Archive

Invisible Hand to Be Slapped on the Wrist

Posted 4:45pm Sunday 28th July 2013 by Claudia Herron

The need to raise the standard of student housing in Dunedin has seen OUSA, Generation Zero and the DCC team up to get a local bill before Parliament. The deteriorating state of housing in the student precinct has seen many students put up with sub-par rental properties for too long, but the Read more...

Interview: Hilary Calvert

Posted 4:45pm Sunday 28th July 2013 by Jack Montgomerie

Local businesswoman, landlord and former ACT MP Hilary Calvert recently confirmed her candidacy for the Dunedin mayoralty and City Council. She spoke to Critic’s Jack Montgomerie about student flats, obelisks, and her plans to rein in council spending. Critic: You are running for mayor. Read more...

Foreign Workers Flock to Christchurch Rebuild

Posted 4:45pm Sunday 28th July 2013 by Jack Montgomerie

As the Christchurch rebuild draws workers from around the world, the city’s demographics as well as its buildings look set to change. Since the February 2011 earthquake brought destruction to Christchurch and subsequent demolitions further denuded the city of buildings, construction companies Read more...

“Action” Fran Acquires 200 Legless Chairs to Sell for Charity

Posted 4:45pm Sunday 28th July 2013 by Zane Pocock

OUSA were donated 200 seats from the deceased Carisbrook stadium last Wednesday, none of which have legs. They are to be sold to students for a gold coin donation, with all proceeds going to Rotary to help organisations such as the Neonatal Trust of Otago and the Yellow Eyed Penguin Trust. Read more...

A Sneak Peek at OUSA’s 2014 Budget

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Sam McChesney

The details of OUSA’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) negotiations with the University have been leaked to Critic. The following is a breakdown of how OUSA intends to spend your money in 2014. $13,760 on a corrugated iron shed for the NORML protestors. This will protect regular (i.e. non-NORML) Read more...

The 2012 Audit: How OUSA Spent Your Money

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Zane Pocock

An audit of OUSA’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) budgeted spending in 2012 was tabled at last Tuesday’s Executive meeting. The SLA is the mechanism by which the University of Otago funds OUSA. The audit, carried out by nominated accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), shows that OUSA had a Read more...

Wakachangi Beer Launch

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Thomas Raethel

Comedian Leigh Hart visited Leith Street Liquorland on 13 July to promote his new beer’s launch in Dunedin. Wakachangi Lager is to be primarily marketed toward New Zealand students. Hart told Critic that he considers the lager to be an alternative to brands like Speight’s. He admitted that the Read more...

Dunedin Becoming Auckland

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Claudia Herron

Students’ standard of living appears to be on the rise with students now looking for better rental properties. The New Zealand Residential Rental Review (NZRRR) 2013 shows that in the 12 months leading up to May this year rent prices have decreased in several Dunedin areas, depending on the Read more...

Political Cocks in Democratic Balls-Up

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Michaela Corlet

The government is currently trying to pass the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and Related Legislation Amendment Bill under urgency. The Bill will allow the GCSB to spy on New Zealanders for other governments or private groups. In 2011-12 the GCSB carried out surveillance on Read more...

Illuminate Pain Party

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Jamie Breen

5,000 people attended the Illuminate Paint Party at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Wednesday night of Re O-Week. A combination of alcohol, drugs and large numbers of excited partygoers caused several injuries. Nobody was arrested at the party, but the injuries that occurred required medical Read more...

University Panders to Dumb US Rating System

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Josie Cochrane

The University of Otago will soon be including a Grade Point Average (GPA) on all students’ academic transcripts. Professor Vernon Squire, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said “presenting the GPA increases the portability of the academic transcript.” This will make it easier for Otago students to show off Read more...

Ong Nearly Wronged in Long Con

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Claudia Herron

Dunedin tenants and landlords are being warned about scams targeting the rental market after a University of Otago student almost fell victim to scammers while looking to let her room for the remainder of the year. Having finished her studies, University of Otago student Jasmine Ong Read more...

Return of the MOTHRA - Run For Your Lives

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Bella Macdonald

OUSA Education Officer Jordan Taylor is making a bid for the return of the MOTHRA Student Film Making Awards run by OUSA. The event, which was named after C-grade Japanese film MOTHRA, was last held in 2011. Taylor claimed that the event, which had been running for over 20 years, was Read more...

Otago Teaching Is Shit, Says Otago Teacher

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Jack Montgomerie

Associate Professor Gordon Sanderson, recent recipient of the Prime Minister’s $30,000 Supreme Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award, has slammed the University of Otago’s approach to teaching. After accepting the award, the Dunedin School of Medicine Ophthalmology professor told lecturers who want to Read more...

Hernandez Considering Council Bid

Posted 3:59pm Sunday 21st July 2013 by Sam McChesney

OUSA President Francisco Hernandez has dropped several strong hints that he is lining up a run for the Dunedin City Council (DCC) in November’s local body elections, although nothing has been confirmed. The Otago Daily Times reported last Tuesday that others had asked Hernandez to consider Read more...

Trans-Pacific Partnership

Posted 8:23pm Sunday 14th July 2013 by Jack Montgomerie

The 18th round of negotiations for a 12-country trade agreement in the Pacific Rim has just begun in Malaysia, but potential provisions relating to copyright laws have caused concern among Internet groups. In 2005, the P4 trade agreement was signed and ratified by New Zealand, Brunei, Chile Read more...

The Second Quarterly Executive Reports

Posted 8:23pm Sunday 14th July 2013 by Staff Reporter

Every quarter, each member of the Executive presents a report on what he or she has been up to, and in some of these quarters, Critic wades through the mutual back-slapping and puffery long enough to bring you detailed coverage of the wankfest that ensues. We gave it a miss last quarter, so decided Read more...

Hayne Suspicious of the Internets

Posted 8:23pm Sunday 14th July 2013 by Josie Cochrane

University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne has spent all of January studying “everything that I could lay my hands on” about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), she says in the most recent University of Otago Magazine. The article ponders whether “these MOOCs herald the demise of Read more...

Pakehahaha Are They Serious?

Posted 8:23pm Sunday 14th July 2013 by Claudia Herron

What started out as a “tongue-in-cheek” response to the Mana Party’s Maori-only housing proposal now has tens of thousands of “likes” on Facebook and has surpassed every mainstream political party – including the Maori Party, National and Labour – in the social media popularity stakes. The Read more...

Re-Orientation Week Happened | Opinion

Posted 8:23pm Sunday 14th July 2013 by Thomas Raethel

As quite possibly Dunedin’s nonevent of 2013, Re-O-Week has been a constant disappointment for anyone with a brain stem. Only through a haze of excess alcohol consumption and synthetic cannabinoid smoke will people be led to believe they had a mean time. Too bad most of North Dunedin’s dairies Read more...