Archive

Cancelled flights give Otago students the blues

Posted 1:57am Monday 6th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

University of Otago students are among those caught out by Pacific Blue’s surprise withdrawal from the New Zealand domestic market. The first service to go is the direct Dunedin to Auckland service, a change that will take effect from September 17. Pacific Blue has said publicly that people Read more...

OUSA to set $90 000 on fire. Maybe.

Posted 1:27am Monday 6th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

OUSA intends to put its membership in New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) in the hands of its members. In 2010, OUSA paid $86 169 in membership fees to NZUSA. The fees go towards national representation of students and lobbying in Parliament. In the revised OUSA Budget, the Read more...

Everyone Cleared of Everything. Except Harriet.

Posted 1:18am Monday 6th September 2010 by Gregor Whyte

The official report into the OUSA Elections reveals that while lots of people did lots of kind of bad things, almost no one was actually punished. Except the President, that is. The report by Returning Officer Victoria Nicholson, which runs to 29 pages excluding appendices, covered the Read more...

It’s a Numbers Game

Posted 1:09am Monday 6th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

The first draft of the 2011 OUSA Budget was released last Wednesday. OUSA Finance and Services Officer James Meager said that there were no major changes within the Budget, bar the increase in student levies. The student levy has increased from $159.64 per year to $211.88, an increase of Read more...

NZ Drug Foundation

Posted 1:07am Monday 6th September 2010 by Staff Reporter

The NZ Drug Foundation has cited the University of Otago as a case study on binge drinking in its latest publication. The article, titled ‘Campus Crackdown’, discusses the University’s efforts to deal with the culture of binge drinking pervading the student lifestyle in Read more...

Otago Graduates Win Awards

Posted 12:44am Monday 6th September 2010 by Staff Reporter

Two University of Otago graduates won national awards at the annual Dietitians New Zealand awards ceremony, the Otago Daily Times reports. Krystal Somner won the Nestle Healthcare Nutrition Young Achiever Award for her work in developing a screening tool for chemotherapy patients at risk of Read more...

Confirmed: Old People Hate Youths

Posted 12:43am Monday 6th September 2010 by Gregor Whyte

German researchers have found that old people enjoy reading news reports that cast young people in a negative light. The researchers responsible for the study posited that the tendency of old people to react positively to news stories portraying young people negatively was tied to generational Read more...

Bouncing off the Halls - 22

Posted 12:42am Monday 6th September 2010 by

This week’s eagerly-anticipated installment of Bouncing off the Halls begins on a more formal note, covering the antics of the University College’s premier social event: the Ball. Most of the Hall’s female population rounded off a week of pathetically starving themselves by crying Read more...

Is the end of the affair is near?

Posted 3:47am Thursday 26th August 2010 by

OUSA has given a clear indication that it no longer wishes to be a part of the New Zealand Union of Students Association (NZUSA) and University Sport New Zealand (USNZ) last week. In a Budget draft it has been revealed that OUSA plans to budget $0 for NZUSA in 2011, in stark contrast to the Read more...

At least OUSA isn’t this bad

Posted 3:45am Thursday 26th August 2010 by Gregor Whyte

At least $750 000 has been misappropriated by former members of the Whitireia Polytechnic Students' Association’s Executive, the Dominion Post reported last week. The scale of the fraud has left members outraged and the Association struggling to remain solvent. A professional audit of the Read more...

Hairy Gay Man to lead OUSA for a second year

Posted 3:43am Thursday 26th August 2010 by

OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan was successful in her re-election bid, after handily beating the four other candidates in the voting for the 2011 Executive. Geoghegan took the race with a total number of 948 eligible votes. Her closest rival was current Clubs and Socs Rep Dan Stride, who Read more...

OUSA Election Results

Posted 3:42am Thursday 26th August 2010 by Staff Reporter

PRESIDENT    Abstain: 177    No confidence: 137    Dan Stride: 704    Harriet Geoghegan: 948    Matt McKillop: 515    Mitch Edwards: 348    Nathaniel Hatch-Stevens: 36      Read more...

Hookers and Blow: Not budgeted for

Posted 3:37am Thursday 26th August 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

The first draft of the OUSA Budget, written by Finance Officer James Meager and General Manager Stephen Alexander, has been released amidst controversy over levy increases and withdrawing from NZUSA. However, there are several other changes in the proposed new Budget, and Meager was quick to Read more...

Execrable - 21

Posted 3:36am Thursday 26th August 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

Last week’s meeting was a dull and dreary affair, stretching three whole yawn-inducing hours. James Meager once again took over the Presidential role, although it seemed his main job was to make Harriet shut up. Presidential hopeful Dan Stride was M.I.A. (along with about half of the Exec), Read more...

Organic Festival

Posted 3:34am Thursday 26th August 2010 by

The Students for Environmental Action will hold their sixth annual Organic Festival at Sammy’s this Saturday. The main aim of the festival is to raise awareness of the environmental and health benefits of organic food and drink.    Tickets to the event cost $5 and include one free Read more...

Quiztacular

Posted 3:31am Thursday 26th August 2010 by Gregor Whyte

On Thursday OUSA will hold its second annual quiz evening, Bride of Quiztacular. This mega-quiz night, which aims to bring together Humanities students from across all different disciplines, will feature 10 rounds of “intense quiz competition,” Walker MacMurdo says. Teams are of Read more...

Top Supervisor Honoured

Posted 3:28am Thursday 26th August 2010 by Anthony Riseley

University of Otago physical education researcher Dr. Jim Cotter has been named the Otago University Students Association’s Overall Supervisor of the Year, in recognition of his work with postgraduate students. Dr. Cotter, a senior lecturer who joined the University staff in 2001, says the Read more...

Former Critic Editor TV Star

Posted 3:27am Thursday 26th August 2010 by Staff Reporter

Former Critic Editor John Ong is to star in the new show Feedback on TV2. The show, based around a disgraced news presenter desperate to secure ratings, also stars Arthur Meek, Natalie Medlock, Orlando Stewart, and Ngapaki Emery.     The half-skit, half-sitcom comedy will Read more...

Former OUSA President Throws His Hat In

Posted 3:26am Thursday 26th August 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

Former OUSA President Simon Wilson has formally expressed an interest in being chosen as the Labour candidate for North Dunedin. He is the third person to express interest in the candidacy, along with the Selwyn College Warden Dr. David Clark and a woman named Glenda Alexander.    Read more...

University Won’t Ban Staff-Student Relationships

Posted 3:24am Thursday 26th August 2010 by Gregor Whyte

The University of Otago has confirmed that it will not ban relationships between staff and students. The University’s review of its policy on relationships between staff and students has been completed, and the University Senate will now discuss a revised policy, which mandates that Read more...