Archive
University of Otago Win a Quarter of the 2017 Tertiary Teaching Awards
Posted 10:29am Sunday 13th August 2017 by Joe Higham
Last week Parliament hosted the award ceremony for the Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards for 2017, with the University of Otago receiving three of the night’s top awards. The Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching category included up to 10 awards in the General Category and two awards Read more...
University Pharmacy Students Using Elective Study Programme For Community Good
Posted 10:26am Sunday 13th August 2017 by Joe Higham
A campaign to raise awareness of New Zealand’s ‘prescription subsidy scheme’ in the Dunedin community is being run by five University of Otago students, who have received praise for their work from their supervisors. The name of the group, ‘20 Is Plenty’, reflects Read more...
Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 19
Posted 10:21am Sunday 13th August 2017 by Joe Higham
After the usual formalities the OUSA Executive welcomed Student Support Manager Sage Burke and OUSA Queer Support’s Hahna Briggs, who revealed a new initiative called ‘Peer Support’. A listening and sharing experience as opposed to actual clinical advice, it will consist of Read more...
Is Sky TV About to Be a Thing of the Past for Sports Broadcasting?
Posted 11:49am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Charlie Hantler
Yesterday, on 2 August, the sports broadcasting landscape changed permanently, as Amazon outbid Sky TV in the UK for the rights to tennis’s ATP World Tour. The biggest event in tennis outside of the four Grand Slams, it is believed that the e-commerce titan paid NZ$17.8 million for the rights. Read more...
Wifi Among Changes Aimed at Bringing Dunedin’s Buses into the 21st Century
Posted 11:46am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Joe Higham
The Otago Regional Council (ORC) has announced that it will be installing Wifi in their fleet of 80 buses around late September, among a raft of other changes. ORC Manager Support Services Gerard Collings told Critic that the council has had “many community requests for Wifi over a long Read more...
Labour’s Leadership Change a Magnificently Risky Move, But One That Could Pay Off
Posted 11:08am Sunday 6th August 2017 by George Elliott
I was preparing to write a piece about how Andrew Little should not resign as leader of the Labour Party until after the election, an election that they would surely lose. It was too late to change things up, I thought. Things were looking dire for Labour. The polls showed them in the low Read more...
Jacinda Ardern Becomes Labour’s Sixth Leader in Nine Years
Posted 11:00am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Joe Higham
The leadership of the Labour Party has changed just six weeks out from September 23rd’s General Election, following their worst poll result in 24 years. Former Deputy Leader and MP for Mt Albert Jacinda Ardern was nominated unopposed to replace Andrew Little, who said that “while Read more...
One Hundred Attend TEU Protest Against Staff Cuts
Posted 10:55am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Joe Higham
Approximately 100 people took to the University of Otago Clocktower on Tuesday last week to protest the proposed 182 full-time equivalent (FTE) general staff cuts. Set up by the Tertiary Education Union (TEU), the protesters drew chalk-outlined bodies on the road outside the building to symbolise Read more...
Fate of Octagon Five-Star Hotel Rests in Hands of Panel
Posted 10:53am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Joe Higham
The fate of the five-star hotel to be built in Dunedin’s Moray Place rests on the result of a consent panel, as the hearing was slated to end on Friday last week. Tekapo businessman Anthony Tosswill is behind the 17-storey residential development, which, according to his application, will Read more...
Students Paid More through Student Job Search than Anytime in the Last Decade
Posted 10:50am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Joel MacManus
Student Job Search (SJS) say that students are earning more money through their service than at any point in the last decade. SJS, which is a not-for-profit organisation owned by all of the university students associations, connects employers and students for part time, short term, and Read more...
Dunedin Mayor Cull Doesn’t Apologise, Pays Councilor $50 Large
Posted 10:46am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Joel MacManus
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull has paid $50,000 to fellow councillor Lee Vandervis to settle a defamation claim filed against him in July of last year, although he did not offer a public apology. At a council meeting in December 2016, Cr Vandervis claimed that there were issues with underhanded bribes Read more...
Queer and Far New Support for International Queer Students
Posted 10:44am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Zahra Shahtahmasebi
OUSA Student Support have initiated a new support service targeted at international University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic queer students. Named Queer and Far, it will provide a support and talking group. The project was conceived by the current OUSA Queer Support Co-ordinator Hahna Briggs, in Read more...
Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 18
Posted 10:42am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Joe Higham
After the various procedural matters were out of the way, Education Officer Bryn Jenkins formally announced that he will be running for the position of OUSA Executive in the upcoming election. As far as Critic knows, he is the first to publically state his intention to do so. The nominations Read more...
The G.O.A.T Series – Men’s Athletics
Posted 11:32am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Charlie Hantler
As they enter the starting blocks, the three men glance at each other. One exudes swagger, confidence and sheer superiority as he extends his perfectly sculpted arms into an arrow. He nods to the crowd in acknowledgement. He is the entertainer. The second has faced trial and tribulation; he was told Read more...
Authentic Fakery: Who is the new US ambassador to New Zealand?
Posted 11:22am Sunday 30th July 2017 by George Elliott
It’s more obvious when an American is not being genuine. They can’t hide it from us. Chiefly, it’s the accent. We’re so conditioned to hearing it try and sell us things. If the transatlantic Beeb accent broadcasts the truth with authority, the piercing North American accent Read more...
Poland Pulls Back from the Authoritarian Brink after Protests and EU Condemnation
Posted 11:16am Sunday 30th July 2017 by George Elliott
Poland, once the poster child of the post-1989 democratic wave against communism in Europe, has been going through rough political times. Thousands of Poles have flooded city streets to protest the government’s continued effort to limit the independence of the country’s judiciary. Read more...
Opinion: The Deliberate Flouting of the Crimes Act at Auckland’s Drury Christian School
Posted 10:56am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Jean Balchin
Last year, I wrote an article on the horrors of Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), a fundamentalist American homeschooling programme being taught in homes and schools across New Zealand. I discussed how ACE upholds the belief that the Bible is literally true, that there should be no distinction Read more...
Household Income Report Reveals No Sign of Change for Poorest Families
Posted 10:51am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joe Higham
A Ministry of Social Development report has revealed that the cost of housing in New Zealand remains a significant impediment to lifting people out of poverty. The Household Income Report (HIR) highlights that, although poverty has declined in the ten years since the Global Financial Crisis, Read more...
Nominate Your Favourite Teachers for OUSA’s Annual Teaching Awards
Posted 10:46am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joe Higham
Nominations for OUSA’s 2017 Teaching Awards close on 18 August, meaning there is still plenty of time to put forward any lecturers, tutors, or lab demonstrators that you think deserve the much sought after recognition. As students provide the university with their largest revenue stream by Read more...
OUCC Kayakers Take on Raging Leith During Floods
Posted 10:44am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joel MacManus
For some Dunedin residents, the recent flooding was a major disaster, putting homes at risk and straining emergency services beyond capacity. But for the Otago University Canoe Club (OUCC), it was a cause for celebration. When the Leith River floods, it becomes perfect for white water kayaking, Read more...
Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 17
Posted 10:37am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joe Higham
The OUSA Executive welcomed University of Otago Chief Operating Officer Stephen Willis, Deputy Proctor Andrew Ferguson, Director of Student Services Karyn Thomson, and Student Engagement Manager Rachel Curry, to further discuss the plans to implement CCTV surveillance across North Dunedin, having Read more...
Building Code Causes OUSA To Scale Back Gender Neutral Toilets
Posted 10:32am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Zahra Shahtahmasebi
Earlier this year, OUSA chose to make the toilets in the Clubs and Societies building on both the ground and first floors gender neutral. In 2013 the Clubs and Socs Centre underwent extensive renovations, which included the ground floor toilets. However, in 2016, OUSA staff noticed that there Read more...
“No One Man Should Have All That Power” – Football Agents and Their Dangerous Message
Posted 11:28am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Charlie Hantler
“And here comes Hurst! He's got... Some people are on the pitch! They think it's all over! It is now, it's four!” The scene is the mid-1960s, as Geoff Hurst famously scored in extra-time to put England 4-2 up against West Germany and seal their one and only World Cup. Read more...
Opinion: Don’t be a Sucker – Vote or Get Voted on
Posted 11:21am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Isaac Yu
It’s that happy time that only comes around once every three years. ‘It was the best of times, the most shitposty of times,’ the famous proclamation tells us. A time of soap box Facebook statuses on WHY. YOU. SHOULD. VOTE. Yet, despite all the internet slacktivism about how Read more...
No Plastic Bag Ban for Countdown NZ Despite Aussie Progress
Posted 11:07am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Zahra Shahtahmasebi
Two large supermarket chains in Australia, Woolworths and Coles, plan to phase out plastic bag usage over the next 12 months. Four states (South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and Tasmania) have already implemented state-wide bans. Coles supermarket is the Read more...
Controversial Warehouse Work-Experience Programme Expands
Posted 11:04am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham
The Ministry for Social Development (MOD) announced the expansion of the ‘Red Shirts in Community Programme’ that will now provide work experience opportunities to almost 1,000 16-24 year olds. The programme hit the headlines recently due to the absence of pay throughout the entirety Read more...
OPINION - Please OUSA, Can We Have Some More?
Posted 11:00am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham
The Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) website states that “online referenda are one of the many ways you can have your say through OUSA … on university policy or a wider issue, you can change OUSA’s stance.” This explanation, on top of the fact that Read more...
University Hits Roadblock In Plans to Implement CCTV Across North D
Posted 10:57am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham
The University of Otago’s planned CCTV surveillance installation took a hit last week as the university discovered they will likely need resource consent for many of their proposed camera locations. A university spokesperson told Critic that advice from the DCC is that “consent will Read more...
VC Reveals At Least 182 Job Cuts For General Staff
Posted 10:54am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham
University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne addressed a packed College of Education Auditorium on Friday 14 July to reveal the changes to be made in their Support Services Review. Hayne first provided background to the review, before revealing that 182 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) staff will Read more...
Do your bloody recycling properly – DCC
Posted 10:51am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joel MacManus
The DCC is cracking down on residents not chucking the right stuff in the right bins, so they have launched a new crackdown initiative to make sure you’re not throwing your glass out with your plastics. The rate of incorrect rubbish being put in yellow bins has almost doubled in the last five Read more...
How Healthy Is Our Democracy? Otago Academics Make Their Arguments
Posted 10:48am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joel MacManus
We are entering an age of radical politics, where extremism on the left and right will become mainstream and authenticity of personality will trump good policies in the hearts of voters, according to a panel of political experts which spoke at the University of Otago public lecture “How Read more...
Is $200/week Enough To Buy The Under 23 Vote In The Election?
Posted 10:43am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham
The Opportunities Party (TOP) last week extended its Universal Basic Income (UBI) policy to all New Zealanders aged between 18-23. Set at $200 per week (after tax), the youth UBI is “designed to give all young New Zealanders a safety net of income to allow them to pursue their Read more...
University Murders Thousands; Critic Runs Inflammatory Headline
Posted 10:31am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Sam McChesney
Over 70,000 animals have died in research at the university over the past five years. Figures released to Critic under the Official Information Act show that between 2012 and 2016 the University used 89,680 live animals for research purposes. 71,496 of those (80 per cent) were Read more...
Teams I Hate And Why You Should Hate Them Too #2 – The Golden State Warriors
Posted 11:49am Sunday 16th July 2017 by Charlie Hantler
Fuck Draymond Green This could very easily be an article in itself. The man sits on stage alongside the likes of Steve Smith, Quade Cooper, Bernard Tomic and Justin Gatlin for the most hateable person in sports, and he probably takes out the prize. Affectionate Warriors ‘fans’ Read more...
Government Searches For Way Around Regulations On Coal Mining
Posted 11:45am Sunday 16th July 2017 by George Elliott
Forest and Bird, says newly released documents show the government is working on “secret” plans to get around environmental protections to enable contentious coal mining. The documents, released to the environmental NGO through the Official Information Act (OIA), reveal that current Read more...
A Game-Changing Revelation in Trump Administration’s Russia scandal? Or More Noise?
Posted 11:39am Sunday 16th July 2017 by George Elliott
The Trump-Russia drama escalated last week after the US President’s son released an email chain from June 2016 in which he eagerly discussed plans to receive damaging information on Hillary Clinton. In the emails, publicist Rob Goldstone tells Donald Trump Jr. that there is dirt on the Read more...
Animal Law Conference calls for hearts, minds, and action
Posted 11:19am Sunday 16th July 2017 by Kari Schmidt
On 1 July, the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) hosted New Zealand's first ever animal law conference at the AUT campus in Auckland. Dr Jane Goodall set the scene, providing perspective on why the legal community must do more to advocate for animals. She focused on compassion. Read more...
Jacinda Ardern Speaks to Crowd of 120 on Otago Campus Visit
Posted 11:09am Sunday 16th July 2017 by Joe Higham
According to a Colmar Brunton poll on the country’s preferred leader, Labour Party Leader Andrew Little is languishing back in fourth place, at just 5 percent, the lowest result for a leader of the opposition since 2009. Deputy Leader Jacinda Ardern placed third with 6 percent of those Read more...
Staff Brace For Redundancies as Support Services Review Proposal is Revealed
Posted 11:01am Sunday 16th July 2017 by Joe Higham
University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne has presented a business case proposal that will outline future organisation and management of support services at the Uuniversity to staff on Friday last week. The meeting, which took place at the College of Education Auditorium, is Read more...
University Approves $26 Million New Music Building and Renovations
Posted 10:55am Sunday 16th July 2017 by Joe Higham
The University of Otago has approved plans to construct brand new recording studios for the Department of Music as well as refurbishing the nearby Music suite, Teaching Wing and Tower Block on the University of Otago College of Education campus. The project, which is scheduled to be completed by Read more...
University Objects to Night’n’Day Liquor License: OUSA President Hits Back
Posted 10:50am Sunday 16th July 2017 by Joel MacManus
OUSA President Hugh Baird has hit back at attempts by the University of Otago to prevent the sale of alcohol at a local liquor store. The University of Otago is objecting to the continuation of the liquor license at Regent Night’n’Day in North Dunedin, but Baird says their efforts are Read more...
Landlords Provide Perfect Conditions for Mould At No Extra Cost to Tenants
Posted 10:45am Sunday 16th July 2017 by Joe Higham
Former Blackcaps cricketer and current host of TV3’s AM Show, Mark Richardson, provided some advice to anyone worried about the inaccessibility of the property ladder last week: “just rent,” he said. However, research clearly shows that renting can expose people to serious Read more...
Students Fight ‘Unliveable’ Flats at Tenancy Tribunal
Posted 10:38am Sunday 16th July 2017 by Joel MacManus
Two student flats have won cases at the tenancy tribunal over flats which were deemed to not be in clean or liveable condition. Prime Campus Ltd., the property management firm which leases 654 Castle Street was ordered to refund the tenants $5,250, the equivalent of six weeks’ rent. When Read more...
OUSA Lead the Way in Re:Orientation Glass Ban Initiative
Posted 10:32am Sunday 16th July 2017 by Zahra Shahtahmasebi
A new initiative is being launched during this year’s Re-Orientation week that will ban glass in the North Dunedin area, in the hope of cleaning up the glass that regularly plagues the streets of the city's student quarter. The initiative continues to be student led, initiated by OUSA Read more...
Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 15
Posted 10:28am Sunday 16th July 2017 by Joe Higham
The Department of Tourism have made a proposal to “repaint the two corridors in the Division of Commerce building ... in the rainbow colours that have been utilised both by the LGBT community and the post-apartheid South Africa as an emblem of inclusivity”. The department wanted to know Read more...
Twelve Years On From a Series Whitewash, the Lions Could Make History
Posted 12:44pm Sunday 9th July 2017 by Joe Higham
As the Saturday of the final match of the 2017 British and Irish Lions approaches at breakneck speed, (mainly) Lions and (surprisingly) All Blacks fans alike will be feeling the nerves associated with a test-series decider. The Lions last won a test series against the All Blacks in 1971 (2-1) Read more...
Winnie's man in Whangarei: Shane Jones joins NZ First
Posted 11:49am Sunday 9th July 2017 by George Elliott
Former Labour MP Shane Jones has joined NZ First and will run in the Whangarei electorate in the coming election. The former cabinet member under Helen Clark, who retired in May 2014 and is usually known solely for his scandals, will become a conspicuous lieutenant for Winston Peters. Since Read more...
Like a Young Nat’s Wet Dream
Posted 11:40am Sunday 9th July 2017 by Joel MacManus
At 24, Todd Barclay was New Zealand’s youngest MP, anointed as the replacement for Bill English in Clutha-Southland, the safest National electorate in the country. He won by a huge majority. By 27, he was a disgraced politician who had not only ended his own career but also irreparably damaged Read more...
University seeks student feedback on CCTV proposal
Posted 11:11am Sunday 9th July 2017 by Critic
The University of Otago made a complaint to Critic Magazine that the article published on the University's CCTV implementation plan was not fairly reported. As a result, Critic provided this space for the University to respond to these issues. The University of Otago is seeking Read more...
University of Otago Researchers Criticise Government’s Tobacco Strategy
Posted 11:02am Sunday 9th July 2017 by Anna Linton
University of Otago scientists from the Burden of Disease Epidemiology, Equity and Cost-Effectiveness Programme (BODE³) have published research in the international journal Tobacco Control last month advocating various tobacco endgame strategies. This follows a 2011 announcement, Read more...
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