene Hayne rejected his offer and told him she wanted him to stay on in the role.  A university spokesperson Read more...

Consent Workshops in Colleges Fail Due To “Lack of Interest”

Posted 11:02pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Esme Hall

Te Whare Tāwharau’s consent workshops in colleges did not go ahead this semester. Melanie Beres, Academic Leader for Te Whare Tāwharau, said that although college leadership were supportive of consent workshops, pick-up from students was “very limited”.  OUSA Read more...

Re-Creation Officer Josh Smythe’s Pay Re-duced by 20%

Posted 8:28pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Josh Smythe, OUSA Re-Creation Officer, has been in the centre of a debate around whether honorarium payments should be linked to an Exec Officer’s performance after his pay was cut by 20% at a recent OUSA Exec meeting for not fulfilling his role to the satisfaction of the Read more...

The Best Unpublished OUSA Exec Quotes

Posted 6:54pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Critic has to sit through all the OUSA Exec meetings, which are mostly either horrendously boring or absurdly tense. However, in between there are some ok moments.  So Critic presents: the best quotes from Exec meetings that never made it into Read more...

A Super Duper Extra Special Exclusive Interview with Caitlin Barlow-Groome

Posted 6:49pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Esme Hall

OUSA President Caitlin Barlow-Groome is leaving our fine institution and plans to move up in the world of student politics and run for NZUSA President.   What do you think your most rewarding moment was as OUSA Pres? Ah that’s tough, do I only get to choose one? Reflecting on Read more...

Editorial: The One Where I Get Self-Indulgent

Posted 6:41pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Joel MacManus

I’m very sad. This is the last issue of Critic for 2018. I will be moving on next year, appointing a new editor, and leaving this beautiful city and all you wonderful people. That makes me sad.  I love this magazine. I really do, despite all the 4am nights and 60+ hour weeks, I love Read more...

OUSA Demands Proctor and Campus Watch Be Stripped of All Disciplinary Powers For Off-Campus Actions

Posted 1:29am Friday 28th September 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

After political infighting and threats of no confidence, OUSA came together last week and dramatically voted to both support the Proctor Protest and to demand that all off-campus disciplinary powers of the Proctor and of Campus Watch be removed.  Critic went to print on Thursday, so we Read more...

Blues and Golds: Behind the Awards

Posted 12:27am Friday 28th September 2018 by Sinead Gill

Every year OUSA gives out awards to the people who represent the top of the top at Otago University. Or at least the ones who are keen enough to put their names up for an award. Critic hunted some of the winners down to get to know some of Otago’s best.    Sportswoman of the Read more...

Checking in on the Exec: Third Quarter Exec Reports

Posted 12:21am Friday 28th September 2018 by Esme Hall

Dear OUSA Exec, Critic are paid to read your reports and even we struggled. We tried to find the good bits but it took ages. If you’re so big on ‘engagement’ and ‘consultation’ you need to communicate in a more accessible way. Please and thank you. Love, Critic. All Read more...

The Proctor BongShell: The Complete Chronic-les

Posted 12:06am Friday 28th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

The story of University Proctor Dave Scott entering student flats and removing bongs without permission has captured the imaginations of the student population and the national media in a way no story has in years, overshadowing even the Critic censorship debacle earlier this year.  It all Read more...

Police Shut Down Running of the Beers Charity Event

Posted 12:03am Friday 28th September 2018 by Caroline Moratti

The Dunedin Police have successfully cancelled the Running of the Beers charity event after threatening the organiser with prosecution if it went ahead.  As the name so eloquently suggests, Running of the Beers contestants signed up to run and drink beer simultaneously; an impressive feat Read more...

Harlene Hayne Votes Down Student Bid to Save Art History

Posted 11:46pm Thursday 27th September 2018 by Esme Hall

University Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne cast the deciding vote against OUSA’s proposal to save the Art History and Visual Culture programme, at the University Senate last week. OUSA Education Officer James Heath motioned “that Senate halts the proposal to disestablish the Art History Read more...

OPINION: Don’t Fire the Proctor, Reform the Position

Posted 10:03pm Thursday 27th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

EDITORIAL: When the story of the Proctor entering student flats to remove bongs broke last week, there was naturally an angry reaction from a lot of people. A petition demanding Dave Scott’s resignation got over 2000 signatures before it was taken down and Abe from Whakamana is talking about a Read more...

OPINION: Colleges Need to Chill on ‘Study Zones’

Posted 10:02pm Thursday 27th September 2018 by Sophia Carter Peters

OPINION: We’re heading into exam season, meaning that residential colleges around Dunedin are cracking into the dreaded “study zone”. However, the accompanying alcohol ban is likely to do more harm than good, as well as making life more difficult for both staff and Read more...

Memorial Trees Die After Leith Construction Work

Posted 10:01pm Thursday 27th September 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Otago Regional Council has apologised after accidentally allowing two memorial trees, planted for members of staff who have passed away, to die after removing them as part of their Leith Flood Protection work. The ORC got permission from the University to remove five trees, including the two Read more...

HUBS192 Class Believes That Lecturer and Third Years Are Drinking Urine

Posted 9:59pm Thursday 27th September 2018 by Sam Purchas

All that glistens is not gold after a lecturer in HUBS192 tricked a bunch of first year health scis into thinking a group of third years drank his urine. Following the great nude chicken dash of first semester, lecturer Andrew Bahn has taken up the mantle of everyone’s favourite sport Read more...

OUSA Demands an RA Pay Increase, University Ignores Them

Posted 9:58pm Thursday 27th September 2018 by Thea Bailie-Bellew

OUSA’s meeting with the University to try and get them to raise RAs’ pay to cover the cost of living in a hall has not resulted in any change. “Unfortunately, the University were unwilling to make any changes to the financial conditions for the RAs,” said OUSA Colleges Read more...

$25,000 Donated to Bring Private Prosecution Against Otago Uni Over Removal of Bongs from Flats

Posted 10:57am Tuesday 25th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

Abe Gray, founder and owner of the Whakamana Cannabie Museum, says he has received a $25,000 donation from an anonymous benefactor to create a ‘Whakamana Legal Fighting Fund’ to pursue the University of Otago in private prosecution over the removal of several bongs from student flats by Read more...

Proctor Let Himself into Flat, Took Bongs in 2016, Students Say

Posted 9:38am Tuesday 25th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

Despite the University’s claim that it was “unusual and unlikely to be repeated,” some students are saying that University Proctor Dave Scott has been entering flats without permission to remove bongs for over two years.   A student, who asked to remain anonymous, told Read more...

Second Flat Claims Proctor Entered Home Without Permission, Took Bongs

Posted 3:35pm Monday 24th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

A second flat is alleging that University of Otago Proctor Dave Scott entered their home without permission while everyone was out and took their bongs. This comes soon after Critic reported that the Proctor entered a Leith Street North flat three weeks ago while no one was home and took $400 worth Read more...

Proctor Enters Flat Without Permission, Steals Bongs

Posted 1:32am Friday 21st September 2018 by Joel MacManus

A Leith Street flat says University Proctor Dave Scott trespassed and stole their property when he entered their house while they were out and took several bongs/water pipes. About three weeks ago, the Proctor was visiting flats on Castle Street and Leith Street North to deliver letters about Read more...

The Chosen One: James Heath Takes OUSA Throne

Posted 12:09am Friday 21st September 2018 by Critic

James Heath won a close but decisive victory in the race for 2019 OUSA President over friend and rival Laura Cairns, picking up 59% of the votes cast.  It’s the next step for an extremely experienced candidate, who has already put in two years on the exec as Education Officer and Read more...

The Biggest Problem with the Main Common Room: It’s Not a Common Room

Posted 8:46pm Thursday 20th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

EDITORIAL: If you were at all of the OUSA election debates (lol don’t worry, I know you weren’t), you may have noticed something: with the exception of the President’s Debate at UBar, no one showed up.  To put things in perspective: the Thursday night President’s Read more...

OUSA Avoids Paying Millions in Repairs by Giving Squash Courts to University

Posted 8:31pm Thursday 20th September 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

OUSA has decided to give their Squash Court building to the University, putting their future into question, rather than pay around $1,000,000 to do the necessary repairs on the building. According to a building review undertaken by OUSA at the start of the year, “major work” was Read more...

University Apologises After 'Total Fuckup' Prevents Postgrads From Voting

Posted 8:28pm Thursday 20th September 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Significant numbers of Postgrad students were prevented from voting for Postgrad Officer in the OUSA election, after the University gave incorrect enrolment information to OUSA. The University has apologised for the error.  Only postgrads can vote for the Postgrad Officer, and OUSA depends Read more...

Students Rally to Save Art History and Visual Culture

Posted 7:31pm Thursday 20th September 2018 by Esme Hall

Students have launched a campaign to protest the proposed closure of the Art History and Visual Culture Programme, which had 1700 signatures as of Thursday.  The goal is to buy more time for the Programme, said protester Matthew Schep. “There’s been one month between students Read more...

The Great Critic Debate Review Thing

Posted 3:30pm Friday 14th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

Finance Bonnie Harrison and Norhan El Sanjak Norhan didn’t show up because she hadn’t finished her family file, so this was just a weird one-on-one interview.  Bonnie has a very good speaking voice. She thinks the finance officer doesn’t need that much financial Read more...

Critic Decides The Worst Campaign Posters

Posted 3:17pm Friday 14th September 2018 by Critic

Findlay OK dude, we know you’re rocking the pedo ‘stache for some inexplicable reason. It’s already not a great look considering you’re going for Colleges Officer where you have to hang out with a bunch of young, supple freshers.  But why on God’s green Read more...

James and the Giant Pile of Broken Promises

Posted 3:15pm Friday 14th September 2018 by Sam McChesney

OPINION: In 2012, Francisco Hernandez was elected OUSA President with a manifesto (or “Franifesto”) containing over 100 policies. He spent the following year meticulously checking his progress against these pledges, eventually delivering around two-thirds of what he’d promised and Read more...

Presidential Debate Draws Biggest Crowd In Years

Posted 3:12pm Friday 14th September 2018 by Nat Moore

UBar was humming, as a crowd murmured in surprised disbelief that people had actually showed up for an OUSA presidential debate. “What is going on?” they whispered. “Does everyone think it’s pint night? Did they get the day wrong?  Yes, weirdly, people actually showed Read more...

We Need to Open Our Minds to Drug Reform

Posted 3:08pm Friday 14th September 2018 by Josh Smythe

OPINION: The drugs we use as a society shape us, individually, and collectively.  Alcohol is a depressant, a neurotoxin, a carcinogen, and a teratogen (damages foetuses). At high levels (which kiwis most often consume) it can be a significant factor for increased risk of injury, Read more...

OPINION: OUSA Needs Some Fucking Balls

Posted 3:05pm Friday 14th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

OUSA desperately needs a President and an executive that are willing to actually start a fight with the University. We need to demand change, not suck up and beg for it. In the last couple of decades, OUSA made a big effort to professionalise and pretend that they’re big important grownups, Read more...

Critic Saves Lost Dog

Posted 3:04pm Friday 14th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

She’s graced the cover of New Zealand’s best dog-related student magazine, and now her fame has got her out of trouble with the law.  Maya, the beautiful border collie – husky cross that graced the cover of GOODBOY magazine (better known as the Critic Dogs Issue), Read more...

OUSA Introduces Alternative Vote for Elections

Posted 3:03pm Friday 14th September 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

This year OUSA is changing its voting system from First Past the Post to Alternate Vote (AV). Under AV voters rank the candidates they want instead of voting only for a single candidate.  The winning candidate has to reach over 50% of the vote to be declared the winner. If that doesn’t Read more...

Editorial: This Is Who You Should Vote for in the OUSA Elections

Posted 2:02pm Friday 14th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

Editorial: Firstly, welcome to the Drugs Issue, our biggest issue of the year. The print run this week is 6,000 copies, that’s up from just over 3,000 at the start of the year, so a massive thank you to all you wonderful people for being bored enough to pick up a Critic.  It’s Read more...

Tickets Are Dead and Critic Is Claiming Full Credit

Posted 4:06pm Thursday 13th September 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

OPINION: Not a single ticket is running for this year’s OUSA election. Critic has won its long war on OUSA election tickets and are in the process of killing all our horses, saying goodbye to the trenches and boarding the steamer for home.  In the past three years, a total of 30 OUSA Read more...

Josh Smythe Allowed to Run for Re-Election After Absurdly Tense Meeting

Posted 7:40am Monday 10th September 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Josh Smythe, OUSA Re-Creation Officer, almost lost the ability to run for re-election in an EXTREMELY STRESSFUL emergency general meeting of the Exec after he got his application form in two hours after the deadline. Josh thought that the cutoff for applications was 4pm Read more...

Analysis: Laura Cairns and James Heath Are the Best OUSA Presidential Candidates in Years

Posted 11:26pm Thursday 6th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

This is weird. No one saw this coming. Out of nowhere, the annual OUSA CV-padding elections have actually produced a really, really fucking good presidential race. And best of all, there’re no fucking tickets, so we can actually have a contest of ideas instead of just a bunch of cliques in Read more...

Campus Watch vs. Alt Right Feud Enters Second Week

Posted 11:21pm Thursday 6th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

University Proctor Dave Scott is investigating allegations of Campus Watch harassment, after a student posted a video of his interaction with officers online.  Malcolm Moncreif-Spittle, an alt-right activist, had been putting up posters promoting a far-right Youtuber. The previous week, as Read more...

Te Roopū Māori Proposing to Leave OUSA

Posted 11:07pm Thursday 6th September 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Te Roopū Māori (TRM), the Otago University Maori Students’ Association, is looking to leave OUSA and get funding from the University independently. The decision follows OUSA receiving criticism last year for cutting Te Roopū’s funding as part of across the board Read more...

I Got Blazed and Went to the Anti-Fluoride Lecture: a Review

Posted 10:29pm Thursday 6th September 2018 by Alex MacKygee

Last Tuesday, Saint David Lecture Theatre played host to a talk titled ‘Fluoride Is a Neurotoxin that Reduces Children’s IQ’. Personally, my IQ and dental health were both (probably) fine growing up in a fluoridated area, and I never noticed a drop in either until I started Read more...

When is a Studio Room not a Studio Room?

Posted 10:28pm Thursday 6th September 2018 by Esme Hall

It’s that time of year when it looks like most of the good flats have already been signed and those people in your hall you agreed to flat with in O-Week might not actually be your best friends for life. You might be considering throwing in the towel and moving to St Kilda, or just into a Read more...

Local Good Cunts Save Students From a Shit Flat

Posted 10:26pm Thursday 6th September 2018 by Sinead Gill

We’ve all approached a grotty flat for a viewing and, in a wave of flat-seeking desperation, thought, it might not be that shit. To save students from themselves, the four tenants of an old corner-store flat came up with the ultimate idea: leaving notes. Not just subtle post-it notes Read more...

Students for Environmental Action Given $5,000

Posted 10:17pm Thursday 6th September 2018 by Thea Bailie-Bellew

The Students for Environmental Action (SEA) club has been bequeathed $5,000 from the Estate of Kenneth David Mason, a gift that aimed to ensure a continued interest in nature and ecological preservation among university students. An avid lover of the outdoors, Kenneth Mason was an honorary member Read more...

Law Students Slam Law Camp Review

Posted 10:02pm Thursday 6th September 2018 by Esme Hall

The Society of Otago University Law Students (SOULS) have got more than 200 people to submit their experiences of Law Camps in protest after a draft review of Law Camps was released that only drew on interviews with five former attendees. A review of Law Camp was commissioned from Dunedin Read more...

Who Is Watching Campus Watch?

Posted 9:58pm Thursday 6th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

EDITORIAL: A couple of years ago, I lived on Hyde Street. There was a flat on the street that was apparently connected to the Mongrel Mob. There were a bunch of high school cunts that would always show up on Saturdays looking for a fight. There were drunk randoms constantly trying to crash Read more...

The Otago Uni Students Running an Art Exhibition for 125 Years of Women’s Suffrage

Posted 11:32pm Thursday 30th August 2018 by Esme Hall

Two Otago Art History students have organised an ambitious two-week art show accompanied by a publication and events to commemorate 125 years of women’s suffrage. The show centres on intersectional feminism, which event organisers, sisters Kari and Lydie Schmidt see as a “natural Read more...

Opinion: The OUSA Squash Courts Have Become a Money Pit

Posted 11:31pm Thursday 30th August 2018 by Sinead Gill

OUSA is allowing the Squash Club and its 86 Facebook group members to make $bank$ on something that all students pay for.  Since the only people that look at the OUSA budget are the Executive, Critic, and total nerds, it is likely that you don’t know that your student services fee goes Read more...

Shit-Show Chateau up for Sale

Posted 11:30pm Thursday 30th August 2018 by Esme Hall

Offshore owners appear to have given up on the ‘Shit-Show Chateau’ at 47 London Street, despite a high-profile renovation attempt by students in 2013. The five bedroom, solar-panelled flat, that Harcourts euphemistically dubbed a “prime development opportunity,” is up for Read more...

WWII Mortar Shell Found Under Leith Bridge

Posted 11:29pm Thursday 30th August 2018 by Sinead Gill

The Police and New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) were recently called over a bomb found in the Leith, and it wasn’t the first one this year. The old mortar shell was unearthed during excavation for the construction of a new bridge near the Burns building. It had been chilling just one metre Read more...

The DCC Spent 73 Times More Money on Ed Sheeran than Kendrick Lamar

Posted 11:27pm Thursday 30th August 2018 by Joel MacManus

The DCC spent just $3,181 on promotion and events for Kendrick Lamar’s Dunedin concert, compared to $221,000 for Ed Sheeran’s three concerts, according to details released to Critic under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA – it sounds gross if you Read more...

Opinion: Why It Sucks that the Art History Department Is Getting Cut

Posted 11:16pm Thursday 30th August 2018 by Esme Hall

I am where I am today because of art. My father is an art gallery curator and my mother is a jeweller and after-school art teacher. People’s desires to see art, learn about art, wear art and encourage their children to make art have supported my family throughout my life. My parents encouraged Read more...

Student Drag Competition Returns After Hiatus

Posted 11:13pm Thursday 30th August 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Great Southern Drag Off, a student-run drag show and competition, will be returning after a long hiatus. The 2018 event, Tucked and Loaded, will be run at Stilettos, in conjunction with Dunedin Pride and Sacrilege Productions, an alternative performance group, on the 14th of September. Critic Read more...