Archive
Coca-Cola Christmas In the Park is a National Disgrace
Posted 10:45am Sunday 26th March 2017 by Joel MacManus
It’s time for us to accept it: Coca Cola Christmas in the Park has become a disgrace. Every year thousands of irresponsible and careless middle-aged people descend on public property, get off their chops on eggnog and sherry, leave a disgusting mess of cans, cups and mince tart wrappers Read more...
Keeping tabs on the Exec
Posted 10:42am Sunday 26th March 2017 by Joe Higham
The meeting began with a warm welcome to Te Roopu Maori President, Eli Toeke, who was elected during the Te Roopu Maori Annual General Meeting that was held on 14th March. After a thoroughly captivating discussion about health and safety, Recreation Officer Caitlin Barlow-Groome presented Read more...
Media Displays Frenzied Yearning for a Trump Tax Return Silver Bullet
Posted 11:42am Sunday 19th March 2017 by George Elliott
I witnessed something fascinating last Wednesday. Rachel Maddow, one of the most well-known liberal prime-time television hosts in the United States, tweeted “BREAKING: We’ve got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC. (Seriously).” Her colleague, Lawrence O’Donnell, Read more...
One Nation Are Growing Despite Weak WA Results
Posted 11:29am Sunday 19th March 2017 by Tyler West
The recent state election in Western Australia (WA) has swept a new Labour government under Mark McGowan to power, ousting two-term Liberal Premier Colin Barnett. As of writing, Labour is resting on 38 seats in the 59-seat legislative assembly, set to rise as high as 41. It’s one of the Read more...
And Solskjaer Has Won It" - Best Sporting Comebacks
Posted 11:20am Sunday 19th March 2017 by Charlie Hantler
Last week Barcelona completed what was, arguably, the greatest football comeback of all-time in their round-of-16 tie against Paris Saint Germain last week. Coming from 4-0 down in the first leg to scoring three goals in the final 5 minutes of the second leg and conquering the Parisian based side Read more...
Abortion Law Reform Coming to Forefront of Public Debate
Posted 10:52am Sunday 19th March 2017 by Joe Higham
A resurgence of public debate surrounding abortion reform is currently taking place in New Zealand, just as the United Kingdom has signalled its intent to discuss the possibility of decriminalising women who bring about their own abortion. New Zealand women currently have to adhere to strict Read more...
Otago University Physicists Make Substantial Breakthrough
Posted 10:49am Sunday 19th March 2017 by Joe Higham
A team of six University of Otago physicists have managed to control individual atoms, causing them to appear wherever they want them to. The success was down to seven lasers, with components from compact disc players, and precision mirrors. Lead Otago researcher Dr Mikkel Andersen says Read more...
Movement for Gender-Neutral Bathrooms on Campus Growing
Posted 10:45am Sunday 19th March 2017 by Joel MacManus
The Auckland University of Technology (AUT) has reassigned 165 on-campus gender-neutral bathrooms in an effort to provide more comfortable arrangements for gender diverse students. According to AUT Rainbow Community manager Audrey Hutcheson, the change was made to ensure students safety on campus, Read more...
Hepatitis C Continues to Plague NZers As Govt Fights Losing Battle
Posted 10:38am Sunday 19th March 2017 by Joe Higham
The Otago Hepatitis C Resource Centre is continuing to struggle to survive amid funding issues from central government. The current six-month contracts are doing little to provide financial security to the centre. Hepatitis C is a disease that is spread through blood-to-blood contact, an Read more...
Wellington Students Protest NZ Rape Culture
Posted 10:32am Sunday 19th March 2017 by Anna Linton
A protest set up by three Wellington high schools against New Zealand rape culture saw hundreds march from Parliament to Civic Square in Wellington last Monday. The protest comes as a result of offensive comments made recently by high school students at Wellington College surfaced on Read more...
Executive Pledge to be Apolitical in Election Year
Posted 10:27am Sunday 19th March 2017 by Joe Higham
Recreation Officer Caitlin Barlow-Groome began with the affiliation of the ‘ACT On Campus’ group, which drew immediate discussion from the executive about former OUSA President Logan Edgar’s colourful relationship with the group (well worth a read if you are unaware of what Read more...
Dunedin Landords face Tenancy Tribunal over Illegal Letting of Rooms
Posted 10:23am Sunday 19th March 2017 by Joel MacManus
The Tenancy Tribunal has ruled several North Dunedin landlords have been requiring tenants to sign illegal fixed term contracts before granting them residence in studio rooms or boarding houses. The practice is believed to be widespread in Dunedin, and according to a Critic investigation, may be Read more...
Charlie Hantler Sums Up The English Premier League Season With Nine Games to Go
Posted 12:20pm Sunday 12th March 2017 by Charlie Hantler
I was searching for inspiration for this week’s column, and so I delved into last year’s work. Boy oh boy did I find a goodie, with claims that Pep Guardiola, the new Manchester City manager, was making the English Premier League look easy. He was undoubtedly doing so at the time, but Read more...
Trump Faces Immediate Challenges, Has No Strategy as Rivals Race Towards ISIL Capital
Posted 12:08pm Sunday 12th March 2017 by George Elliott
Fighters belonging to the most important players in the Syrian civil war converged on the small Syrian city of Manbij last week, illustrating the complexity of a conflict which will be six years old on March 15 and reminding us that the Trump administration is yet to outline a coherent Read more...
PMs Proposed Raise in Retirement Age Receives Little Cross-Party Fanfare
Posted 12:04pm Sunday 12th March 2017 by George Elliott
Prime Minister Bill English broke with his predecessor last week in a major policy shift, announcing a proposal to raise the age of eligibility for superannuation, New Zealand’s pension scheme, from 65 to 67 years old in the year 2037. English argues that this measure will cut costs for an Read more...
Critic Interviews Don Brash
Posted 12:01pm Sunday 12th March 2017 by Joe Higham
Don Brash is the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Leader of the Opposition, from 2003-2006 (National Party), and, for seven months in 2011, led the ACT party. His return to the political sphere comes as one of the two spokespeople for controversial political lobbying group Read more...
International Womens Day 2017
Posted 11:39am Sunday 12th March 2017 by Mikade Barns-Graham
Wednesday 8 March marked 2017’s International Women’s Day; a day that has for over 100 years given people a chance to stand up for issues of gender equality. This year has encouraged a sense of boldness and action as the #BeBoldForChange campaign focused in particular on gender Read more...
Preloading Pressing Issue for Dunedin Police
Posted 11:33am Sunday 12th March 2017 by Anna Linton
Information released under the Official Information Act last week has highlighted the effect pre-drinking is having on Southerners. The Alco-Link data reveals that the majority of intoxicated offenders are drinking at home before going out, raising questions about the relationship between Read more...
SKY TV Ripping Off Students
Posted 11:30am Sunday 12th March 2017 by Joel MacManus
Under a new policy from Sky TV, students in the North Dunedin area are being offered significantly worse deals than non-students or residents in other suburbs of Dunedin. In 2016, first-time subscribers were offered a package of $39 a month including Sports, Movies, and MySky. The price this year Read more...
Totally Execrable
Posted 11:27am Sunday 12th March 2017 by Joe Higham
The executive began by discussing which charity the proceeds from the Capping Show would be given to. Postgraduate Officer Lucy Northwood proposed the Lucy Foundation (no connection), as an alternative to suicide prevention charity Life Matters, which was proposed by President Hugh Baird at the Read more...
Black Caps in DunedinTips & Tricks
Posted 11:41am Sunday 5th March 2017 by Charlie Hantler
At the time of writing, Martin Guptill has just put the South African bowling attack to the sword, with an undefeated 180 leading the Black Caps to a 7 wicket win. This levels the series at 2-2 with the final game to be played in Auckland on Saturday; thus by the time you’re reading this, the Read more...
Highlanders Sunk by Chiefs
Posted 11:37am Sunday 5th March 2017 by Jamie Green
If there’s one problem with sports, it’s that you have to pick sides, one side wins and one side loses. No other entertainment product has this problem. Unfortunately, I was on the losing side on Friday night as the Chiefs made the trip to the lunch box to take on our beloved Read more...
Jacinda Ardern a smart pick for Labour deputy
Posted 11:30am Sunday 5th March 2017 by George Elliott
Labour’s caucus will elect a new deputy leader this week and they’d be stupid to not be on board with Jacinda Ardern. Annette King’s most recent tenure as deputy was always meant to be a temporary arrangement, but she did leave with one last battle cry last week, sternly telling Read more...
Struggle, What Struggle?
Posted 11:20am Sunday 5th March 2017 by Tyler West
The entirety of ‘things wot gon dun happened to students last year’ can’t in all honesty be contained in a listicle. Much as in years before, and likely years to come, 2016 was an often bloody year for anything that might resemble a real ‘student movement’ Read more...
How to keep talking when the world is upside down
Posted 10:50am Sunday 5th March 2017 by Associate Professor James Maclaurin
James Maclaurin is a philosopher of science at the University of Otago. He has a particular interest in the life sciences and computing and information science (particularly artificial intelligence and it’s impact on humanity). We asked him to talk about how to argue constructively. The Read more...
Annette Kings Departure Leaves Jacinda Ardern Poised to Become Labours Deputy Leader
Posted 10:40am Sunday 5th March 2017 by Anna Linton
Annette King has stood down as the Labour Party’s Deputy Leader, with both herself and leader Andrew Little endorsing Jacinda Ardern as her successor. “I did ask her [King] to stay on the front bench with the Health Portfolio, and she did consider it,” Little told Critic, Read more...
Anti-Glass Alliance Assemble
Posted 10:35am Sunday 5th March 2017 by Joel MacManus
The Dunedin City Council (DCC) has engaged with local liquor store owners in a coordinated effort to reduce the number of glass products sold in North Dunedin, although they failed to nail down any specific plans. The policy was a key election promise made by Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull during the Read more...
Hyde St Residents shocked After Assaults
Posted 10:28am Sunday 5th March 2017 by Joel MacManus
Residents on Hyde St have described feeling “shocked” and “unsafe” following a spate of assaults on the street in O-Week, culminating in three arrests being made. A total of four assaults allegedly occurred around the student area in the early hours of the morning of Read more...
Why Use Facts When You Can Use Anecdotes?
Posted 10:24am Sunday 5th March 2017 by Joe Higham
Prime Minister Bill English has blamed unemployment rates on young people failing workplace drug tests; despite admitting the comments he made were based entirely on anecdotal evidence. English explained that high unemployment figures do not reflect a need to limit the amount of unskilled Read more...
Last Night's Bad Choices Now Have a Calorie Count
Posted 10:21am Sunday 5th March 2017 by Joel MacManus
A number of major players in the New Zealand beer industry have made the voluntary step to start featuring nutritional information labels on their beverages. Both Lion Nathan and DB Breweries, the two largest producers in the country, have got on board, and from this week onwards the labels will be Read more...
Protestors Oppose Goldman Sachs Recruitment Drive
Posted 10:18am Sunday 5th March 2017 by Joe Higham
A group of protesters gathered at the entrance to the Hunter Centre on Wednesday 1 March in opposition to a Goldman Sachs information session as a result of their sizeable investments in the fossil fuel industry. Goldman Sachs, a global finance company, was holding the information session Read more...
Super Rugby Preview
Posted 11:44am Sunday 26th February 2017 by Charlie Hantler
With the Scarfies back in town, the main event of Orientation Week gets ever closer: the Highlanders taking on the Chiefs at The Forsyth Barr. As a student at Otago, you’re obliged to get behind the blue and gold, making yourself part of the ‘Landers Army’. With a promising Read more...
Its Frances Turn At This Populist Nationalism Thing
Posted 11:18am Sunday 26th February 2017 by George Elliott
We’re all probably feeling a bit electioned out. The American presidential election was exhausting for everyone, even for observers behind computer screens in faraway lands. Regardless, the onslaught continues; the American political system is already gearing up for the midterm elections next Read more...
Will Parliament Lose its Resident Bow Tie Aficionado?
Posted 11:16am Sunday 26th February 2017 by George Elliott
The Green Party announced last week that it won’t be standing a candidate in the Ohariu electorate this year. The move improves the chances that Labour Party candidate, Greg O’Connor, ousts United Future’s Peter Dunne. Since the announcement, the Greens and Labour have repeatedly Read more...
Bottle Smashing Down, Number of People Being Dicks Remains the Same
Posted 11:09am Sunday 26th February 2017 by Joel MacManus
Egg throwing, couch burning and bottle smashing continue to be problematic at Otago despite progress, according to the 2016 Vice-Chancellors Report on Discipline. Last year a total of 483 students were sent to the proctor’s office, with 21 being referred on to the vice-chancellor. The number Read more...
Lift Your Game, Baird
Posted 10:55am Sunday 26th February 2017 by Lucy Hunter
OUSA Student President Hugh Baird got stuck in a lift in an Auckland hotel when on a presidential trip earlier this month. He was in a lift with five German people who, he says, were talking to each other in German. He is “sure they were talking about him.” They were stuck in the lift Read more...
Little Visits Cadbury Factory in Show of Solidarity with Workforce
Posted 10:52am Sunday 26th February 2017 by Joe Higham
Mondelez International, the company that owns Cadbury, have stated their intention to end their manufacturing operations at the company’s Dunedin factory. The closure of the Dunedin factory means the loss of 362 jobs, the first phase of which Mondelez have outlined will begin later Read more...
Dotcom Loses High Court Extradition Battle, Vows to Fight On
Posted 10:48am Sunday 26th February 2017 by Joe Higham
Last week, New Zealand’s High Court ruled in favour of extraditing Kim Dotcom and his co-accused to the United States over their roles in the now-defunct file-sharing business Megaupload. The United States of America are seeking to have Dotcom (and the three other co-accused) Read more...
DCC and Uni Begin New Initiative to Clean up North Dunedins Streets
Posted 10:42am Sunday 26th February 2017 by Anna Linton
A collaborative recycling initiative between the Dunedin City Council and Campus Watch, overseen by the Proctor, will mark an overhaul in how glass and rubbish are dealt with in North Dunedin. Street cleaning, extra blue glass recycling bins and skips in North Dunedin, every Friday of February Read more...
17 Executive already proving to be better than 2016
Posted 4:59pm Friday 10th February 2017 by Joe Higham
The second executive meeting of the year began with a discussion about a funding request from the charity ‘Heart Kids NZ’, which was swiftly shut down after Education Officer, Bryn Jenkins, noted that OUSA “should be giving to charities in the student interest”, something the Read more...
Execrable
Posted 5:17pm Friday 16th December 2016 by Joe Higham
The agenda for the final OUSA Executive meeting of the year was largely uncontentious, as the vast majority of the agenda items were passed without issue: notably a disaffiliation a now defunct group, passing an employment agreement, reporting on Welfare and Education Committee Meetings, and giving Read more...
Execrable Xmas Edition
Posted 5:44pm Tuesday 13th December 2016 by Joe Higham
The 2016 OUSA Executive year has been marred by communication failures, finger-pointing, on-going arguments, and a lack of cohesive action, and inevitably the penultimate executive meeting of the year was similarly frustrating. The meeting was largely consumed with the presentation of Read more...
Press Council ruling against Critic
Posted 2:36pm Wednesday 12th October 2016 by Critic
The Press Council has part-upheld a complaint from Dunedin City Council against two Critic articles. This is a summary of the Press Council ruling. See here for the full decision www.presscouncil.org.nz Critic’s article headlined DCC accused of ‘active and willful campaign to Read more...
Opinion: Is yoga a sport?
Posted 10:39am Saturday 8th October 2016 by Rosa Woods
Did you just mutter the words “no of course not” internally? Hey now, let's not jump to any conclusions. I know what you’re thinking; yoga is a leisure activity, it’s nothing more than an excuse for Lululemon clad fitspos to get together, stretch and do breathing Read more...
The self-crucifixion of Colin of Howick, King of the Conservatives
Posted 10:35am Saturday 8th October 2016 by George Elliott
Colin Craig, who formed the Conservative Party in 2011, was meant to be with us much longer. He’d declared during the 2014 election campaign that he’d one day ascend to the top level of the Beehive as a true conservative. But Craig is dead. The party he created kicked him out and no Read more...
Breaking-very-important-news
Posted 10:29am Saturday 8th October 2016 by Critic
Congratulations on former OUSA President, Ruby Sycamore Smith and former Critic Editor, Zane Pocock for tying the knot recently! On the sly,Hugh and Laura refused to comment on their nuptial plans. Hugh continued whistling Skater Boy by Avril Lavigne, including some sick drum beats Read more...
OUSA Execrable | Issue 26
Posted 10:27am Saturday 8th October 2016 by Joe Higham
The final reportable OUSA Executive meeting began characteristically slowly, but became easily the most interesting meeting of the year as the largely dysfunctional group came to a head over their third quarter reports, which they present at the culmination of each quarter to determine whether Read more...
While the Labour movement has an existential crisis, what about the worker and the radical?
Posted 11:51am Saturday 1st October 2016 by George Elliott
The Labour movement in the UK and its former colonies has transformed dramatically in the past century and has slipped into an identity crisis after gazing back at the neoliberal experiments of the past four decades and, pondering Key’s eight years and Corbyn’s idealism, asking Read more...
Trump and Clinton clash in most watched televised US presidential debate ever
Posted 11:48am Saturday 1st October 2016 by Cameron Meads
Eighty four million Americans tuned in last week for the first US presidential debate between former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and New York businessman, Donald Trump. Despite a civilised well-mannered start to the debate particularly by an out-of-character Trump, Clinton soon crawled her Read more...
Don Brashs Hobsons Pledge campaign seeks equality for all New Zealanders
Posted 11:37am Saturday 1st October 2016 by Joe Higham
A new campaign launched by, among others, former National Party leader Don Brash, is seeking to lobby politicians to end New Zealand’s separatism and preferential treatment of Maori. The campaign, called Hobson’s Pledge, is named after Captain William Hobson, who was New Read more...
The student candidate who dares to be Right-Wing
Posted 11:34am Saturday 1st October 2016 by Joel MacManus
“40% of the population is under 30, yet not a single member of the council represents our demographic. It’s time for a student voice”. Hamish Fraser, a 20 year old Law and PoliSci student wants to be that voice. He’s running for Council this year as an unapologetically young Read more...
Losi Filipo & Wellington Rugby part ways
Posted 11:32am Saturday 1st October 2016 by Hugh Baird
Wellington Rugby and Losi Filipo have come to a mutual understanding to part ways in the wake of a controversial assault case which saw Filipo discharged without conviction. The move to terminate the contract came after an increase in pressure from the public, sponsors of the team and victims to Read more...
Auckland mayoral forum reminds the rest of the country how Aucklanders really are
Posted 11:29am Saturday 1st October 2016 by Joe Higham
The Auckland Mayoral debate descended into chaos on Tuesday night as one candidate, Adam Holland, had painted his face brown and shouted the Arabic phrase “Allahu akbar”, meaning God is Great, while two other candidates were on the verge of a fist-fight. Others looked on in both shock Read more...
Bransons becomes most recent target of liquor license opposition
Posted 11:25am Saturday 1st October 2016 by Joe Higham
Branson’s hotel in Dunedin has become the latest local off-license to find itself in a battle in relation to alcohol licensing issues. The hotel, located on the corner of St Andrew’s Street and Great King Street, ran into problems on the night of the third All Blacks v Wales test Read more...
Haynes comments factually incorrect, after public opposition of liquor license
Posted 11:20am Saturday 1st October 2016 by Liam Brown
The Super Liquor store located on North Dunedin’s Cumberland Street has had its liquor license renewal declined due to its location next to the BP service station as well as the level of harm in the student quarter that is related to alcohol. In recent comments, Otago University Read more...
OUSAs 2017 Budget morbidly depressing
Posted 11:19am Saturday 1st October 2016 by Joe Higham
The budget looks like a series of percentage icons, abbreviations and dollar signs at the best of times, and, apart from one significant change, the 2017 budget is no more intriguing in comparison to any of the recent budgets. That significant change comes in the form of an amendment to Read more...
Opinion: Guardiola proving that the EPL is nothing special
Posted 10:36am Saturday 24th September 2016 by Sean Nugent
All too often the media portray the English Premier League as the toughest in the world, and that a player or manager’s career is not totally fulfilled if they do not prove themselves on a cold, rainy night in Stoke. Having won all eight competitive games so far, including five in the EPL, Pep Read more...
World got more problems than beach has sand:
Posted 10:26am Saturday 24th September 2016 by George Elliott
Every now and then an event comes along that’s so existentially pressing, so apocalyptically spectacular that it requires the finest minds in New York traffic-jamology. Manhattan hosted the jam of jams last week as leaders and dignitaries made their way to the 71st United Nations summit, the Read more...
Los Angeles bizarre Shade Balls save millions
Posted 10:18am Saturday 24th September 2016 by Liam Brown
LA’s unique attempt to curb the harsh effects of the Californian drought first made headlines last year when the city dumped 96 million black plastic balls into their main reservoir. Throwing balls at your problems may seem like an illogical and confusing solution, but their reasoning was Read more...
Legal Aid Office closures put extra strain on the system
Posted 10:16am Saturday 24th September 2016 by Joel MacManus
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that 6 of the 8 legal aid offices in New Zealand will close early next year, including the Christchurch branch, the only office left in the South Island. The process will be centralised in Auckland and Takapuna, something widely criticised by many in the legal Read more...
Dunedin comedian teams up with 7 Days stars for hilarious new webseries
Posted 10:09am Saturday 24th September 2016 by Joe Higham
When professional comedians venture into the vastly unprofessional abyss of Dunedin’s student flats, comedy naturally ensues. Thanks to a hilarious new comedic venture called Flat Gigs Dunedin, which is brought to you by entrepreneur and comedian ‘Skivvy Jon’ alongside comedians Read more...
Polling booth coming to campus
Posted 10:04am Saturday 24th September 2016 by Joel MacManus
After months of discussion and negotiation, the DCC has relented and will provide a special voting booth on campus this Thursday for local body elections. After Critic reported on the DCC imposing overly strict conditions surrounding the provision of a booth, OUSA has re-opened talks and found DCC Read more...
Hugh Baird wins OUSA Presidential Election by a landslide, as 4 out of 5 Your Voice candidates are successful
Posted 9:57am Saturday 24th September 2016 by Joe Higham
The ‘Hugh Baird for President’ ticket has won both the Presidential and the Administrative Vice-President’s seats by a landslide, as fellow presidential candidates Lark Hare and Hashmat Lafraie struggled, coming in equally 14 percent behind Baird. The ‘Hugh Baird for Read more...
Wawrinka stuns Djokovic to win first US Open
Posted 11:14am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Globa L.Warmin
World number three Stan Wawrinka has beaten out number one seed Novak Djokovic last week to take home the US open at Flushing Meadows. Wawrinka ground out his first US Open trophy, and third Grand Slam Trophy after wearing down Djokovic 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. By breaking in the final game Read more...
Opinion: Blackcaps should stop persevering with Martin Guptill
Posted 11:06am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Sean Nugent
The Blackcaps start their tour of India this week, hoping to improve on their disappointing performance in South Africa last month. They will play three tests and five ODIs over the next five weeks, before coming home to prepare for another long summer of cricket. Coach Mike Hesson has said that it Read more...
Tickets? More like clique-ets
Posted 11:01am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Sam McChesney
My judgement is, to put it mildly, questionable. One of my desert island films is The Room, I’ve recently rekindled a long-suppressed enjoyment of the Spice Girls, and I want Gilda Kirkpatrick to be my life coach. I like to call myself a connoisseur of guilty pleasures; you could just say that Read more...
N. Korea nuclear ambitions: This times different & no one knows what to do
Posted 10:55am Saturday 17th September 2016 by George Elliott
On the September 9, North Korea conducted its biggest test of a nuclear weapon to date. The yield of the nuclear device is estimated at around 20 to 30 kilotons of TNT, more than ten times the size of the country’s first test in 2006, raising fears and prompting calls for fresh diplomacy with Read more...
Missing: grey rectangles
Posted 10:49am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Critic
Police are seeking the owners of a number of items they suspect were stolen from North Dunedin flats in the last several weeks. A man was driving a scooter when he was stopped by police on Albany Street, North Dunedin, according to a Police Media Centre statement, along with several Read more...
More government funding for random drunk hook-ups
Posted 10:42am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Joel MacManus
Parliament is considering the repeal of a controversial measure which penalises mothers applying for child support who do not know the identity of the father. Under the Social Securities Act, sole parents who do not name the father when applying to WINZ are docked $22 a week from their Read more...
Your Voice posters torn down
Posted 10:37am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Joel MacManus
The ‘Your Voice’ ticket, led by Presidential candidate Lark Hare in the OUSA election, has had 28 of their campaign posters around campus torn down, largely those in the Castle Lecture Theatres, according to Bryn Jenkins, who is the Your Voice candidate for Education Officer. He says it Read more...
Otago University Council votes to divest from fossil fuels
Posted 10:34am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Joe Higham
The Otago University Council has voted in favour of committing to divest from fossil fuels within its investment portfolio. The university downplayed the significance of the decision, assuring everyone affiliated with the university that they have “no investments in fossil fuels” Read more...
Presidential Election Forum
Posted 10:32am Saturday 17th September 2016 by Joe Higham
The OUSA Election Forums that ran last week, were a chance for students to hear what the candidates running for the 2017 OUSA Executive are pledging to do if they are elected. Hugh Baird is the editor of Critic*, and is running on the ‘Hugh Baird for President’ ticket alongside Read more...
Sir Gordon Tietjens calls quits on stellar career
Posted 11:00am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Hugh Baird
Sir Gordon Tietjens has finally called stumps as coach of the New Zealand Sevens team, after an unprecedented 22 years behind the reins. During his time as coach, Sir Gordon led the side to four Commonwealth gold medals, two Rugby World Cup Sevens titles and 12 World Rugby Sevens Series Read more...
Opinion: Warriors prove their consistency
Posted 10:55am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Sean Nugent
This was supposed to be the year that the Warriors finally turned it around and made a serious push at not only the playoffs, but also at the NRL title. Yet, following the conclusion of their embarrassing 40-18 loss to Parramatta last weekend, the Warriors found themselves out of the playoffs for Read more...
Hong Kongs revolution alive & well
Posted 10:51am Saturday 10th September 2016 by George Elliott
For about 80 days in late 2014, hundreds of thousands of mostly young Hong Kongers took to the streets in an unprecedented act of protest against China’s rule over the semiautonomous territory and the increasing detrimental effects of late capitalism. The student-led occupation of streets Read more...
NZ Firsts time to shine in an age of populism?
Posted 10:48am Saturday 10th September 2016 by George Elliott
Order is crumbling. The democratic world is in disarray. Neoliberal capitalism, academia’s Marxist identity politics, immigrants, the expert elite - they’re all dragging us into an abyss. Only the toughest ‘anti-politician’ politician will rise to lead us in our anger, our Read more...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel defends immigration policy
Posted 10:40am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Joel MacManus
Angela Merkel has laid down a strong defence of her immigration policy after witnessing the dramatic rise of right-wing parties in Germany’s regional election in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The country’s most popular right-wing party, Alternative für Deutschland, Read more...
Quarterback's protest moves beyond football field
Posted 10:39am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Tom Kitchin
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to not stand for the national anthem before games has caused debate in America. During the team’s most recent matches, Kaepernick has either sat down or kneeled during the anthem to protest against racial injustices in the Read more...
A bit of beef at the beach
Posted 10:36am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird
Multiple cows have washed up on Dunedin beaches in recent weeks, with local residents confused as to how they got there. As many as three cows were washed up on St Clair beach, with two others appearing in the Lawyer’s Head and Tomohawk areas. Brian Benn, Senior Sergeant of Read more...
Mt Eden Prison suggested as shelter for homeless
Posted 10:34am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Joe Higham
The derelict grounds of Mt Eden Prison could be used to shelter the homeless, according to submissions from a cross-party inquiry into homelessness. Submissions to the inquiry will “initially be heard in person at four locations: Te Puea Marae in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, and Read more...
John Key calls Australian PM his BFF Forever
Posted 10:32am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Joel MacManus
Drama broke out on the international relations front after Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull tweeted a picture of himself with newly appointed UK leader Theresa May, with the caption “There couldn’t be two countries with closer bonds than Australia and Britain”. A heartbroken John Read more...
Cost of homelessness more than anyone at Critic will earn in a year, ever
Posted 10:29am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Joe Higham
The Government has stated that it will consider a report by opposition MPs on homelessness, despite being unconvinced with the originality of its findings. It found that each homeless person in New Zealand is costing the taxpayer up to $65,000 per year, a figure that, if correct, would likely Read more...
How Newshub started a national body shaming campaign against two university students for daring to be skinny
Posted 10:27am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Joel MacManus
Last week, Farmers posted a photo on their Facebook page to promote dresses from the new Andrea Moore collection. The models were twins and 21 year old students at Auckland University students. Unfortunately, as internet commentators are want to do, the post had a bunch of negative comments Read more...
Otago University & DCC to collaborate to clean up North Dunedins streets
Posted 10:23am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Joe Higham
The Dunedin City Council (DCC) and the University of Otago are investigating and preparing the initial procedure to increase the frequency of rubbish collection in North Dunedin to improve the campus’ street cleanliness. According to the meeting minutes from a 30 August 2016 meeting Read more...
Otago University ranking rises four places
Posted 10:21am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Joe Higham
Otago University has improved in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by four places from 2015’s results, moving from 173rd to 169th place respectively. The improvement does nothing to alter their nationwide ranking of second, with the University of Auckland being Read more...
Otago University conducting concussion research alongside Otago RFU
Posted 10:17am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Joe Higham
Otago Rugby Football Club has teamed up with the University of Otago to explore the connection between neck strength and concussion. The ground-breaking study will focus on sensors placed behind the players’ ears and will log information allowing them to assess whether or not the neck Read more...
OUSA Execrable | Issue 22
Posted 10:14am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Joel MacManus
The Executive met Monday in a highly disorganised and easily distracted fashion to consider a proposal by local artist Guy Howard-Smith to paint a large anti-pollution mural on the side of the Birdwatchers flat, 74 Albany Street. Howard-Smith has had a hand in producing a number of large-scale Read more...
Disillusionment continues within the Humanities Division
Posted 10:11am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Joel MacManus
On a rainy, windy Wednesday afternoon, a crowd of around 400 gathered to protest ongoing cuts to the Otago University Humanities Division. OUSA Admin VP Jarred Griffiths stood at the foot of the Clocktower addressing the raucous mob through a megaphone declaring “we stand here today surrounded Read more...
Opinion: Has the All Blacks dominance made international rugby less exciting?
Posted 10:50am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Sean Nugent
Former England footballer Gary Lineker once said “football is a simple game. 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.” Applied to the All Blacks, Lineker’s quote fits like a glove. I’m sure plenty of opposition have walked off the park Read more...
Flying Fijians make nation proud A Fijian perspective
Posted 10:45am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Otessa Tuisila
Every athlete's dream is to compete amongst the best of the best at the Olympic games with the opportunity to showcase their skills on the world stage, stepping out onto the track, plank or field as an equal. All competitors, whether representing big nations or the smaller islands, have the same Read more...
Somalia: Hope after 25 years of bloodshed
Posted 10:37am Sunday 4th September 2016 by George Elliott
While most people’s knowledge of Somalia might come from the 2001 blockbuster Blackhawk Down or occasional horrific news stories popping up, there has been some recent optimism that the state could pull itself out of its long running civil war in time for the 2016 elections. Sadly, this Read more...
Eggs benedict and our humanitarian myth
Posted 10:32am Sunday 4th September 2016 by George Elliott
At New York’s Turtle Bay, where the United Nations building stands, there’s a breakfast club for Security Council diplomats to meet and start the day with a meal and a chat. It has become quite a tradition, and it is all thanks to New Zealand. The bringing together of some of the most Read more...
Hekia Parata to introduce new COOL initiative
Posted 10:27am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Joel MacManus
In an effort to seem innovative and exciting, Minister for Education Hekia Parata has announced a poorly thought out initiative with an even worse name, which would allow school-aged students to register in online operated charter courses as opposed to attending a regular school. Any Read more...
Otago student swaps books for beach thanks to marooned friend
Posted 10:20am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Hugh Baird
One Otago University student has escaped the winter blues by winning an all expenses paid trip to Fiji thanks to Vodafone, while her loyal friends stayed stranded on a barge parked up in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour for the duration of her trip. Second year law student Kirsty Fern Read more...
Transgender patrons dissuaded from attending Dunedin club session
Posted 10:16am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Joe Higham
A dispute has emerged over the decision by management to attempt to dissuade transgender patrons entry to Dunedin gay and bisexual venue Space4u’s club session ‘Bodyworks’. A transgender man who wanted to remain anonymous due to his current employment, enquired as to whether the Read more...
Small loans no longer needed to purchase avocados
Posted 10:13am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Hugh Baird
After a 2015 season which saw avocado fans forking out huge sums due to a nationwide shortage, the 2016 season has already been predicted as being our best yet. Prices soared earlier this year in May with avocados costing over $4 each, due to a myriad of factors including; poor weather, Read more...
Dunedin Hospital celebrates 150 years amid strife
Posted 10:10am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Joe Higham
Former staff, stakeholders, and residents of Dunedin Hospital gathered last week to celebrate 150 years at its Great King Street location. The hospital chapel played host to a modest ceremony as speakers told tales of times past, and look hopefully forward to a continuing future of medical Read more...
Campaign begins to highligh exhaustion of New Zealands Resident Doctors
Posted 10:08am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Joe Higham
Resident doctors are registered medical practitioners, ranging in experience from first year qualified doctors to those with more than 12 years experience, primarily working in the public sector and are employed by all 20 DHBs, according to the campaign’s media release. The press Read more...
North Dunedin bar leaves student staff high & dry
Posted 10:00am Sunday 4th September 2016 by Joe Higham
Part of the Employment Standards Legislation Bill came into force on 1 April 2016. The bill amended various statutes and sought to address the growing issue of exploitative employment contracts, most notably zero hour contracts, along with changes to the law relating to the cancellation of employee Read more...
Opinion: New Zealands Olympic performance satisfactory, but not ground-breaking
Posted 10:59am Sunday 21st August 2016 by Sean Nugent
Whether it was the overhyping of the media, or failure to perform on the biggest stage, I think it’s fair to say that New Zealand’s performance at the Olympics so far has been a bit underwhelming. At the time of writing, New Zealand has eight medals, consisting of two gold and six Read more...
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