Archive

Property Destruction Pretty Lit During Re-O

Posted 8:14pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Kaiya Cherrington

Re-O Week was extra chaotic this year, with couch burning and other property destruction reported in the student area. Students witnessed a notable amount of damage happening throughout the week as parties were held on streets such as Hyde, Leith, Frederick, Queen, and Castle. Couch burning is a Read more...

Otago University has an Underground Beer Pong Society, and it’s Really Fucking Strange

Posted 8:13pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Annabelle Vaughan

Turns out, the Otago University Beer Pong Society is real and exactly what you would expect - a bunch of testosterone-fuelled guys who miss their high school sports teams a little too much.  Otago Uni and the student gremlins which inhabit this community have some very odd and highly Read more...

One in Five Chance Your Re-O MDMA Was Bath Salts

Posted 8:11pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Oscar Paul

20% of the drug samples tested by KnowYourStuff during Re-O Week turned out to be synthetic cathinones (a.k.a. bath salts, a.k.a. a bad time). KnowYourStuff detected nine samples of mephedrone and eight samples of a new, unknown cathinone. “This unknown cathinone [detected during Re-O Week] Read more...

Vibe Check: Political Debate Edition

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Sophia Carter Peters

I care about things, but I know very little about politics. So when I was asked to attend and take some notes on the ‘Response to Covid’ debate in Union Hall (organised by DebSoc), I was confused, but intrigued. Honestly, I love a bit of drama and as much as David Seymour annoys me, he Read more...

Opinion: It’s Fucked that Dunedin Clubs Don’t have Cloakrooms

Posted 2:22pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Caroline Moratti

It’s a Saturday night, and you’ve been bobbing to Glitter by Benee for the past three hours in Suburbia. It’s been a good night but you’re ready to call it quits and shelve some kebabs before passing out in your best mate’s bed. The issue is that you have to survive the Read more...

OUSA Sexual Misconduct Policy Two Months Away

Posted 2:20pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

The development of an OUSA sexual misconduct policy began in 2019. Seven months into 2020, club leaders are still waiting. OUSA told Critic that the policy will be “achieved… during second semester” through OUSA’s Affiliated Clubs Council. Last September, Critic covered Read more...

SOCIAL EXPERIMENT: Critic Attempts Crime

Posted 2:02pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

Last week, Critic received an anonymous tip from someone claiming to be “member of the student community” about a certain “hack” (crime) that allowed people to get Victorian Bitters (VBs) beers for free from Countdown. A week after exposing this “hack” (crime), Read more...

Results Withheld Due to “Unprecedented Volume” of Academic Misconduct

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

Due to an “unprecedented volume” of potential academic misconduct cases across all four divisions of the University of Otago, many exam results have been withheld. The University aims to confirm all results by this Friday, 10 July. Students who show “above-average levels of Read more...

“Abusive and Predatory Behaviour”: Report Claims OUSA-Affiliated Club Had a Culture of Abuse

Posted 1:55pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

Content warning: Explicit descriptions of sexual abuse, violent behaviours and emotional manipulation. After a member alleged they were sexually assaulted, the Dunedin Fire and Circus Club published a preliminary report on internal sexual and emotional abuse, and proposed changes within the Read more...

Southernmost Foosball Club Launched and Free to Play

Posted 1:26pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Sophia Carter Peters

Amidst a global pandemic, a collective social upheaval, and the general decay of the 21st century, there is but one truth: foosball. Otago’s first foosball association, the Dunedin Foosball Association, has finally broken ground. The association, led by Zoology lecturer Paul Szyszka, has Read more...

OUSA Takes Pro-Cannabis Legalisation Stance

Posted 3:04pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

Just over a month ago, OUSA asked students whether or not OUSA should take a stance in the upcoming cannabis legalisation referendum. Students said yes. The Exec decided to have a punishingly long discussion about whether or not they should do it, anyway. The Exec had a choice between two Read more...

Residential College Rebate Increases to $200

Posted 3:03pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

Students who left their residential colleges for lockdown got $200 per week as a residential fee rebate. This was an increase of $80 from the initial rebate, agreed to after OUSA met with the University to put students’ concerns forward. The original amount the University offered students Read more...

Local Hero Catches Thief Mid-Burglary

Posted 3:01pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Fox Meyer

A flat a stone’s throw from the Clocktower would’ve been burglarised last week if it weren’t for the heroic efforts of an upstanding young Kiwi. Thom Harrison (6’7”, 120 kg, single) was surprised to see “this fuckin’ random dude just taking shit outta my Read more...

OUSA Exec Are Confused About Their Own Referendum

Posted 2:55pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

The OUSA Executive asked students some confusing questions about what they should do and now they are confused about what they should do. The annual OUSA Referendum was held online from 25-28 May. When the results came in, the OUSA Exec realised they had fucked up a few of the questions or were Read more...

Pint Night Returns for Semester Two

Posted 2:50pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Annabelle Vaughan

The University has confirmed that Pint Night is on for semester two. Despite fearmongering in the student community that Pint Night was not going to go ahead post-lockdown, a University spokesperson confirmed to Critic that Pint Night will in fact recommence on Wednesday, 8 July, during Re-O Read more...

Where to Not Park if You Don’t Want a Ticket

Posted 2:49pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Jack Gilmore

An official information act request has revealed which streets and parking meters near campus produce the most amount of tickets. In the past three years, the University Campus area alone has racked up over 10,000 parking violations.  In 2018 and 2019, the most infamous street for Read more...

Otago Polytech Students Launch Rape Prevention Programme in Dunedin

Posted 2:44pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Sophia Carter Peters

Angel Shot, Ask for Angela, Sophie’s Angels; if you’ve spent any time on social media since 2016, chances are you’re familiar with these campaigns. If not, they offer people a way to leave unsafe or uncomfortable dates. These initiatives provide a code word disguised as a drink Read more...

Non-students Have Paid a Lot of Money at Request of the Proctor

Posted 2:22pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

Non-students have paid $1480 in what the Proctor describes as “voluntary reparation” on six separate occasions since the start of 2019, according to information released to Critic under the Official Information Act.  Initially, the University denied that non-students had ever Read more...

R.I.P. Re-Creation Officer Josh Smythe

Posted 2:06am Friday 3rd July 2020 by Sinead Gill

On 26 June, the eve of Re-Flo, OUSA Clubs and Societies Representative Josh Smith (a.k.a Smythe) resigned from OUSA. In an email to his colleagues and Critic he cited “personal circumstances”, specifically his “family, businesses, and charitable activities”. Josh said that Read more...

What the Exec Have Been Up to

Posted 2:00am Friday 3rd July 2020 by Erin Gourley

Every quarter, the OUSA Exec try to convince Otago students that they are busy and important people. As you can imagine, their reports are rollercoasters of tense emotion where each exec member tries to justify the amount of student money we give them. So you don’t have to sit through their Read more...

OUSA to Inspect Financial Records of Dunedin Fire and Circus Club

Posted 1:54am Friday 3rd July 2020 by Erin Gourley

The Dunedin Fire and Circus Club (DFCC), perhaps best known for dreadlocked guys with fire who randomly appear at parties on Castle Street, is having its financial records inspected by OUSA. OUSA decided to inspect the Club’s financial records in an emergency OUSA meeting on Thursday 2 Read more...

Students “Felt Ripped Off” by Late Digital Device Offer

Posted 1:50am Friday 3rd July 2020 by Saskia Rushton-Green

Students who took out extra course-related costs to buy devices “felt ripped off” when it was later announced that they could those same devices for free.  On 15 April, the Government announced that students could take out an extra $1000 for course-related costs, bringing the Read more...

The Best and Worst Anonymous Comments From the OUSA Referendum

Posted 4:44pm Thursday 18th June 2020 by Sinead Gill

The OUSA Referendum happened and it was pretty average. The only real contenscious issue that emerged from the results is whether or not students want OUSA to co-host the Agnew Street party like they do with Hyde (it narrowly failed).  The most consensus students had on a referendum question Read more...

OUSA Exec Almost Asked Students A Question That They Don’t Want to Ask in Referendum

Posted 9:50pm Thursday 21st May 2020 by Sinead Gill

In a 4:15pm emergency executive meeting last Tuesday, the Executive realised that they had no memory of creating or agreeing to include one of the dozen referendum questions. Weeks before each OUSA referendum, the Executive does a call out for student-submitted referendum questions. These Read more...

The University Knows Which Wifi Router You Are Closest To

Posted 9:12pm Thursday 21st May 2020 by Erin Gourley

The University will use the wifi network on campus to contact trace students and staff. Apparently they have always been capable of doing that, but the pandemic has made that capability useful. A University spokeswoman said that “the network [is] one tool among several to meet Government Read more...

Private Residential Colleges Accidentally Made Bank From Wage Subsidy

Posted 9:10pm Thursday 21st May 2020 by Erin Gourley

Otago’s private residential colleges claimed a combined total of $789,893 under the Covid-19 wage subsidy. Turns out a chunk of this was surplus to their needs, so some money will be returned.  The wage subsidy is only available if a business can show a 30% reduction in monthly revenue Read more...

Vic’s International Students Petition for 30% Fee Reduction

Posted 9:06pm Thursday 21st May 2020 by Erin Gourley

The VUW International Students’ Association (V-ISA) are petitioning their University to get a 30% fee refund for international students who returned home for lockdown. The petition, hosted on ActionStation, was created on 16 May and has 849 signatures at the time of writing.  VUW Read more...

Students Are Considering Leaving Otago Uni Over “Invasive” Exam Software

Posted 9:00pm Thursday 21st May 2020 by Sinead Gill

As of publishing, a petition that calls for the removal of ExamSoft software from Otago examinations has raised almost 600 signatures. Students are reportedly so unhappy that they are considering transferring University. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Pat Cragg, denies many of the Read more...

Noise Complaints on the Rise Since Lockdown

Posted 8:53pm Thursday 21st May 2020 by Erin Gourley

Picture this: you’re having a rave with your ten friends. Yeah, it’s loud, but this is North Dunedin ffs. Not like anyone’s gonna call noise control at 10:30 on a Saturday. But then, as you’re blasting Poi E and dancing alluringly in view of the breathas across the fence, a Read more...

Cops Get Back-up From Aviation Security to Monitor Parties

Posted 8:50pm Thursday 21st May 2020 by Erin Gourley

Aviation Security (AvSec) officers have joined Campus Watch and police in foot patrols on the streets of North Dunedin. The AvSec officers, who wear black uniforms without hats and are not trained police officers, do not have the power to enforce Level 2 rules. A police spokesperson confirmed Read more...

University Libraries Reopen

Posted 7:36pm Thursday 21st May 2020 by Jack Gilmore

The University of Otago has reopened many libraries across campus with new social distancing measures in place. At the time of writing Central, Science, and Roberston libraries have fully reopened with new social distancing measures. Libraries initially opened with reduced hours, closing at 5pm. Read more...

Restoring Voting Rights to Prisoners: What Students have to Say

Posted 7:31pm Thursday 21st May 2020 by Wyatt Ryder

New Zealand’s prisoners have been unable to vote in elections for the last ten years. The law that removed their ability to vote was passed in 2010. At the time, the Ministry of Justice estimated that 27,000 Kiwis lost the right to vote. Since then, the New Zealand’s Human Rights Read more...

Proctorial Justice Stocks Just Vibing in University Storage

Posted 7:27pm Thursday 21st May 2020 by Wyatt Ryder

The University has the Proctorial Justice stocks tucked away in storage, and it looks like that’s where they’re staying. The stocks were removed during the first weeks of 2019, when they were loaned out to the Otago Museum as a feature in their Dare to Be Wise exhibition. The Read more...

Referendum Will Ask Students if NZUSA Is Any Use

Posted 2:22pm Tuesday 19th May 2020 by Erin Gourley

OUSA will propose a theoretical alternative to NZUSA at their upcoming referendum.  Three of the draft OUSA referendum questions relate to NZUSA. The first, which is traditionally included in every OUSA referendum, asks whether students think OUSA should leave NZUSA. According to the Read more...

The Future Is Now: University Implements Examination Software For Upcoming Competitive Exams

Posted 1:01am Friday 15th May 2020 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

Fresh off announcing their long-awaited exam timetable, the University lobbed a curveball at Accounting students and the massive Health Science First Year cohort on Tuesday afternoon by informing them that their exams would be surveilled. Many students are concerned. Yes, you read that right. In Read more...

OPINION: As Students Adapt, so Must Student Representation

Posted 12:19am Friday 15th May 2020 by Jack Manning

If I were to list all the ways Covid-19 has impacted students, there wouldn’t be enough room for an actual opinion. To name a few, just think of students who are essential workers, students who are parents, students without devices, the thousands of exchange students (both inward and outward Read more...

Critic Saved an Auckland Uni Student from a “Cult”

Posted 12:13am Friday 15th May 2020 by Sinead Gill

Last week, an Auckland Uni student claimed to have been approached by two girls from Elohim Academy. Elohim Academy is a sub-group of the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG), which is known for its aggressive recruitment strategy, and has been labeled by some as a cult.  Keeara Read more...

CRIME: OUSA are About to Breach their Constitution

Posted 11:41pm Thursday 14th May 2020 by Erin Gourley

OUSA have breached their constitution by failing to have their financial statements audited before the semester one referendum.  OUSA will acknowledge the breach in its referendum. “Disclosure: due to COVID-19 and the nature of auditing needing to be on sight, we have been unable to Read more...

Students Will Vote on OUSA Support for Agnew

Posted 4:02pm Thursday 14th May 2020 by Erin Gourley

The upcoming OUSA referendum is likely to determine whether OUSA will support the Agnew Street Party.  Question 10 of the upcoming OUSA referendum will ask students whether “OUSA [should] investigate co-hosting Agnew Street with the Agnew Street Residents”. The referendum cannot Read more...

RAs Get Pay-out After Controversy

Posted 4:46pm Sunday 10th May 2020 by Erin Gourley

RAs who stayed in their residential colleges for the lockdown are now receiving $20 more per week than RAs who left their residential colleges. The $140 pay-out was announced following the outrage from RAs who remained in their colleges for lockdown and were ineligible for a fee rebate. A group Read more...

Proctor Asked Police to Arrest Students for Couch-Burning

Posted 4:29pm Sunday 10th May 2020 by Erin Gourley

The Proctor asked police to arrest and charge students with couch burning offences, according to emails released to Critic under the Official Information Act. A spokesperson for the University of Otago said that they “continue to expect the Code of Student Conduct to be the principal means Read more...

OPINION: It's Time To Recycle Your Shrine of Empty Bottles

Posted 4:28pm Sunday 10th May 2020 by Henessey Griffiths

When you move into a flat, one of the first things you think about is decoration. You decorate your bedroom with the things you want, in an effort to best describe your personality. You create your lounge area as a communal space that showcases your mutual interests and your identity as a flat. Read more...

Agnew Street 2020 Will Be An Uphill Battle

Posted 3:44pm Sunday 10th May 2020 by Erin Gourley

Agnew Street Party organisers will face an uphill battle against concerns from emergency services, emails released to Critic under the Official Information Act show. Suggestions to stop or mitigate the risks of Agnew include an eight month alcohol ban in the area. “Numbers attending the Read more...

Don’t Be Surprised If International Students Leave New Zealand, Says NZISA President

Posted 3:25pm Sunday 10th May 2020 by Sinead Gill

International students feel like they have been treated like “cash cows”, and the president of NZISA (the New Zealand International Students Association), Sabrina Alhady, believes that New Zealand universities should expect some of their international students to transfer to Australia. Read more...

University Broke Its Own Rules With Delayed Exam Timetable

Posted 11:07am Friday 8th May 2020 by Erin Gourley

Not only has the delayed exam timetable frustrated students, it also breached clause 3(e) of the University’s Administration of Final Examinations Policy. The Policy states that the exam timetable will be provided “six weeks before the first day of final examinations for first Read more...

Level 3 Parties Held Throughout Dunedin

Posted 5:02pm Thursday 7th May 2020 by Kaiya Cherrington

House parties have reportedly broken out during level 3 lockdown around Dunedin’s student area. Despite the restrictions outlined by the government that gatherings of ten people maximum may be permitted for ceremonies, and to only make a small addition to your bubble, some students have Read more...

Vice-Chancellor’s “Frustrating” Response to Exam Timetable Complaint

Posted 12:50pm Wednesday 6th May 2020 by Erin Gourley

Otago University has not yet released their semester one exam timetable. A commerce student went straight to the Vice-Chancellor with his complaint and received a response.   On May 5, Tim Lamb wrote an email to Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne outlining his “total dissatisfaction Read more...

RAs Get Pay-out After Controversy

Posted 2:09pm Friday 1st May 2020 by Erin Gourley

RAs who stayed in their residential colleges for the lockdown are now receiving $20 more per week than RAs who left their residential colleges.  The $140 pay-out was announced following the outrage from RAs who remained in their colleges for lockdown and were ineligible for a fee rebate. A Read more...

Uni Releases Details of Covid-19 Special Consideration

Posted 1:33pm Thursday 30th April 2020 by Erin Gourley

Grades of 47.5 can be rounded up to a pass for this semester, according to a staff memo on Covid-19 special consideration. University staff received a memo on 28 April with details of the special consideration they can apply to students. The memo was sent to all academic staff by Academic Deputy Read more...

Alcoholics Are Struggling During Lockdown, and Our Social Media Habits Are Making It Worse

Posted 12:10pm Monday 27th April 2020 by Wyatt Ryder

Social media is the go-to place for keeping in touch with loved ones over the lockdown. But with an increase in alcohol related content online, alcoholics are struggling to stay sober and connected.  Tom Tremewan has been sober for two years and four months. He said that the Covid-19 Read more...