Archive

OUSA Condemns “Vigilante” Action after Duck Initiation

Posted 12:53pm Monday 9th October 2023 by Fox Meyer

A post on the Dunedin News Facebook page calling for the names and addresses of students involved in an alleged initiation has stirred up online vigilante action. OUSA has denounced the initiation activities - if true - and has also denounced any wannabe justice seekers. Public backlash to the Read more...

Onslaught of Cyber Security Emails Annoy Students

Posted 12:31pm Sunday 8th October 2023 by Reuben Kiss

If you've looked at your inbox at all this year, you will have noticed a torrent of emails from the Uni giving you a “friendly reminder that you have not yet completed the University of Otago cyber security training module(s)” and that these are “mandatory to complete”. Read more...

A message for the 2024 Otago Student Cohort

Posted 12:27pm Sunday 8th October 2023 by Quintin Jane

Since this is the last issue of Critic for the year, I thought I’d take the opportunity to use the my executive privilege to hijack a page here and say thank you to everyone at the University of Otago and across the country who has taken time this year to bring attention to the tertiary Read more...

The Vice Chancellor Position is open, Se We Applied

Posted 12:22pm Sunday 8th October 2023 by Critic

The University is advertising for a new Vice Chancellor. Again. Someone has to take up the mantle and lead this struggling institution through tough times, so we at Critic Te Ārohi figured we’d throw our name in the hat. After all, nobody knows Dunedin like we do. Here’s what we Read more...

Initiations “Back With a Vengeance” after Covid Hiatus

Posted 11:52am Sunday 8th October 2023 by Fox Meyer

Last week, we reported on a flat initiation involving a live eel. Since then, the ODT and NZ Herald have picked up the story, police have been informed, and an investigation by the Uni (who knew about the incident prior to publication) is underway. A minority of students defend the initiation in the Read more...

Otago Uni Proctor Investigates Eel Initiation

Posted 2:37pm Thursday 5th October 2023 by Fox Meyer

Last week, we reported on a flat initiation involving a live eel. Since then, the ODT and NZ Herald have picked up the story, police have been informed, and an investigation by the Uni (who knew about the incident prior to publication) is underway. A minority of students defend the initiation in the Read more...

The Hottest (and Nottest) Takes from the OUSA Referendum

Posted 11:21am Sunday 1st October 2023 by Critic

The OUSA Election happened and some people voted. We went through all the feedback and took out the hottest takes, filled mostly with people who were complaining about things that OUSA is literally already doing or literally has no ability to do. Lots of complaints for people who didn’t run Read more...

DCC Passes Ambitious Zero Carbon Plan

Posted 11:11am Sunday 1st October 2023 by Zak Rudin

The DCC voted last Monday to pass the Zero Carbon Plan 2030, with a 10 to 5 split between councillors. Not only did they pass the plan, they also opted to take the highest investment option of a cool $137 million for climate action. 350 Aotearoa, a climate crisis action group who pushed strongly for Read more...

Animal Abuse at Leith Street Initiation

Posted 11:07am Sunday 1st October 2023 by Iris Hehir

  Last Wednesday a flat on Leith Street held an initiation for several freshers who allegedly endured various hazing rituals, including the gross norm of physical abuse, chugging milk, and funnelling vomit. And, as seen by several witnesses, abusing a live eel.    A video Read more...

DCC: Definitely Causing Chaos

Posted 10:12pm Sunday 24th September 2023 by Harriette Boucher

  The pseudo-soap opera that is the Dunedin City Council has been making news. If you’ve been reading headlines, you’ll have seen the antics that have been going on amongst our electorate. From racist remarks to climate hesitation, you might be left wondering: who the hell is Read more...

One Day, Five Sports and Food Poisoning

Posted 10:11pm Sunday 24th September 2023 by Zak Rudin

The classic trifecta is skiing, surfing and rock climbing or mountain biking. But just three technical sports were not enough for students Anya and Eugene - the pair were set on achieving the elusive “fivefecta” about a week ago. That’s five events, if your two leftover brain cells Read more...

Accidental Studentville Ram Raid

Posted 10:00pm Sunday 24th September 2023 by Hugh Askerud

How does a flat 30 metres shy of the road find a car in its living room? In perhaps the most bat-shit crazy twist of the year, at around 7pm on Friday the 15th (may as well have been the 13th) the girls at Salt Shaker found themselves staring down the eye of an old beat-up grey wagon that had Read more...

OUSA Exec Candidates Run Uncontested

Posted 12:49pm Monday 18th September 2023 by Nina Brown

Last week saw the candidate forum for the 2024 OUSA Exec nominees. It was an opportunity for the candidates to campaign for their chosen positions and appeal to the masses - the masses being the current exec, their flatmates, and Radio One and Critic. That was about it.   In what some Read more...

Aerospace Summit Disrupted by Protests

Posted 12:48pm Monday 18th September 2023 by Zak Rudin

A group of local Otago students sent it up to Ōtautahi Christchurch last Monday to join forces with environmental justice and peace activists there and protest the Aerospace Summit. As the name suggests, the conference was about space. The conference was sponsored in part by Lockheed Martin, Read more...

Heavy Breathers Cross the Finish Line

Posted 12:47pm Monday 18th September 2023 by Harriette Boucher

In the race for men’s mental health, the Heavy Breathers smashed not only their personal bests but the silence that surrounds the issue that resonates deeply with the group.    The Heavy Breathers, a group of 33 third-year boys, set out on a mission to raise money for men's Read more...

Frisbee Fanatics Fantastically Finish First

Posted 12:06pm Monday 18th September 2023 by Keegan Wells

Toroa, one of the two Otago Ultimate Frisbee teams, took home first place at the national tertiary championships a couple weeks ago on the 2-3 of September. Hoiho, the secondary Otago team, moved up in the ranks from previous years, landing 7th place overall.    Critic Te Ārohi Read more...

El Duniño is Here

Posted 12:02pm Monday 18th September 2023 by Ollie McKenna

Between bouts of cone theft, bottle smashing and mould wiping, a lot of us are still riding the wave of winter blues that continued through last year’s flop of a summer. But what if Critic Te Ārohi were to tell you that in collaboration with El Niño and climate change, Big Climate Read more...

Tramping Club Gets Sick

Posted 12:38pm Monday 11th September 2023 by peter barclay

As many students ventured home over the mid-sem break, 45 members of the Otago University Tramping Club (OUTC) took a bus to the West Coast for their annual Copland Trip. Now they all (well, most of them) have Covid.    “You, about 20 others, and counting got Covid from the Read more...

Science Communication Changes Confirmed

Posted 12:37pm Monday 11th September 2023 by Nina Brown

Students at the Department of Science Communication received confirmation last week from Pro-Vice Chancellor (Sciences) Richard Barker of changes that will be made to the Department. The Department is still set to be disestablished, with just a distance-only Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma Read more...

An Inconvenient Tooth

Posted 12:06pm Monday 11th September 2023 by Fox Meyer

Labour has announced a plan to provide free dental care by - in part - training more dentists, but students in the country’s only dental school are asking: who’s going to teach them? Free dental care could return $1.60 to the economy for every dollar spent, according to last Read more...