Archive

Starters Shuts Down, Forever

Posted 11:45am Monday 13th September 2021 by Denzel Chung

The iconic Starters Bar, beloved by freshers and freshers at heart, has suddenly closed down after a decision by the OUSA Executive.  OUSA, who bought the North Dunedin bar in 2018, cited earthquake safety concerns as the reason for closing down. They are hopeful that a replacement bar in Read more...

Fonterra-funded Science Says “Our Byproducts Probably Won’t Give You Cancer”

Posted 1:33am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Fox Meyer

Two Otago scientists have criticised the optimistic results of a nitrates study co-funded by Fonterra and MBIE. The original study concluded that it is “highly unlikely” that the presence of nitrate contaminants could increase your risk of cancer. Nitrates have been linked to cancer Read more...

Tutors and Demonstrators Miss Out On Extra Payment

Posted 1:30am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Erin Gourley

The University announced a $400 payment to help low-paid staff with the expense of working from home, but tutors and demonstrators were left out of the payment. This is despite the fact that they are some of the lowest-paid staff at the University. The payment was $400 made available to Read more...

Afghan Students Face Uncertainty and Distress

Posted 1:28am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Oscar Francis

Following the defeat of the American-lead coalition by the Taliban in mid-August, a humanitarian crisis has ensued. Seeing the Taliban retake the capital, the ensuing refugee crisis, and the failure of our institutions to respond adequately has been tough on Otago’s Afghan Read more...

Students Stranded on Placements in Lockdown

Posted 1:23am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Runze Liu

Around 530 students studying health professional programmes were out on placement across the country when the snap Level 4 lockdown was announced, according to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Health Sciences Paul Brunton. For some, like Owen, a third-year pharmacy student who was placed in Whanganui Read more...

NZUSA Statement Changed After Student Backlash

Posted 1:20am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Denzel Chung

The New Zealand Union of Students Associations (NZUSA) put up a Facebook post praising the Government’s support for students. After just 24 minutes, and comments from students, the post was extensively revised to take a more critical stance. I believe this is what they call a Read more...

OUSA Supports Ban on Conversion Therapy

Posted 1:13am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Erin Gourley

OUSA made a lengthy submission in favour of the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill, which proposes to ban conversion practices (including conversion therapy) in Aotearoa. They were one of over 100,000 submissions on the Bill.  The OUSA submission, written by Political Read more...

Some Gymmers Still Ignoring Unipol’s Level 2 Rules

Posted 1:08am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Denzel Chung

With the drop to Alert Level 2 came the long-awaited re-opening of Unipol. However, it seems that gym-deprived students have not been obeying the new Level 2 restrictions.  Unipol announced their re-opening in a Facebook post last Wednesday evening, saying that their doors would open for the Read more...

Office Plants Sentenced to Death By University

Posted 1:05am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Asia Martusia King

On Friday 2 September, postgraduate students and staff across Otago campuses were allocated 15-minute slots to re-enter campus and retrieve essential research material. Office plants were explicitly forbidden to be rescued. Some postgraduate students are reportedly “devastated” by Read more...

Flat Parties May Require Sign-Ins

Posted 1:03am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Fox Meyer

New Level 2 guidelines mean you’ll have to take attendance at flat parties. Hon Chris Hipkins said last week that any places where “people gather consistently and in large numbers” must abide by attendance-keeping rules. This means scanning in, signing in, or whatever other method Read more...

How Otago Will Function at Delta 2

Posted 12:55am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Erin Gourley

All updates in this article are accurate as of Thursday 9 September.  Since Level 2 (Delta Edition) was announced, students have been wondering how the University would function under the new guidelines. There were a few chains of communication that operated slowly, with the Ministry of Read more...

Extra Course-Related Costs Look Unlikely

Posted 3:01pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

During the lockdown last year, the Government gave us the ability to put ourselves into an extra $1,000 of debt by expanding the course related costs scheme. But not this year. Students remain frustrated at the lack of financial support.  Education Minister Chris Hipkins did not respond in Read more...

Passwords Changed to Boot Exec from Social Media

Posted 2:57pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Erin Gourley

The OUSA Exec was given a taste of social media access and now they want more.  During the first few days of lockdown, they were given access to OUSA’s Instagram and Facebook in order to promote the Exec election. Just a little bit, as a treat. That meant that the elected students on Read more...

A Third of Hall Residents Headed Home

Posted 2:44pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Fox Meyer

Following the quick shift into Level 4, many hall residents decided to gap it back home rather than stay in Dunedin. The University was quick to offer a 100% rebate to students and subwardens who left their residential colleges for lockdown. President Michaela Waite-Harvey said that OUSA was Read more...

“Cursed” Pint Night Gig Postponed for Fourth Time

Posted 2:39pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Fox Meyer

One specific Pint Night line-up have had their gig postponed and rescheduled four times in a row due to Covid. Since the first lockdown cancelled their original Pint Night on 18 March 2020, Rezzy Crooks, Jam Henderson and Alex Dykes have been trying their best to get on the subterranean stage, to no Read more...

Students Voice Support for Ending Conversion Therapy

Posted 1:55pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Elliot Weir

As the September 8 deadline for public submissions looms, numerous churches, many with Otago student groups, have publicly expressed concern over the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill. After this deadline, the Bill will appear before the Justice Select Committee. Many activist, Read more...

Uni Loo Rolls Linked To Deforestation, Human Rights Abuses

Posted 1:50pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Denzel Chung

Otago Uni is buying toilet paper from a company linked to deforestation and human rights abuses, particularly in Indonesia. This company has been blacklisted by tens of environmental groups worldwide, including Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Your flat will probably have a few Read more...

International Students “Neglected” During Lockdown

Posted 1:41pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Denzel Chung

Major avenues for international students to get financial support have been shut down by the Government, with no replacement in sight. The New Zealand International Students’ Association (NZISA) have claimed this shows international students are being “neglected” by both the Read more...

Close Election Sees 15% Of Students Elect New Exec

Posted 1:35pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Denzel Chung

A new OUSA Exec for 2022 was appointed over lockdown. The races this year were very close, with most races won by just a percentage point or two.  Three of the races were a foregone conclusion: President (won by Melissa Lama), Finance & Strategy (won by Emily Fau-Goodwin) and Political Read more...

No Internet? You're Not Alone

Posted 2:05pm Friday 3rd September 2021 by Erin Gourley

UPDATE: The internet is back, as of 2.15pm. Hope everyone with an assignment due this arvo can recover from this 25-minute break. Turns out the outage was caused by DDOS attack. Wifi outages are affecting all of New Zealand at the moment.    The issues appear to affect Orcon, Read more...

The Students Behind the Forsyth Barr Vaccine Clinic

Posted 5:36pm Monday 30th August 2021 by Erin Gourley

The student leaders behind the pop-up vaccination clinic at Forsyth Barr stadium feel that their concerns were ignored by the University. Melissa Lama and Karamea Pēwhairangi gave up on asking the University for help with establishing a student-focused vaccination clinic. They turned to Te Read more...

Main Building of Wellington Campus Evacuated

Posted 9:52pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Fox Meyer

Users of the main building on Otago’s Wellington campus were told on Thursday 12 August that they would need to relocate for at least a month. The building was found to be compliant with just 15% of the earthquake safety requirements of New Zealand’s New Building Standard. Staff and Read more...

OUSA Exec Candidates Say, Unanimously, “Please Vote For Me”

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by

In what would prove to be their last chance to greet the voting public before lockdown, OUSA’s candidates for the 2022 Exec took the stage last week to share their plans for the coming year. All of the forums were held in the Main Common Room. The Presidential race was uncontested from day Read more...

The People Demand Health Sci Data

Posted 2:57pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Denzel Chung

Over half of the Official Information Act (OIA) requests sent to the Uni through FYI.org.nz revolve around getting into health professional programmes. 40% of these were about getting into med. Under the OIA, any citizen of Aotearoa New Zealand is able to ask for any official information held by Read more...

Castle’s Lockdown-Breaching Party Was “Bound to Happen”

Posted 2:54pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Fox Meyer

“It was just like any other Saturday night in Dunedin, but it was on a Tuesday, which is why it felt quite bizarre when the police came in wearing full face-masks.”  Such is the scene set by Emilio*, a second-year Castle Street resident, as he described the inside of the flat Read more...

Liquor Lines Lengthen in Lead Up to Level 4

Posted 2:27pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Fox Meyer

Student priorities were made obvious on the night of Tuesday 18 August, following the announcement that the entire country would return to Level 4 for the first time in 477 days. Queues outside of Leith Liquor stretched all the way to the street, with students reporting that the inside of the Read more...

Ominous Uni Email Spooks Students

Posted 2:25pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Fox Meyer

With a jarring entry back into Level 4, many students were met with unwelcome news from the University. The announcement said that online learning and exam options were not guaranteed, and that the graduation scheduled for 21 August would be cancelled. Whilst the graduation cancellation was not Read more...

Taco Bell to Compete with Local Eateries

Posted 1:31pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Sunaina Born

The arrival of the chain store Taco Bell to North Dunedin may give small businesses an opportunity to attract more customers, says Burger Plant owner Tom White. Global franchise Taco Bell was recently announced to be opening a store in Dunedin in the former site of Couplands in North Dunedin. The Read more...

Police Chase Leaves Students Baffled

Posted 1:29pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Fox Meyer

Students were excited and slightly concerned about a high speed police chase that went past the Business School on Tuesday 10 August at about 3.30pm. This makes it the second high speed chase down Union Street in just as many weeks. Second year Sam* saw the chase first-hand. “We were just Read more...

Magnolias in Quad Blooming Earlier

Posted 1:28pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Fox Meyer

Each year, bets are taken on when the first Magnolia bloom will appear between the Clocktower and Quad. This year it was August 10. The average blooming date has gotten earlier and earlier since records began in 1995. Gut instinct would attribute this early blooming to climate change. As seasons Read more...

How your OUSA election vote is counted

Posted 1:25pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Gerry Mander

OUSA Elections are coming up. That means you have an exciting opportunity to use the best voting system and exercise your right to elect representatives to spend your student loan. Here’s how it works.  The voting method used in OUSA elections is Single Transferable Vote (STV). This is Read more...

Flat Dildo Stolen

Posted 1:22pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Runze Liu

A group of flatmates have given up hope their dildo will be found safe and well. They remember it fondly. The dildo, described by William as “about eight inches long, fluorescent, a translucent pink colour with veins going down the side, with no balls, a classically sized girth, realistic Read more...

Axolotl Pair Left Out to Dry

Posted 1:20pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Keegan Wells

Two axolotte (plural of axolotl) were left outside on the footpath of Forth Street last week. A rescue was attempted by Amelia Seals, owner of 131 axolotte, but the animals were never recovered. The axolotl is a Mexican amphibian, a type of salamander, and a common house pet. They remain aquatic Read more...

Art Piece Installed, Then Vandalized, Then Re-installed

Posted 1:05pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

If you’ve been walking around Uni in the last week you might have noticed the plywood signs placed on the Union Lawn and outside the museum. Masters of Fine Art candidate Maggie Covell spoke to Critic about her project, saying that the installation centres on mental health and body autonomy Read more...

Serial Central Shitter Confusion

Posted 1:03pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Sean Gourley

A serial shitter has struck Central Library multiple times. In at least two separate incidents, a large poo of considerable size and girth has been left on the toilet seat of the men’s disabled bathrooms on both the first and second floors of Central Library. It is possible that many more such Read more...

Mouldy Mattress on Floor Not Landlord’s Fault: Tenancy Tribunal

Posted 1:01pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Denzel Chung

A mysterious carpet stain caused two Dunedin tenants to take their landlord to the Tenancy Tribunal, asking for $12,000 in compensation. The landlord responded that this stain formed because the tenant slept with his mattress on the floor for seven months — which the Tenancy Tribunal agreed Read more...

Extreme Home Makeover: Make Your Tenants Pay For It Edition

Posted 12:51pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Denzel Chung

A recent Tenancy Tribunal ruling showed a landlord tried to claim $13,000 of damages from a NEV flat, but failed because the damage was only worth $4,000.  The landlord “did not wish the tenants’ names to be published,” so their names were redacted from the Tribunal ruling. Read more...

Hero’s Banner Tear Causes Fascist Tears

Posted 8:31pm Sunday 15th August 2021 by Oscar Francis

An Auckland man revealed he ripped down an Action Zealandia banner on Sunday as the group ran away, high-fiving each other on a job poorly done. This event follows Critic’s exposé on the neo-Nazi group last week. On Sunday 8 August, Spicy Johnson* was driving along State Highway One, Read more...

Ice Hockey Draws Record Crowds

Posted 1:36am Monday 9th August 2021 by Fox Meyer

Ice hockey’s popularity in Dunedin is only growing. The Dunedin Ice Stadium was chock full on Saturday 31 July for the last home game of the year. Over 700 people donned their warmest layers to watch the Phoenix Thunder (Dunedin) play the Skycity Stampede (Queenstown), a record for a regular Read more...

Covid And Other Diseases Under Study At University

Posted 1:11am Monday 9th August 2021 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

Ever wondered what all the pipes are above the Microbiology Building? Turns out they’re top-of-the-line vent systems for the University’s not-so-secret penthouse lab devoted to in-depth study of seriously infectious diseases such as Covid-19.  The Physical Containment Laboratory Read more...

Earthquake Monitoring System Deployed

Posted 1:10am Monday 9th August 2021 by Fox Meyer

The Otago Earthquake Science Group, and Property Services, have installed four new “shake-sensors” on campus. Canterbury Seismic Instruments will monitor the accelerograph stations and help emergency services respond to a seismic event. You can see one of these new stations in the Read more...

New Parking Wardens Spotted in Training

Posted 1:07am Monday 9th August 2021 by Sophia Carter Peters

Fresh parking warden hatchlings have been spotted by local drivers, much to the distress of anyone who has received a parking ticket. The usually-lone parking rangers on their “motorised scooter” have been partnered up this week with trainees. This means that your risk of a parking Read more...

DCC Makes Bank From Parking

Posted 1:06am Monday 9th August 2021 by Sean Gourley

The Dunedin City Council raked in $1.81 million in parking fine revenue over the 2019 – 2020 period. This represented a decrease in revenue from the last two years. The cost of running the parking service has steadily increased by $210,000, from $1.95 million in 2017 – 2018 to $2.16 Read more...

Nurses’ Strike About More Than Just Better Pay

Posted 1:02am Monday 9th August 2021 by Oscar Francis

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is planning a strike for 19 August after it rejected the government’s latest pay offer. According to NZNO’s Lead Advocate David Wait, “while the DHBs [District Health Boards] had made promising moves on pay, the offer contained too many Read more...

Young Nats At Odds With Old Nats Over Conversion Therapy

Posted 12:59am Monday 9th August 2021 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

Thursday 5 August was a historic day for the LGBTQ+ community in New Zealand. The Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill was up for its first reading in Parliament, a big step towards outlawing the horrific practice forever in our country. But despite calls from their youth wing to Read more...

New Disc Golf Club Nets Cash

Posted 12:57am Monday 9th August 2021 by Keegan Wells

The Otago University Disc Golf Club (OUDGC) has gained rapid traction in the student body, and has received a $1,400 OUSA grant to buy new equipment. Critic sat down with Matt Watson, the President and Founder of OUDGC, to find out why people enjoy throwing plastic into metal so goddamn much that Read more...

Uni Owns Shares in Weird Mouth-Clamp Device

Posted 12:55am Monday 9th August 2021 by Denzel Chung

Otago University, along with two researchers responsible for the DentalSlim Diet Control Device, holds shares in the company holding the global patent for the DentalSlim mouth-clamp.  The device uses magnets to clamp a patient’s jaw shut. It is designed to help weight-loss efforts. It Read more...

Investigation Sheds Light on Aotearoa’s Largest Neo-Nazi Group

Posted 12:49am Monday 9th August 2021 by Elliot Weir

A note on aliases: Members of Action Zealandia use aliases to obscure their identities, even from other group members. In the article aliases are signalled by the use of single quote marks the first time a name is mentioned, e.g. ‘Marc’.  Read the companion feature article Read more...

DCC Proposal Would Re-Route SH1

Posted 3:39pm Sunday 1st August 2021 by Sean Gourley

In a new plan, the Dunedin City Council will divert traffic from the one-way systems and increase pedestrian access to the Uni.  According to the DCC, the ‘Harbour Arterial Project’ should reduce pressure on the one-way systems. A spokesperson said that “as part of the Read more...

Taco Bell Coming to Dunedin

Posted 3:35pm Sunday 1st August 2021 by Fox Meyer

Taco Bell is opening a store here. It will be New Zealand’s second Taco Bell, following the one in Christchurch, which opened earlier this year.  Critic drove to Christchurch over the weekend to scope it out, in anticipation of Dunedin’s newest fast food joint. We specifically Read more...