Archive

Why Your “5 Plus a Day” is Looking Like “$50 Plus a Day”

Posted 1:36pm Sunday 20th March 2022 by Rutene Rickard

A year ago, a kg of tomatoes from Centre City New World cost $2.99. Today, those same juicy round bois have almost doubled in price, costing $5.49. In a quest to find out why hurling rotten tomatoes isn’t the affordable pastime it used to be, Critic Te Arohi consulted Professor of Sociology Read more...

OUSA and Albany St Pharmacy Deliver Drugs to Doorsteps

Posted 1:33pm Sunday 20th March 2022 by Sean Gourley

Thanks to OUSA and Albany Street Pharmacy, isolating students can now get over-the-counter meds and other pharmacy goodies delivered for free. The service can be accessed via the OUSA Support Hub Website. With Covid absolutely ripping through North D, many people who would’ve helped their Read more...

How Much Do Students Know About Saint Patrick, Primary Patron Saint of Ireland?

Posted 1:25pm Sunday 20th March 2022 by Keegan Wells

St Patrick is such a well-known name in North D that thousands wake up as early as 5am every year to celebrate him. But do students actually know that much about who he was, where he came from, and what he did? Critic Te Arohi hit the green-filled streets to find out.  First off, did he Read more...

Used Sharps Bins not Spotted on Campus

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 20th March 2022 by Zak Rudin

Students For Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) have raised the question: where are all the sharps bins at? People who rely on insulin injections have allegedly been forced to carry “dirty sharps home after use” or “dispose of them in an inadequate fashion in bathroom/campus Read more...

Bandana Burglar Behind Bars

Posted 1:19pm Sunday 20th March 2022 by Zak Rudin

Nicholas Scott Kerr, aged 33, has been unmasked as the notorious bandana burglar. Kerr was at large between 2018 and 2020, during which time he broke into student flats, stole 51 items worth over $22,000, and cut holes in the curtains of seven female students. Kerr used the alias “Samantha Read more...

Some Stuff not Known About KnowYourStuffNZ

Posted 1:17pm Sunday 20th March 2022 by Ruby Werry

KnowYourStuffNZ does not test for purity. They test for presence of a substance, and that’s what they report. The misconception that KYSNZ tests for purity is apparently rife amongst both students and our own Critic staff members. It may seem like a small difference (presence vs. purity), Read more...

The Curious Case of the Crook’s Consistent Covid Cancellation Curse Continues

Posted 12:47pm Sunday 13th March 2022 by Fox Meyer

Rezzy Crooks, Covid’s least favourite band, has had another gig cancelled. After at least four Pint Night cancellations over the past two years, the band was excited to play a gig with Hot Sauce Club at the Crown Hotel. And then it was cancelled.  “It’s hard to put a number Read more...

World Music Assignment Ridiculed for “Unholy” Font Choice

Posted 12:45pm Sunday 13th March 2022 by Elliot Weir

First-year music students studying MUSI104 (World Music) were given an assignment designed to help students in the class get to know one another better for an upcoming group project on the first of March. The assignment was pretty straightforward, but students were taken aback when the eight page Read more...

Data Mining Dunedin Noise Complaints

Posted 12:36pm Sunday 13th March 2022 by Keegan Wells

Data seen by Critic Te Arohi has shed light on where, when and why noise complaints were lodged around Dunedin. One Otago student managed to rack up nine in a single semester.  According to Dunedin City Council data seen and painstakingly analysed by Critic Te Arohi, 3,613 noise complaints Read more...

Researchers Find Big Fossilised Duck in Central Otago

Posted 12:34pm Sunday 13th March 2022 by Denzel Chung

A team of researchers, including Otago staff and students, have discovered an exciting new fossil at St Bathans in Central Otago: a species of shelduck. The original animal is believed to have been massive, standing at a whopping 70cm. For a duck, that’s pretty tall. The duck was believed Read more...

Outcry Over Positive RAT Sale

Posted 12:31pm Sunday 13th March 2022 by Sean Gourley

A local caused a minor uproar when he claimed to be selling positive COVID tests for just $49 on the Facebook group Otago Flatting Goods. It is unclear from the post whether the four tests on offer were being sold separately or as a pack, or if it was even a genuine offer. The post first asked Read more...

“Satdee Night Antics” Lead To Stolen Sign

Posted 12:29pm Sunday 13th March 2022 by Denzel Chung

A brand-new promotional sign outside on Cumberland Street was stolen, with the theft blamed on “satdee night antics”. As of press time, it had not been found despite a juicy financial reward on offer. The sign was purchased just before Christmas by the Northgate Shop, which runs the Read more...

Polytech Provides Frozen Meals to Isolating Students

Posted 12:27pm Sunday 13th March 2022 by Zak Rudin

Polytech students rejoice: thousands of frozen meals are winging their way to your flats, dreamt up and prepared by a team of staff and students. The project began with Polytech senior lecturer Tony Hepinstall, who started the initiative as “a social enterprise where students could give Read more...

New Pastoral Care Code

Posted 12:23pm Sunday 13th March 2022 by Zak Rudin

A new Pastoral Care Code of Practice has been introduced this year, formalising the guidelines for how unis will take care of their students. It remains to be seen whether the changes on paper will translate into changes in practice. The Code of Practice came into effect on January 1st this year. Read more...

Second Week of Protests as Situation in Ukraine Intensifies

Posted 5:12pm Saturday 12th March 2022 by Aiman Amerul Muner

For the second weekend in a row,  a small crowd consisting of Ukrainians, Russians and others gathered in the Octagon to oppose Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Among them are students whose families have been forced to flee what has now become a war zone.  Among those in attendance on Read more...

Small But Vocal Socialist Counter-Protest On Museum Lawn

Posted 5:02pm Saturday 12th March 2022 by Denzel Chung

A protest intended to oppose the Wellington anti-mandate protest had to quickly pivot after the shutdown of the Wellington protest just two days before. Despite being small in number, those attending insisted the cause was still urgent enough to motivate them.    Organised by Read more...

Official Endorsement for Mirror on Society

Posted 4:58pm Saturday 12th March 2022 by Fox Meyer

On Tuesday, 8 March, the University Council formally endorsed Te Kauae Parāoa, also known as the Mirror on Society Selection Policy. A recent review, involving staff as well as student voices  highlighted a need to provide more support for students with disabilities, which was incorporated Read more...

“Systemic Racism, Discrimination, Bullying” Found in PE School, Wider Uni

Posted 4:29pm Thursday 10th March 2022 by Denzel Chung

A scathing review of “conduct and culture” in the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences has found serious concerns about “systemic racism, discrimination and bullying at the School and… within the [wider] University”. In response, new Read more...

University Shops Struggle With Omicron

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 6th March 2022 by Denzel Chung

The Omicron outbreak has hit Otago Uni’s cafés and food outlets hard. A one-two punch of fewer students on campus and staff shortages have led to financial losses and rolling closures of outlets.  The University Union is like the Pablo Escobar of Dunedin’s campus – Read more...

Wanted: Chip Packets to turn into Survival Blankets

Posted 2:55pm Sunday 6th March 2022 by Denzel Chung

Some of Dunedin’s chip packets will be getting a second chance at life, with a new initiative turning them into survival blankets for rough sleepers.  Jessica Ladbrook is Dunedin’s volunteer coordinator for the Chip Packet Project NZ (CPPNZ). With origins in the British Read more...