Archive

Date. Hole.

Posted 4:28am Monday 21st March 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

A by-election for the positions of International Students’ Representative and Postgraduate Representative is to be held to replace the originally elected reps, who have gone AWOL in recent weeks. Critic speculates that with the outstanding rate at which the Executive has already lost two Read more...

University Scientist Honoured

Posted 4:27am Monday 21st March 2011 by Staff Reporter

University of Otago Professor Jean Fleming has been honoured by the Royal Society of New Zealand, being elected a Companion of the society in recognition of the leadership she has displayed in the field of science. Prof Fleming is a Professor of Science Communication at the university's Centre for Read more...

Pastoral Support Available for Japanese Students

Posted 4:26am Monday 21st March 2011 by Andrew Oliver

Following Japan’s horrific earthquake and tsunami disasters, both Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago are offering full pastoral support to all of their Japanese students. Supportive emails were sent to all Japanese students studying at the University of Otago as well as to Read more...

Bouncing off the Halls - 4 (Trouble in Paradise Edition)

Posted 4:23am Monday 21st March 2011 by Lozz Holding

As we get older, we look back fondly on our first year days living in a hall of residence as some of the best we had. Our lives were so comfy, living as we did with insulation, heating and sluts, the kind of things you take for granted until you go flatting. I mean, how good is waking up in the bed Read more...

Scarfie Card scheme unfairly compared to slavery in this title

Posted 1:59am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

An initiative set up to “invigorate Dunedin’s social connectedness” is sending Otago students out into the local community to do odd jobs, with the aim of letting Dunedin residents know that we aren’t just OTP in Dunnaz the whole time we’re here. The Scarfie Card scheme, run by Student Life, is in Read more...

Postgrads unenthused about enforced Monday night Jelly Wrestling

Posted 1:56am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

Postgraduate students, incensed at the possible cancellation of their Friday night Gazebo drinks, have taken to the walls of Facebook for a regular old-fashioned bitching session. OUSA Postgraduate Representative Stephanie Ruddock, responsible for the Gazebo drinks, has threatened to send any future Read more...

Gangs bang laws.

Posted 1:54am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Gregor Whyte

In a piece of news completely unrelated to students, but thankfully tenuously connected to this week’s theme, Critic can un-exclusively report that the Wanganui gang patch ban has gone down in flames after the High Court ruled the ban was illegal. Justice Clifford found that the Wanganui Council had Read more...

Let them eat roadkill.

Posted 1:51am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Lozz Holding

While most were wallowing in their own filth and bewailing their hangovers, twelve innocent little freshers were being put through their paces in a series of challenges known as the “OUSA Fresher Comp”. The event ran from Sunday through to Friday with the selected group facing multiple challenges Read more...

Execrable - 3

Posted 1:41am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Anthony Riseley

Feeling somewhat excited about this week’s meeting (having heard rumours we could be in for a bit of a show), Critic decided to rock up early to see what the Execcies were up to prior to start time. Upon arrival Critic was greeted by Campaigns Officer Daniel Beck, who seemed to be going out of Read more...

S.E.A What I Did There?

Posted 1:37am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Lozz Holding

On Sunday March 6, Students for Environmental Action (S.E.A) set out on a trek to tidy up the St. Leonards area on the way out to Port Chalmers. Their aim was a “coastal cleanup” of the beach to help raise awareness of “Sea-Week” which this year ran from February 26 to Read more...

Qantas lends a helping hand

Posted 1:36am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Staff Reporter

Qantas has helped to relocate Cantab students to the University of Adelaide for a semester exchange. The exchange has been set up as part of the response to the devastating earthquake and Cantab students have been shuttled over the Tasman by Qantas in both a chartered Boeing 747 and on various Read more...

Grassroots Cancelled

Posted 1:34am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Staff Reporter

The inaugural Grassroots music festival, which was to be held on the Puhinui Peninsula over Easter weekend, has been cancelled after the Christchurch earthquake led to a collapse in ticket sales. The two-day, 15,000 person capacity event had been on track to achieve sales of around 12,000 tickets. Read more...

Sloppy students pissing off Emergency Department

Posted 1:32am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Andrew Oliver

Those who find themselves in need of the services of Dunedin Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) could be in for quite a wait, as drunken university students are stretching hospital resources. Southern District Health Board chief operations officer Vivian Blake told the Otago Daily Times that the Read more...

Christchurch Campus to Reopen

Posted 1:31am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Teuila Fuatai

The University of Otago will resume teaching at its Christchurch campus this week. A temporary teaching facility has been set up in the Hagley Golf Club building whilst repairs to buildings damaged in last month's earthquake take place. Whilst most of the 800 Otago students in Christchurch will be Read more...

Bouncing off the Halls - 3

Posted 1:28am Tuesday 15th March 2011 by Lozz Holding

It’s common knowledge that the week after O Week is shit. After all, it’s very hard to make the transfer from a week of constant partying to the cruel, unforgiving world of nine-hour weeks at uni. Ten in the morning no longer means time to crack open another bag of Country Red but instead it’s time Read more...

Stride threatens government. Critic unsurprised. Geoghegan next?

Posted 3:31am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

OUSA Finance and Services Officer Dan Stride has brazenly informed Her Majesty’s Government that they have left him with no option but to destroy them, after the Education and Science Select Committee inconsiderately ignored his submission (along with that of a few thousand others) opposing the Bill Read more...

NZUSA commissions report. Discovers students are poor. Everyone shocked.

Posted 3:30am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Gregor Whyte

Critic finally got around to reading the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations’ (NZUSA) report on student income and expenditure, imaginatively titled “Income & Expenditure Survey 2010 – Summary of key findings”. The report is based on a Colmar Brunton survey of approximately 2850 students Read more...

Christchurch Embassy at the Dunedin Railway Station

Posted 3:28am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

The Dunedin community has established a Christchurch “Embassy” at the Railway Station to welcome anyone needing a place to go outside of earthquake-stricken Christchurch. The “Christchurch Embassy” Facebook group describes itself as “the first port of call” where people Read more...

University of Canterbury Students Try to Jump Ship

Posted 3:27am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Lozz Holding

The earthquake has caused the University of Canterbury serious problems as they struggle to restore educational facilities to 20,000 enrolled students. Recently rumours have been floating around that the University may not open until second semester. However Canterbury Vice Chancellor Rod Carr Read more...

Two Otago University Students Missing Following Christchurch Earthquake

Posted 3:26am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Lozz Holding

As Critic went to press, two University of Otago students have been declared missing by the Red Cross and police. The Otago Daily Times reported that Sisi Xin, 28, a Dietetics student based in Christchurch, and her friend Didem Yaman, 31, a Political Science PhD student based in Dunedin, have both Read more...

53 Seconds is Ages for Some Guys

Posted 3:24am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Lozz Holding

Typically shit Dunedin weather conditions meant a smaller than normal turnout for the annual “Bezzett Jewellers Clocktower Race”, held at noon on the Tuesday of O Week. Competitors lined up to try and beat the midday charms and take overall honours on the day. The men’s race was tighter Read more...

Cash Money for Uni

Posted 3:23am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Teuila Fuatai

The development of a medical healing gel by University of Otago researchers has led to significant financial rewards for the University. Produced in a joint research project with the University of Adelaide and Wellington-based company Robinson Squidgel, the "healing gel" aids in the Read more...

OUSA “Earthquake Support Open Day”

Posted 3:21am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Staff Reporter

OUSA will be holding an “Earthquake Support Open Day” in the OUSA meeting room between 9-5 today, Monday March 7. Additionally at 3pm there will be an afternoon tea for students and staff to get together and share their experiences of the earthquake. The open day aims to offer support to students Read more...

Former University A player makes Japanese squad

Posted 3:20am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Anthony Riseley

Former University A lock Justin Ives has been named in the provisional 41-man strong Japanese World Cup squad coached by former All Black John Kirwan. Ives, who was born in Dunedin and went to Taieri College, went to Japan for an initial six-week period in 2007 to play for the Sanyo team. Ives was Read more...

Critic Hijacked

Posted 3:18am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Staff Reporter

Some copies of last week’s Critic had a sticker attached to the cover advertising the company BookRenter.co.nz. This was done as an act of “guerrilla advertising” by the company without Critic’s knowledge. Critic did not receive payment for this and does not in any way endorse the company or its Read more...

Bouncing off the Halls - 2

Posted 3:16am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Lozz Holding

O Week is a merry week for freshers and prowling second years alike. First year students have to make important decisions for themselves now, like who they hate in their hall and which girls on their floor have the best cans. The little darlings are getting involved in the Otago lifestyle and are Read more...

Critic arbritarily decides O-Week was crap. Writes article to that effect.

Posted 4:51am Monday 28th February 2011 by Lozz Holding

The 2011 Orientation week has been a much reduced affair, with many students commenting that it has been perhaps the most subdued in recent memory. The Christchurch earthquake has put a significant dampener on the week, especially given the large number of Otago students who originally hailed Read more...

Neil Collins: the man, the myth, the legend

Posted 4:50am Monday 28th February 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

Earlier in the month the Otago Daily Times (ODT) ran a story stating that Dunedin City Councillor Neil Collins is “in a class of his own” when it comes to knowing big names in the entertainment industry. We liked the story so much we decided to write our own. The esteemed publication detailed Read more...

Your Exec – Who They Are and What They Do

Posted 4:49am Monday 28th February 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

Critic knows that none of you, with the possible exception of the actual people on it, know what the Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) Executive does, so we’ve decided to quickly break down for you what they do. The OUSA is run by an executive made up of ten elected representatives. Read more...

Students Swap Six Packs for Shovels to Help Earthquake Relief

Posted 4:48am Monday 28th February 2011 by Lozz Holding

Students from around the country have responded overwhelmingly to the destruction wrought by the February 22 Christchurch earthquake. Members of the public are being urged not to travel to Christchurch but to instead donate money to the Red Cross that they otherwise would spend on travel. This is Read more...

An Exec Member Got Laid

Posted 4:46am Monday 28th February 2011 by Staff Reporter

Critic this week can exclusively report that it has been offered a detailed breakdown of the sexual performance of a member of the 2011 OUSA Executive. A disgruntled former lover offered the scoop to Critic for a mere $20, and assured us that it would be worth every penny. The mole told Read more...

Toastmasters

Posted 4:45am Monday 28th February 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

The Scarfies Speechcraft Club is offering students the opportunity to improve their speaking skills and develop their leadership experience in 2011, for periods of ten weeks each semester. A demonstration meeting is being held in Room 101, 665 Cumberland St on March 8 from 5-7 p.m., and the Read more...

New Vice-Chancellor Announced

Posted 4:44am Monday 28th February 2011 by Gregor Whyte

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne is to replace Sir Professor David Skegg as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago. Professor Hayne, a noted psychology researcher, will become the first female Vice-Chancellor of a New Zealand university when she takes over the role in July. Read more...

Bouncing off the Halls - 1

Posted 4:42am Monday 28th February 2011 by Lozz Holding

This last week has marked the influx of 2011’s freshers. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, this lot stand out like a sore thumb as they wander aimlessly around campus in the clean, expensive clothes that mummy bought them before they left the nest. The annual rash of deliciously awkward conversation can Read more...

Gangbang? Or clusterfuck?

Posted 4:39am Monday 28th February 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

Former gang members have received assistance from the Dunedin City Council (DCC) to lease a flat situated in the student area on Dundas St. Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull has confirmed that he helped arrange for the tenants – ex-Black Power members – to lease the council flat until May this Read more...

Alcohol Reform Bill

Posted 4:37am Monday 28th February 2011 by Gregor Whyte

The Alcohol Reform Bill has entered the Select Committee phase, with over 650 written submissions to the Justice and Electoral Committee. The Bill is the legislative response to the Law Commission report, Alcohol in our Lives: Curbing the Harm. It seeks to significantly amend the law governing the Read more...

Tomorrow, when the (taxi) war began

Posted 3:06am Monday 18th October 2010 by

They are convenient, sometimes necessary, and always costly. We’re not talking about a fuck buddy, but the Dunedin taxi service. Whether you jump in them on the cold, cold nights, or when you don’t want to be seen with whoever you’ve pulled from the increasingly scummy Metro Bar, taking a taxi in Read more...

Students for Hire, for Free

Posted 2:59am Monday 18th October 2010 by Teuila Fuatai

The Otago Daily Times last week ran a heart-warming tale about 73-year-old Wakari resident Tony Brosnan getting some students around to do his housework. Brosnan, who had read about the Student Life Scarfie Card programme that will launch next year, decided that he couldn’t wait that Read more...

Referendum 15% successful

Posted 1:58am Monday 18th October 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

The results of the OUSA referendum were announced last Thursday, with only 2 of the 13 motions meeting the required quorum of 1049 votes. The 2011 Budget passed by a narrow margin, with 50.27 percent of students voting in favour of it. The Budget, which was the first motion on the website, Read more...

ODT buys political influence, very cheaply

Posted 1:48am Monday 18th October 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

The role the Otago Daily Times played in the recent local body elections is coming under scrutiny. Rumours were circulating wildly around town last week about the nature of a donation made by Allied Press owner Julian Smith to Dave Cull, who is part of the Greater Dunedin party. A Read more...

Meager eager to go

Posted 1:03am Monday 18th October 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

Finance and Services Officer James Meager has resigned from his position on the OUSA Executive. Meager’s resignation letter casts doubt on the way the Exec is run and OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan’s leadership style. Meager tendered his resignation in a rather lengthy letter addressed to Read more...

Alleged: OUSA President Incompetent Driver

Posted 12:36am Monday 18th October 2010 by Staff Reporter

Critic has received information from a University of Otago student that puts into question the driving skills of OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan. The student, who refuses to be named for fear of reprisals, tells Critic that he regularly observes Geoghegan “bungle the parking of that Read more...

Cull culls Chin

Posted 11:06pm Sunday 17th October 2010 by

David Cull decisively won the Dunedin Mayoral race, while student-friendly Aaron Hawkins narrowly missed out on a Council seat, in the recent local elections. Two-term mayor of Dunedin Peter Chin failed to get the support of the populace in the elections, and was soundly beaten by Dunedin Read more...

Former Critic Editor to stand for Parliament

Posted 10:55pm Sunday 17th October 2010 by Staff Reporter

Former Editor of Critic Holly Walker is to be the Green Party Candidate for Hutt South in the 2011 General election. Walker won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford in 2007, and since returning to New Zealand has worked as a Green Party Advisor in Parliament.    "I am thrilled to stand Read more...

Duke Sex List

Posted 10:52pm Sunday 17th October 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

Scandal has descended on the prestigious Duke University of North Carolina, in the USA, after a ‘sex thesis’ complied by a senior student of the University went viral on the internet.  The 43-page list, which included the names and photographs of 13 of student Karen Owen’s sexual Read more...

Otago Likely to Benefit from Funding Increase

Posted 10:39pm Sunday 17th October 2010 by Gregor Whyte

The University of Otago is likely to gain about $5.4 milllion and around 280 domestic Equivalent Full Time Student places, after the Government announced increased funding for university places, the Otago Daily Times reports. The fresh funding is intended to cover a ‘blip’ in the Read more...

Exec prepares for clusterfuck

Posted 1:35am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

On Thursday last week, a Student Forum was held to discuss the motions that will be put to an online referendum this week. Students will be asked to vote on 13 motions, including motions on NZUSA, the OUSA Budget and GST. The crowd at the Student Forum was comprised mostly of Exec members and Read more...

NZUSA Conference fun for everyone, except OUSA that is

Posted 1:33am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by Gregor Whyte

The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) conference has ended with OUSA unable to secure enough votes to amend the notice period required to withdraw from the body. OUSA attended the last two days of the four-day conference, participating in only a single workshop before voting Read more...

Otago Scientists Honoured for Sock Research

Posted 1:30am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by

Apart from being incredibly fashionable, wearing socks over shoes to prevent blowing out on the icier parts of Dunedin terrain had been thought to be a practice with little justification. That was until a three-person team of researchers from the University embarked on a scientific endeavour to Read more...

Act’s ‘Babe’ Talks to Critic

Posted 1:27am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

Last week Act’s superstar MP Heather Roy, champion of the VSM bill, was in town, so Critic sent Julia Hollingsworth to grill her about students’ associations and VSM. Should the change to compulsory membership have come from the students?    I think that when you look at the Read more...

Sophie Elliot Foundation Launched

Posted 1:25am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by Staff Reporter

A charitable Foundation to honour the memory of murdered University of Otago student Sophie Elliot was launched last week at the Auckland University of Technology campus.  Lesley Elliot, Sophie’s mother, was the driving force behind the creation of the foundation, and is one of its Read more...

Otago Researcher Appointed Royal Fellow

Posted 1:08am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by Staff Reporter

University of Otago Professor Richie Poulton, who heads the internationally recognised Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, was last week elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. The Chair of the Academy, Otago’s Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Science Read more...

Blood Donations This Week

Posted 1:06am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by Anthony Riseley

New Zealand’s aging population and busier lifestyles may lead to a deficiency in blood supplies in the future, making current recruitment of younger donors particularly important. Leita Mackay of the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) says people lead busier lives these days, and that there are Read more...

Proctology - 27

Posted 1:04am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by Tailgunner Joe

Dunedin has a reputation for being damp and cold because university students are usually only here for the damp, cold part of the year; Dunedin’s shortish summers, falling between December and February, are actually quite pleasant. Every few years, however, they arrive pleasantly early, and so it Read more...

Bouncing off the Halls - 27

Posted 12:56am Tuesday 12th October 2010 by

Exams are closing in, and the impending tests have taken their inevitable toll on the first-years and their antics, making this week’s installment a little hard to produce. But never fear we’ve managed to dig up enough dish to make this another quality piece in the country’s Best Student Magazine. Read more...

Panic stations or business as usual?

Posted 10:56pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Calida Smylie

The burning question of the moment is how, and in what form, OUSA and the Otago Polytechnic Students' Association (OPSA) will be able to survive once VSM is in place. Research shows that voluntary students’ associations will likely struggle to gain members. A recent report commissioned Read more...

VSM a goer, student associations rush to embezzle money before it runs out

Posted 10:53pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Gregor Whyte

VSM looks virtually certain to be introduced after the Education Select Committee recommended the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill be passed into law with only minor changes. The Act Party Bill is almost guaranteed to become law after the National Government indicated it Read more...

Soz

Posted 9:55pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Staff Reporter

A story in the Briefs section last week about Exec resignations was, well, completely wrong. Critic reported that Education Officer Stephanie Reader resigned from the OUSA Executive for reasons connected to a job in Auckland. That information was incorrect and we apologise for the error. Read more...

University of Otago Top Dog

Posted 9:54pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Gregor Whyte

The University of Otago recorded the highest surplus of any university in New Zealand last year, posting a healthy $31.1 million surplus when figures were released by the Tertiary Education Commission. The University of Auckland was second, posting an operating surplus of $28.5 million. Read more...

Postgraduate Representative Candidates Announced

Posted 9:52pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Staff Reporter

The candidates for the General Executive Post-graduate Portfolio position have been announced. The two people standing for the position are Stacey Lauren Bloom and Stephanie Ruddock. The election takes place online from 9.00am 11 October 2010 until 4pm 14 October 2010.  Read more...

Revealed: grown up politicians no better than student politicians

Posted 9:50pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

The 2010 DCC Mayoral Candidates gathered in the University’s Main Common room last Tuesday, to speak to a small crowd of around 60 students.  Mayoral favourite Cull, who sat at 45.9 percent in the latest ODT poll, didn’t show, claiming he was stuck in traffic in Waikouaiti. Read more...

Rodent-Infested Shithole to Rent, Must Supply Own Rodents

Posted 9:49pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Teuila Fuatai

The winners of OUSA's Next Top Flat Competition were announced last week, with two flats receiving prizes for finishing first in their respective categories. The title of Best Flat went to 'The Picnic Table' on Albany Street, with the inhabitants taking home $150 worth of grocery vouchers. Read more...

Execrable - 26

Posted 9:48pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

Once again shit was super dull. Yeah, Critic’s a whiner, but this time, all the Execcies looked pretty over the whole shebang as well. It is almost painful for Critic to relive this, but OUSA undertook four mind-numbing phone interviews with NZUSA presidential hopefuls, so that they could Read more...

Bet you wished you’d studied harder now.

Posted 9:20pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Gregor Whyte

Thousands of tertiary students around New Zealand will unexpectedly have their access to student loans cut off after it was discovered that the legislation changes introduced this year will take into account 2009 academic results. The law changes, introduced in the 2010 Budget, mean that Read more...

Student Party Inexplicably Gate-crashed

Posted 9:17pm Monday 11th October 2010 by

Mayhem ensued in the early hours of last Sunday morning as part of George Street was shut down by police when a student party in the Robbie Burns complex was evacuated due to a fire alarm. The house party was spread across two flats in the upstairs Robbie Burns complex, and reportedly had Read more...

President Didn’t Inhale, Stoners Paranoid

Posted 9:16pm Monday 11th October 2010 by

The controversial 4.20 protest club is at odds with OUSA once again, this time over the accused censorship of one of its entries in the upcoming Otago University Student Film Competition, the Mothras. OtagoNorml, an associate group of the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Read more...

For those of you who can’t get enough of voting

Posted 9:15pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

Voting closes on 9 October for local body elections, in which voters will elect their new Dunedin City Council, Otago Regional Council, and Southern District Health Board. Voting will be held by postal election (if you haven’t received your voting pack, you probably aren’t enrolled). Seven Read more...

Blues And Golds Winners Announced

Posted 9:13pm Monday 11th October 2010 by Staff Reporter

The winners of the 2010 Otago University Blues and Golds Awards were announced at dual ceremonies last week. The Blues awards celebrate the best and brightest sporting achievers from the University of Otago, and are in their 102nd year. The keynote speaker was adventurer and writer Tim Read more...

Christchurch Campus Largely Operational

Posted 2:15am Monday 11th October 2010 by Calida Smylie

Students at the University of Otago's Christchurch campus returned to class fairly quickly, just over a week after the devastating earthquake on September 4th. The University's Christchurch School of Medicine building, built in 1973 and adjoined to Christchurch Hospital, sustained relatively Read more...

Art Attack

Posted 2:10am Monday 11th October 2010 by Teuila Fuatai

The University of Otago College of Education was subject to an "art attack" by group ArTarts last Monday. ArTarts were protesting against new funding allocations within the College of Education, which they claim will reduce art tuition to teachers by 25%. The "art attack" was carried out after Read more...

Proctology - 25

Posted 2:03am Monday 11th October 2010 by Tailgunner Joe

You may have noticed that a month has passed since the last Proctology. The reason for this is that the Proctor was on a road trip with his mates. They went to Christchurch and got up to no good, causing significant property damage and several injuries and necessitating a civil defence call-out. You Read more...

Execrable - 25

Posted 2:00am Monday 11th October 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

It seemed at first as though the meeting would be crazily brief: quorum was only just met, and Ros needed to leave in seven minutes. Needless to say, Critic was stoked. An hour in, Ros was frantic, and Imogen subbed in for her. By this point Critic was a lot less stoked. Somebody asked whether Read more...

OUSA single-handedly eases Cantab plight

Posted 10:13pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Gregor Whyte

The OUSA rescue mission to the earthquake-stricken Canterbury region was a roaring success, OUSA told Critic, with OUSA saying that Christchurch residents had told OUSA how wonderful it was that OUSA had taken time out of their busy schedule to bring them some free baked beans and half a bottle of Read more...

Otago Student’s Ezine Wins Literary Award

Posted 10:08pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Gregor Whyte

Fourth-year University of Otago student Marie Hodgkinson has won a major New Zealand literary award for her online publication Semaphore Magazine. Semaphore won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Production/Publication, and narrowly missed out on the award for Best Collected Work. The Sir Read more...

IT kids get some … jobs, that is

Posted 10:07pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by

Ever been speed dating and thought, “Man, I wish job interviews were this awesome?” Frankly, you probably haven’t, but The Distiller, Dunedin’s ICT Business Cluster, has taken the idea of speed dating and applied it to Dunedin’s ever-growing IT Sector. The idea, created by web entrepreneur Read more...

Exec stupid but manage to finalise Budget, somehow

Posted 10:05pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

OUSA has finalised their 2011 Budget, which will be voted on by online referendum early next month. The proposed Budget was carried unanimously by an eleven-strong Exec amidst concerns about the constitutional changes made earlier in the year.  The Exec voted against the contentious VSM Read more...

Lonely Planet Loves Us

Posted 10:03pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Staff Reporter

The newest edition of heavyweight travel guide Lonely Planet’s New Zealand edition has heaped praise on most of the country, and Dunedin didn’t miss out. The guide practically gushed when it reached our University town, writing that Dunedin has been "Long credited as New Zealand's indie-music Read more...

Next Top Cock-up

Posted 10:02pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Gregor Whyte

The judging of the OUSA Next Top Flat competition had to be postponed from Friday of last week to this Monday, after OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan inexplicably forgot to invite the judges to attend. The cock-up, which inconvenienced Critic for one, comes after Geoghegan won re-election to the Read more...

Psychology Building Opened

Posted 10:01pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Teuila Fuatai

The new University of Otago Psychology Department building was officially opened last Tuesday. Named after influential American psychologist William James, the $25-million, six-level complex features a new Clinical Psychology centre, and an innovative roof garden where rainwater is recycled. Read more...

Otago Graduates Win Major Film Award

Posted 9:57pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Calida Smylie

University of Otago graduates Guy Ryan and Nick Holmes have won the Platinum Best Film Award at the 2010 Colorado International Film Festival. The pair produced the winning documentary Carving the Future in 2009, during the final year of their Masters in Science Communication degrees. Read more...

Execrable - 24

Posted 9:56pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

Last week’s Budget meeting was a demoralising, almost four-hour-long process that sapped Critic’s will to live. Much of the meeting was taken up with tediously assessing submissions and considering the disputed Budget lines. After all the blabbing a few meetings ago about a referendum to Read more...

Bouncing off the Halls - 24

Posted 9:54pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by

The flat hunt is on in the domain of the first-years, opening them up to a whole world of new shenanigans.  A flat-to-be of five was sorting out their bond money one night and realised that they could make a bit more money if they put some on the tennis, so they decided to put it all on Read more...

OUSA Women’s Week

Posted 5:49am Monday 13th September 2010 by Calida Smylie

OUSA Women's Week is being held this week, and will feature a number of events which highlight issues facing women in New Zealand. The main event of the week is a seminar being held today at Commerce 2.07 from 3-6pm where Lesley Elliot, the mother of murdered University of Otago student Sophie Read more...

NZUSA taking it from all angles. Flak, that is.

Posted 5:48am Monday 13th September 2010 by Anthony Riseley

The Otago Polytechnic Student’s Association has acted on its threats to withdraw from the New Zealand University Students Association (NZUSA), calling for a referendum of its members to decide the issue of whether or not to remain part of the national body. OPSA President Meegan Cloughley Read more...

OUSA plans thinly-disguised looting party

Posted 5:47am Monday 13th September 2010 by

A number of initiatives have been kicked off by OUSA last week in the wake of the devastating earthquake that rocked Christchurch last weekend. Otago’s Christchurch campus was closed all of last week while a significant clean up took place. No structural damage was reported to the Read more...

The real scandal: Inept student leader still thinks coffee at 1980s prices!

Posted 5:44am Monday 13th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

OUSA is considering withdrawing from the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA), but NZUSA maintains membership is worthwhile. OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan says the main reason OUSA is considering withdrawing from NZUSA is a lack of value for money. “For the amount we Read more...

OUSA bad at long distance

Posted 5:40am Monday 13th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

The recent OUSA election, and the withdrawal of the Wellington-based Postgrad candidate under controversial circumstance, has raised questions about the quality of support OUSA gives to distance and satellite students. Satellite students study at campuses outside Dunedin, while distance Read more...

If a book falls in an empty library …

Posted 5:25am Monday 13th September 2010 by

The University of Canterbury was hard hit by the earthquake that rocked Canterbury on September 4. Two weeks of class have been canceled, and significant damage to University buildings has been reported.   Some structures have visible cracks, a chimney fell off the Staff Club, there Read more...

University Announces Award Recipients

Posted 5:24am Monday 13th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

Three University of Otago researchers have been named the recipients of the University’s Early Career Awards for Distinction in Research. The awards, worth $5000 each, recognise academics with outstanding research achievements early in their careers.    The three recipients were Read more...

Otago Tops New Rankings

Posted 4:58am Monday 13th September 2010 by Staff Reporter

The University of Otago has topped a new ranking table of teaching and learning performance in the New Zealand tertiary sector, with the Otago Polytechnic also performing well. The rankings, released by the Tertiary Education Commission, aim to provide a national snapshot of institution and Read more...

Otago to run Science Academy

Posted 4:56am Monday 13th September 2010 by Teuila Fuatai

The Government is providing almost $600 000 towards the establishment of a University of Otago Science Academy. Initially a two-year pilot scheme is to be implemented, involving students and teachers from secondary schools without major science laboratory facilities. Deputy Vice-Chancellor Read more...

Teaching Awards

Posted 4:55am Monday 13th September 2010 by Gregor Whyte

Nominations for the annual OUSA Teaching Awards open today. The awards have been running for nine years, and honour the best teaching staff at the University of Otago as nominated by students. This year, in addition to the teaching excellence Top Ten awards, there will be two specific awards. Read more...

NZ Universities Slip

Posted 4:53am Monday 13th September 2010 by Gregor Whyte

New Zealand’s universities have fallen in the latest major world university rankings to be released. The QS World University Rankings were unkind to almost all New Zealand’s top institutions, with the University of Otago falling ten places from 125 last year to 135 this time around. Read more...

Execrable - 23

Posted 4:09am Monday 13th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

Last week’s Exec meeting was a very brief and quiet affair, quite in contrast to the five-hour Budget-setting experience of a fortnight previous. The meeting took barely over half an hour, possibly a record for the gabber-mouth Exec. Victoria Nicholson briefly presented the Elections 2011 Read more...

Batten down the hatches

Posted 2:06am Monday 6th September 2010 by

The Otago Polytechnic (OPT) will have to start turning back potential students after it was unable to secure the amount of Government funded positions it had hoped for. The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and the National Government are trying to cut back on the $2.5 billion annually put Read more...

Cancelled flights give Otago students the blues

Posted 1:57am Monday 6th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

University of Otago students are among those caught out by Pacific Blue’s surprise withdrawal from the New Zealand domestic market. The first service to go is the direct Dunedin to Auckland service, a change that will take effect from September 17. Pacific Blue has said publicly that people Read more...

OUSA to set $90 000 on fire. Maybe.

Posted 1:27am Monday 6th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

OUSA intends to put its membership in New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) in the hands of its members. In 2010, OUSA paid $86 169 in membership fees to NZUSA. The fees go towards national representation of students and lobbying in Parliament. In the revised OUSA Budget, the Read more...

Everyone Cleared of Everything. Except Harriet.

Posted 1:18am Monday 6th September 2010 by Gregor Whyte

The official report into the OUSA Elections reveals that while lots of people did lots of kind of bad things, almost no one was actually punished. Except the President, that is. The report by Returning Officer Victoria Nicholson, which runs to 29 pages excluding appendices, covered the Read more...

It’s a Numbers Game

Posted 1:09am Monday 6th September 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth

The first draft of the 2011 OUSA Budget was released last Wednesday. OUSA Finance and Services Officer James Meager said that there were no major changes within the Budget, bar the increase in student levies. The student levy has increased from $159.64 per year to $211.88, an increase of Read more...

NZ Drug Foundation

Posted 1:07am Monday 6th September 2010 by Staff Reporter

The NZ Drug Foundation has cited the University of Otago as a case study on binge drinking in its latest publication. The article, titled ‘Campus Crackdown’, discusses the University’s efforts to deal with the culture of binge drinking pervading the student lifestyle in Read more...