Archive

Student Loan Cap Extended

Posted 10:13pm Thursday 5th July 2018 by Esme Hall

Want to stay at University forever? Well, now you (almost) can. If you are a student of Medicine, Dentistry, Optometry or Veterinary Science, the Government has extended the student loan limit from seven to ten years, meaning you will no longer need to take out personal loans to complete your Read more...

How a Sexual Harassment Scandal Brought Down a Million-Dollar Student Campaign to End Sexual Violence

Posted 10:08pm Thursday 5th July 2018 by Sinead Gill

Content warning: sexual harassment, bullshit bureaucracy   Last year, the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations was celebrating a $1.4 million dollar contract with ACC to combat sexual violence.  The deal was quietly cancelled due to a sexual harassment scandal within Read more...

Auckland University Students’ Association Loses More People

Posted 10:05pm Thursday 5th July 2018 by Esme Hall

The co-editors of Auckland University’s student magazine Craccum have resigned, alongside the International Students’ Officer of the Auckland University Students’ Association (AUSA), due to unsustainable workloads. This marks five total resignations for student reps at AUSA this Read more...

University Reveals Boring Surprise

Posted 10:03pm Thursday 5th July 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Black Wall of the lie-brary. Who can remember when it came, that impenetrable eternal Wall. A computer lab is lost in the golden lake of memory and all that’s left is the Wall, flashing cryptic messages from our masters. WATCH THIS SPACE WE ARE CREATING A NEW SERVICE FOR YOU OPENING NEXT Read more...

Selwyn College Students Secretly Voted on the Fresher Girl with the 'Best Rack'

Posted 10:02pm Thursday 5th July 2018 by Joel MacManus

Second year Selwyn College students secretly voted on and publically awarded a prize for the fresher girl with the “Best Rack,” among other derogatory awards. Monica Nelson, who was given the award in 2014, described it as “sexist and bullying”. The tradition was part of Read more...

Why We Didn't Name A Sexual Harasser

Posted 9:50pm Thursday 5th July 2018 by Joel MacManus

EDITORIAL: Hola! Welcome back to Dunners for another semester. It’s cold as fuck, so remember it’s perfectly OK to wear a puffer jacket to town.  I wish I had some fun news to yarn about, but unfortunately our news team is just too damn hard-hitting. Blame Charlie Read more...

Postgraduate Officer Kirio Birks Narrowly Escapes Vote of No Confidence

Posted 1:00am Sunday 27th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Kirio Birks, OUSA Postgraduate Officer, has avoided being removed from his position by a margin of two votes after a motion for a vote of no confidence in him was raised at a Student General Meeting last Friday. Matthew Schep, postgraduate student, introduced the motion, claiming that Kirio had Read more...

Students Protest University Censorship

Posted 12:59am Sunday 27th May 2018 by Esme Hall

Otago University Students formed a protest movement last week, while facing close scrutiny from Campus Watch, following the University’s decision to seize and destroy issues of Critic last week. Immediately after the University admitted to destroying copies of Critic’s Menstruation Read more...

The Cover Story

Posted 12:58am Sunday 27th May 2018 by Esme Hall

If you were wondering why there were no copies of Critic on campus last week and don’t follow any news outlets in the world, last Monday 2000 copies of Critic’s Menstruation Issue were siezed and destroyed by Campus Watch in a night-time raid because of its cover illustration depicting a Read more...

Letters | Issue 13

Posted 12:45am Sunday 27th May 2018 by Critic

Letter of the Week Hello, On behalf of the Board of Directors of the 40 year old international Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, I write to express our extreme dismay at the University of Otago’s censorship of the student magazine Critic’s Menstruation Issue, and our support of Read more...

Bloody Hell, What a Week

Posted 12:35am Sunday 27th May 2018 by Joel MacManus

EDITORIAL: There’re too many things I want to say and too little space to say them in, so here’s a big ol’ list of random thoughts about the Menstruation Issue. It wasn’t 500 copies, as the Uni insisted. I reckon it was somewhere around 1500-2000 copies.  We print Read more...

Teddy Bear Hospital Is So Cute

Posted 10:46pm Thursday 24th May 2018 by Esme Hall

Otago University Medical Students’ Association (OUMSA) has run its adorable Teddy Bear Hospital for the eighth year in a row. Busloads of kindergarteners arrived at Elim Church and the Hunter Centre last week to get check-ups for their soft toys. Health Professional students donned their Read more...

The Best Anonymous Comments From the OUSA Referendum

Posted 10:45pm Thursday 24th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The OUSA Referendum happened and everything went pretty much as expected. All the boring questions passed because no one properly understood them. The environmental, drug, and miscellaneous ones pretty much passed with high majorities. The only close ones were whether OUSA should ban tickets in its Read more...

An Open Letter On The Removal and Destruction of Latest Issue of Critic Magazine by the University of Otago

Posted 11:10am Wednesday 23rd May 2018 by Critic

Dr Royden Somerville QC Chancellor University of Otago   BY EMAIL: registrar@otago.ac.nz   Dear Sir   RE: Removal and destruction of latest issue of Critic magazine by University of Otago   We are writing to express our deep concern over the recent Read more...

Otago Scientist to Tackle The Mystery of Loch Ness

Posted 10:04am Monday 21st May 2018 by Staff Reporter

The story of the Loch Ness monster is one of the world’s greatest mysteries. We have waited more than a thousand years for an answer on its existence. Now, it is only months away.   A global team of scientists, led by Professor Neil Gemmell of the University of Otago, New Zealand, Read more...

University Lies About Sanitary Bin Numbers in Female Toilets

Posted 9:49pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The University does not have enough sanitary disposal bins in its female toilets and provides none in their male toilets. The University’s Property Services Division Director Barry MacKay told Critic that, “Every female toilet cubicle has a sanitary bin”. This is not true. Read more...

OUSA Postgrad Officer Facing Vote to Remove Him From Office

Posted 9:48pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

OUSA Postgraduate Officer Kirio Birks may be removed from his position after a vote of no confidence, which will be brought against him at a Student General Meeting, held on Thursday at 1pm in the Main Common Room.   The motion was introduced by postgraduate student Matthew Schep, who says Read more...

Former OUSA Presidential Candidate Running for NZUSA Vice President

Posted 9:46pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Esme Hall

Former OUSA presidential candidate Finn Shewell, who narrowly lost to Caitlin-Barlow Groome by 91 votes is standing for Vice President of the New Zealand Union of Students’ Association (NZUSA), after previous VP Melissa Evans resigned mid-year. The only other candidate is current NZUSA Read more...

Main Common Room Could Be Revamped into Student Bar

Posted 8:20pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Joel MacManus

The University Union Main Common Room becoming a licensed space could meet the need for a decent on-campus student bar, said University of Otago COO Stephen Willis. As the only late-night entertainment venue on campus, U-Bar is not up to scratch in terms of capacity, and lines of over 200 people Read more...

Where to Get Free Sanitary Products: A Critic Investigation

Posted 8:19pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Sinead Gill

Sanitary items are super expensive, and if you menstruate, there is no avoiding them. Being a broke student means that having to trade in a night out with mates for tampons and pain medication is an inconvenient, but doable, sacrifice. But what if getting your period means having to skip meals, Read more...

NZUSA on the Brink of Financial Collapse

Posted 8:13pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) is in what President Jonathan Gee called a “precarious financial situation”, and has had to ask its member associations to pay over $100,000 in advance in order to save the organisation. The OUSA exec voted to immediately Read more...

Carol’s Back and She’s Complaining About Students Again

Posted 8:11pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Joel MacManus

Dunedin resident Carol Devine, whose role in the widely-criticised 2015 TVNZ Sunday piece “Party Central” made her public enemy number one for many Otago students, has hit headlines again this week after another complaint of excessive noise from students who live near her Read more...

Scandal Alert: Steamy OUSA Prez / Vice-Prez Love Affair Revealed

Posted 8:09pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

In what has been described as “The greatest scandal OUSA has seen in the last 10 years,” it has come to light that OUSA President Caitlin Barlow-Groome and Vice-President Cam Meads had a brief, but passionate, romantic encounter in their first years. The explosive information was Read more...

How To: Talk Sports With Your Dad

Posted 6:03pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Charlie Hantler

Your dad is old, I mean really old. It’s just one of the facts of life. Here are the facts of life, by the way: Your dad is old  Everybody fucking hates the Chiefs.  But back to your dad. He’s old. It’s not his fault that he’s old, but he is Read more...

We Almost Won a Proper Award for Real Media

Posted 5:56pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Joel MacManus

EDITORIAL: Critic made history last week by nabbing what the organisers reckoned was the first-ever nomination for a student magazine in any category at the Voyager Media Awards (formerly Canon Media Awards).  Trevor Cokley was among the top three finalists in the Best Photographer Read more...

Talking About Periods Is a Very Good Thing

Posted 5:55pm Thursday 17th May 2018 by Esme Hall

GUEST EDITORIAL: My friends and I recently had a conversation about periods. We discovered that one friend had been going through life with some very wack assumptions. Firstly, he thought that people on their periods wore pads all the time like diapers. Secondly, he thought pads stuck to skin Read more...

Counter-Protest Drowns Out White Nationalist Meeting

Posted 11:12pm Friday 11th May 2018 by Thea Bailie-Bellew

The National Front, a white supremacist, alt-right group, held a sparsely attended meeting at Queens Gardens on 4 May. The event was heavily counter-protested. The National Front is a group of racists that claim to encourage free democracy for New Zealanders, in which individuals are free to make Read more...

Should Sportspeople Be Role Models?

Posted 11:11pm Friday 11th May 2018 by Charlie Hantler

There’s been some pretty shitty stuff happening in sports recently. David Warner, Israel Folau, Conor McGregor and Steve Smith are just a few of the names that have made the headlines, and it’s forcing us to bring out that tired old cliché “the spirit of the Read more...

Critic Breaks Down the OUSA Referendum Questions

Posted 11:09pm Friday 11th May 2018 by Joel MacManus

OUSA’s Referendum opens 9am Monday. Even though they rejected some of our best questions, like “Should the Clubs and Societies building be turned into a big old gay bar?” and “Should OUSA adopt the stegosaurus as its official dinosaur?” you should still vote. For those Read more...

Uncertainty for Te Rangi Hiroa after Dunedin Hospital Announcement

Posted 11:01pm Friday 11th May 2018 by Esme Hall

The future of Te Rangi Hiroa College is unclear after the Government announced its building is part of the new site for the Dunedin Hospital. Dunedin’s new hospital will be built on the Cadbury site and on the next block to the north, which currently contains a Wilson’s carpark and Te Read more...

Gastro Outbreak Hits 70 Selwyn Students

Posted 9:01pm Friday 11th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Two weeks ago Critic was walking through campus, taking pictures for the esteemed Critical Tribune, when a group of clearly blazed women accosted us with a large bottle of hand sanitiser, claiming that there was gastro around. If only we’d listened.  An outbreak of gastroenteritis Read more...

The OUSA Exec Are Making Less Than Minimum Wage. How Is That OK?

Posted 8:55pm Friday 11th May 2018 by Esme Hall

OPINION: Student Association Executives are vital for ensuring that students are represented at the university, regional and national levels. But they’re overworked and underpaid. That isn’t right. Two weeks ago Critic reported on the resignation of two Executives of the Auckland Read more...

OUSA President Apologises for Being too “Passionate” Attacking DCC

Posted 8:52pm Friday 11th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

OUSA President Caitlin Barlow-Groome has walked back her comments criticising the Dunedin City Council (DCC) for not caring about students after she received significant blowback from both the DCC and others within OUSA. In her President’s column two weeks ago, titled “The DCC Read more...

Scarfie Things: Capping Show Preview

Posted 8:31pm Friday 11th May 2018 by Joel MacManus

It’s Tuesday evening. Shaun Swain sits alone in the middle of the tenth row of the College Auditorium, surrounded by empty chairs. He watches an empty stage with an intense, focused stare. Nothing happens. The stage lights beat down on empty wood. Then someone rushes in from the upstairs left Read more...

Outbreak of Gastro at Selwyn College

Posted 6:47pm Monday 7th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

There has been an outbreak of gastroenteritis (gastro) at Selwyn Residential College. Gastro symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, fever and muscle pains. The disease can last between one to three days and spreads by ingestion of contaminated food or water, contact with Read more...

NZ Business Is Screwing Over Our Generation

Posted 9:15pm Saturday 5th May 2018 by Cameron Meads

OPINION: As OUSA Vice-President, I attended the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) summit in Wellington a couple of weekends ago. My hope that NZ businesses were proactively working towards sustainability was completely shat on. The SDGs encompass all aspects of sustainability, not Read more...

Why Isn't The Good One Party Register Working?

Posted 9:08pm Saturday 5th May 2018 by Joel MacManus

OPINION: Dunedin recently launched the Good One Party Register to very little fanfare and minimal success. In fact, of the ten students Critic very informally surveyed, just one of them knew what it was. Basically, Good One is a website where you fill in the address and expected size of a party Read more...

Why Otago University Needs A Marae

Posted 9:04pm Saturday 5th May 2018 by Tiana Mihaere

OPINION: To many indigenous people, the marae or wharenui is a place of great cultural significance. It is a place where we come together to welcome new people to our whenua, to celebrate life, to mourn those who have passed. It is a place where we can address past grievances, express ourselves and Read more...

Students Challenge Sexual Violence Stereotypes

Posted 9:02pm Saturday 5th May 2018 by Esme Hall

Content Warning: discussion of sexual violence, child sexual abuse, rape, intimate partner violence     As part of Rape Awareness Week, Union Hall turned into an exhibition of clothing of survivors of rape and sexual assault. The Students Against Sexual Violence (SASV) Read more...

Hunters Gear Up for Magic Mushroom Season as Cold Weather Hits

Posted 9:01pm Saturday 5th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Summer is fading away to autumn, the temperature is dropping, the puffer jackets are multiplying, and getting out of bed is harder than making cool friends. It is also the start of magic mushroom season.  Critic approached some mushroomeers to ask how the season’s shaping up. Read more...

Students ‘Heart-Broken’ After Fortune Theatre Shuts Down

Posted 8:59pm Saturday 5th May 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Students expressed their sadness last week as the Fortune Theatre, Dunedin’s only professional theatre, closed permanently, as it was no longer financially viable. The theatre will cancel all its current and future shows, and close its facilities to outside groups.  “We have Read more...

Why Haven't Our Students Associations Done Anything About V.S.M.?

Posted 8:33pm Saturday 5th May 2018 by Joel MacManus

EDITORIAL: VSM is the most important issue facing students right now. So why the fuck aren’t we doing anything about it? Voluntary Student Membership, or VSM, was the worst thing to ever happen to students’ associations. When the ACT Party Bill passed in 2011, it was Public Enemy Read more...

OUSA President: The DCC Don't Give a Flying Fuck About Students

Posted 3:16pm Tuesday 1st May 2018 by

OPINION: The DCC don’t give a flying f about OUSA. They don't care about you or me personally. Actually, they don't care about anyone between the ages of 18-24, and if you’re a mature student, they probably don’t care about you either. My biggest problems with the Read more...

Sexual Violence Prevention Centre Opening During Rape Awareness Week

Posted 2:36am Monday 30th April 2018 by Staff Reporter

The University is opening a dedicated sexual violence prevention centre, Te Whare Tawharau (a place of shelter), at 5 Leithbank (between the college of education and the commerce building) following a 3-year-long review of sexual misconduct policies. Te Whare Tawharau is a drop-in centre that Read more...

Quality of Fake Hyde Street Bands Catches Security By Surprise

Posted 2:34am Monday 30th April 2018 by Joel MacManus

Fraudsters and shucksters stepped up their game for this year’s Hyde Street, as fake wristbands saw a level of professionalism never before seen. Event staff said that several of the wristbands scanned over the course of the day all showed up as the same female second year law student, Read more...

Computer-based examinations for seven papers this semester

Posted 2:32am Monday 30th April 2018 by Esme Hall

Seven papers will introduce computer-based exams this semester as the University trials computer-based examinations. OUSA Campaigns Officer Roger Yan sits on the Computer Based Examinations working group that has the “goal of finding a working product that the University can use if it wants Read more...

Pharmacy Students “Mucked Around” by Bus Company

Posted 2:30am Monday 30th April 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Pharmacy Students’ Association (NZAPS-O) has been fucked over by a bus company while trying to attend their annual Pharmacy Camp. In February this year NZAPS-O chartered Ritchie’s Bus Service to take 120 students to Pharmacy Camp. Laura Pidcock, the NZAPS-O President, confirmed Read more...

Two AUSA Executive Members Resign

Posted 2:29am Monday 30th April 2018 by Esme Hall

Two Auckland University Students’ Association executive members have resigned in the space of two days over claims of unreasonable work hours and poor management. Welfare Vice-President Isabel Holm resigned on Wednesday 18th April and Queer Rights Officer Isabella Francis resigned on Friday Read more...

Hyde Street Is Boring Now. And That’s a Very Good Thing.

Posted 2:19am Monday 30th April 2018 by Joel MacManus

Editorial: Hyde Street 2018 was boring. And that’s exactly how it should be. I don’t mean it was boring for the attendees; the crowds we saw there were having an absolute frother of a time (at least until the rain hit). But media were well and truly disappointed. In the six years Read more...

Proctor Tries to Shut Down Student Party, Fails

Posted 8:56pm Thursday 19th April 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

A student-run party to raise money for the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital went ahead last week despite the Proctor’s attempts to shut it down. Pedro, one of the organisers, told Critic that he went to see the Proctor to gain the University’s approval for the party, and that the Proctor Read more...