Archive

In My Opinion: Henry’s word | Issue 12

Posted 11:15am Sunday 17th May 2015 by Henry Napier

Rumours of Prime Minister John Key’s potential departure from the leadership were sparked after #ponytailgate came to life and ended very quickly. However, almost immediately, speculation flew over who might rise to the top of the party if the prime minister were to step down. Last week, Read more...

UK Labour Party: Worst Result in 28 Years

Posted 11:12am Sunday 17th May 2015 by Henry Napier

On 7 May the UK Labour Party experienced a dismal defeat at the hands of the Conservative Party in the general election. The party had its worst result in 28 years, winning only 232 of the 650 seats in parliament. New Zealand Labour leader Andrew Little said he was disappointed at the result, Read more...

Super-City Gets Super Rates

Posted 11:08am Sunday 17th May 2015 by Henry Napier

Auckland Mayor Len Brown revealed last week that Aucklanders should expect rates increases as part of a new budget aimed at tackling transport congestion. The transport levy passed by the Auckland Council has rates increasing by an average of 9.9 percent throughout the supercity.  The Read more...

Liberia Declared Ebola Free

Posted 11:01am Sunday 17th May 2015 by Amber Allott

On Saturday 9 May the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially declared Liberia free of the Ebola virus. It had been forty-two days since the last Ebola victim in the West-African nation was buried.  During the year-long epidemic, there were 4769 probable, confirmed or suspected Ebola Read more...

Calls for EU to Ban Animal Testing

Posted 10:59am Sunday 17th May 2015 by Angus Shaw

Following a petition with 1.2 million signatures, the European parliament met on Monday 11 April to discuss the possibility of banning animal testing throughout Europe.  At the meeting, Stop Vivisection — which created the petition and is actively against animal testing — put Read more...

Union Prepares for Legal Action against SDHB

Posted 10:55am Sunday 17th May 2015 by Bridie Boyd

On 7 May 2015, the Southern District Health Board (SDHB) made a decision that all food would be outsourced through the Compass Group. As a result, the Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU), which had put forward a counter proposal, has announced it will take legal action against the SDHB. The Read more...

Baltimore Declares State of Emergency

Posted 10:52am Sunday 17th May 2015 by Oliver Gaskell

The United States city of Baltimore has declared a state of emergency in response to ongoing riots involving violent clashes, looting and arson. The riots began on 18 April after the death of Freddie Gray, an African American who passed away from injuries sustained during his arrest. Gray, 25, Read more...

Prayer Rooms Open - Hallelujah!

Posted 10:48am Sunday 17th May 2015 by Joe Higham

The University of Otago opened and blessed two new prayer rooms last week, upstairs in the University Union Building at a ceremony attended by people of many different  faiths.  The rooms replaced the previous rooms underneath the Archway building, which were in use for seven years. The Read more...

Students Demand Apology for Sunday Broadcast

Posted 10:39am Sunday 17th May 2015 by Laura Munro

TVNZ’s Sunday episode, “Party Central”, has received backlash from students after it aired on 10 May. The episode showed two residents, one living in close proximity to the 17-man flat “Backpackers”, sharing their views on how University of Otago students interact Read more...

Fetish Ball

Posted 12:31pm Sunday 10th May 2015 by Laura Munro

When I first talked to the Fetish Ball organiser, Richard Barker, I asked him to describe what exactly a fetish was. He laughed and said, “I would prefer you to go to Google for that.” I took to Urban Dictionary. A fetish is “a sexual fixation or obsession with a Read more...