Archive

Disgruntled student attempts to assassinate entire Exec with monologue

Posted 3:19am Wednesday 27th April 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

Former OUSA Finance and Services Officer James Meager spoke about his written complaint at last week’s Executive meeting, over three weeks after it was first submitted. Meager’s complaint raises eleven different concerns. These grievances include the state of the OUSA Constitution and Read more...

Chronicles of Castle - 8

Posted 2:54am Wednesday 27th April 2011 by Sam Reynolds

It was a relatively uneventful week on Castle Street as mid-semester tests proved to be more effective fun sponges than Campus Watch. Luckily there are some students who don’t aim to get marks high up the alphabet and who give us our week’s entertainment. In one particularly cringe-worthy Read more...

Dave Clark:

Posted 7:13am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Georgie Fenwicke

Introducing Dr David Clark, the next Labour Party candidate for Dunedin North. Taking over from Pete Hodgson, his is a face you will probably become quite familiar with come November. For, together with the Rugby World Cup, 2011 is also an election year. Originally from Auckland but having lived in Read more...

Weatherston appeals murder conviction.

Posted 7:00am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

Convicted murderer Clayton Weatherston has appealed his conviction in the Court of Appeal. The three judges on the Court of Appeal have reserved their decision until later in the year. The 34 year old former University of Otago tutor was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in prison two years Read more...

Tragic death of community-involved student

Posted 6:58am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

As reported last week, University of Otago student and regular Critic contributor Scott Ridley was tragically killed on March 31, when his car collided head-on with a truck and trailer unit in heavy fog near Hampden. Scott was heavily involved in the community in a number of ways, particularly Read more...

Polytech plans move to trimester system

Posted 6:57am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Teuila Fuatai

The Otago Polytechnic is considering extending its academic year from two semesters to three trimesters. Instead of the current 32-week year split into two semesters, there would be three 14-week trimesters. Under the proposed model, classes would begin mid-January and run through to the end Read more...

Polytech Library re-billed as plain Robertson. People shitty about that, and also at terrible pun in this title.

Posted 6:54am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Lauren Enright

Otago Polytechnic deputy chief executive Robin Day said that the name change of the Robertson Library (formerly the Bill Robertson Library) last year has made some of the staff at the institution unhappy. The University of Otago, who own the library, made the decision to change the name. Read more...

Omg moar Exec members. Critic is omg so happy!

Posted 6:53am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

The happy family that is the OUSA Executive has gained two new members after a by-election was successfully held last week. Art Kiojarunchitt has been elected as the International Student Officer and Thomas Koentges has been elected as the Postgraduate Representative for the remainder of Read more...

Bonus Bonds suspected of taking tainted money

Posted 6:49am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Staff Reporter

To mark the “drugs” issue, Critic sent a reporter into the field to delve into the student drug trade. We found that Dunedin is a relatively pricey and difficult place to obtain most drugs, with drugs like ecstasy and acid far less accessible and more expensive than in other major New Zealand Read more...

Students fuck themselves by being too good

Posted 6:47am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Staff Reporter

The Hyde St Keg Party cleanup was such a success that similar initiatives could be extended to other parts of the student area in the future. The cleanup consisted of students being woken up at 9am by council workers to clean up the street after the annual street party. However the Otago Daily Read more...

Green Party plays April Fools’ joke on media. Critic fooled.

Posted 6:46am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Gregor Whyte

The Green Party kicked off April by announcing a hip-hop tour of New Zealand universities. The tour is designed to raise awareness of environmental and social justice issues among students in a cool way that youths will totally dig. Green MP and Party youth spokesman Gareth Hughes said in a press Read more...

Prostate screening

Posted 6:45am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Andrew Oliver

The results of a long-term Swedish trial, recently published in the British Medical Journal, may suggest that prostate screening is causing more harm than good, according to University of Otago Associate Professor Brian Cox. The research showed that even long-term screening did not significantly Read more...

Bouncing off the Halls - 7

Posted 6:43am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Lozz Holding

In the wake of the recent Health Sci CELS191 terms test, worth a life-threatening 20%, freshers have somehow conspired to be exponentially more annoying than usual. The mass march from St. David’s to Castle has become an even more hazardous obstacle for the rest of the student population, as the Read more...

Chronicles of Castle - 7

Posted 6:41am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Sam Reynolds

It’s been a week of internal flat dramas down here on Castle. The first incident stems back to O Week when one smelly little shit took a cool three hundy cash out on the flatcard. He invested the three hundred in disco biscuits unbeknownst to his flatmates, who were left wondering why they Read more...

Annabel Langbein

Posted 4:19am Monday 11th April 2011 by Georgie Fenwicke

Annabel Langbein has had a busy year so far, travelling through the Europe and the US over the past few months to launch her TV series (now syndicated in 74 markets around the world) and cookbook, The Free Range Cook. You may know her as a friendly face on television or perhaps as the woman on your Read more...

Goff stops in for a coffee at Staff Club. Brings best mates. Hughes not invited. Awkward.

Posted 4:18am Monday 11th April 2011 by Julia Hollingsworth (guest appearance)

In a meeting held in the Otago University Staff Club last Tuesday, Labour frontbenchers unanimously decided to back Goff as leader of the Labour Party. The announcement came amid speculation that a change of leadership could be in the works as a result of Goff’s mishandling of the allegations Read more...

The Dark Knight

Posted 4:16am Monday 11th April 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

Little is known about the character situated above the Proctor in the discipline chain; the very elusive and somewhat secretive Provost. Critic does some digging to find out more about the the man you will get sent to if you’ve been significantly naughtier than your average scarfie. The University Read more...

Hughes usurps Hughes as most respected Hughes in NZ politics. Huh?

Posted 4:14am Monday 11th April 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

Critic caught up with MP Hughes while he was down in Dunedin. No, not that Hughes, the other one – Green MP Gareth Hughes. What are you down in Dunedin to talk to students about? My talk tonight is called “Unfuck the world: cheer up, the future is bright.”  Ah right, did you Read more...

By-elections ya’ll

Posted 4:13am Monday 11th April 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

OUSA is holding a by-election for the positions of International Student Officer and Postgraduate Representative. Elections will be held electronically from April 4 2011 at 9am, until April 7 at 4pm. 2009 International Students Representative Art Kojarunchitt is running unopposed for the Read more...

Death at Unipol Recreation Centre

Posted 4:11am Monday 11th April 2011 by Gregor Whyte

A 24-year old student died whilst using a cross trainer at the Unipol recreation centre on Wednesday March 30. The death occurred around 9.30pm in the upstairs cardio room of the facility. Students present at Unipol during the incident told Critic that the unnamed female student reportedly Read more...

British Universities Greedy. Like Cookie Monster

Posted 4:09am Monday 11th April 2011 by Gregor Whyte

British universities have responded to the opportunity to drastically raise student fees without substantive justification by drastically raising student fees without any justification whatsoever (mostly). British students have responded to this by rioting, burning shit, attacking the motorcades Read more...

Miss University

Posted 4:08am Monday 11th April 2011 by Staff Reporter

Radio station ZM is a running a Miss University contest where ladies can post a charming photo of themselves on the station’s website and be in to win $1000 and a years supply of Subway. This competition is pretty much tailor made for first year UniCol tarts, so get your iPhones out and get Read more...

Cagey Character

Posted 4:07am Monday 11th April 2011 by Staff Reporter

A man has taken to a cage by the side of the road on State Highway 1 for a month to protest against the treatment of battery caged hens. Carl Scott was spurred to protest by a draft code issued by the Government's National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. The draft code called for hens to be Read more...

Insider Trading

Posted 4:05am Monday 11th April 2011 by Teuila Fuatai

University of Otago researchers Dr David Lont and Kate McCune have received international recognition for their work investigating insider share trading in the United States. Together with Professor Paul Griffin of the University of California, the pair performed an eight-year study examining the Read more...

Top Dentistry Award for Otago Student

Posted 4:04am Monday 11th April 2011 by Andrew Oliver

Grace Lee (23), a fifth-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery student at the University of Otago, has been awarded the eminent Hatton International Dental Research Award this month in San Diego, California. Lee was chosen by the International Association for Dental Research for her investigation into Read more...

Bouncing off the Halls - 6

Posted 4:01am Monday 11th April 2011 by Lozz Holding

At this time of year, the look around campus starts to change. Stubbies start getting replaced with warehouse bum-pants, and that healthy summer tan begins to fade into an honest Dunedin white. As well as changing colour, many first years begin to change shape too. Everybody doing first year is Read more...

Business School tests Blackboard-based dating service?

Posted 3:59am Monday 11th April 2011 by Gregor Whyte with reporting by Lozz Holding

The latest online craze predicted to sweep the University of Otago is “Blackboard Dating”, after enterprising business student Sam Love last week used Blackboard’s group email function to attempt to charm a girl known only as “Sarah”. In a move both innovative and profoundly retarded (noted Read more...

Tragic death of Critic contributor

Posted 3:56am Monday 11th April 2011 by Editor

Scott Ridley (23) tragically passed away after a car accident last Thursday March 31, just south of Hampden. The car he was driving collided head-on with a truck. The truck driver, a Christchurch man in his 60s, was found deceased when emergency services arrived at the scene. Scott was airlifted to Read more...

Chronicles of Castle - 6

Posted 3:53am Monday 11th April 2011 by Sam Reynolds

The scene on Castle Street this week was messier than when Edward Scissorhands tried wanking. Things got out of hand as Castle Street’s road was redecorated thanks to a kind soul with a good eye for colour. He or she poured two buckets of paint on the road, one orange and one white. The perpetrator Read more...

Riding in cars with students

Posted 2:25am Tuesday 29th March 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

The Dunedin City Council has plans to stop students from abusing the scarfie ride-share scheme, involving a takedown* of anyone caught breaking its rules. The scheme allows those students attending either the University of Otago or Otago Polytechnic living in a certain zone of Dunedin to share a Read more...

Meager’s feelings hurt: either stupid Exec member or maverick genius to blame

Posted 2:22am Tuesday 29th March 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

A blog authored by former OUSA Executive member James Meager has received disparaging comments from an author claiming to have access to the Postgraduate email account within OUSA. Meager’s blog, “Mydeology”, is described by the author as “where reasonable people Read more...

Carnage/Carnal Report

Posted 2:18am Tuesday 29th March 2011 by Lozz Holding

For those students who have better things to do than dress up like a pregnant nun and try to drink their age in standard drinks, Saturday March 19 was just another day. But for the rest of us, it was one of the social highlights of the year. The amount of creativity that went into decorating Hyde Read more...

Apparently police not stoked about babysitting thousands of drunks. Who could have guessed?

Posted 2:12am Tuesday 29th March 2011 by Lozz Holding

The annual Hyde Street keg party that took place on Saturday March 19 has been criticised, with local police and fire officials arguing the event should not be held in 2012. The event, which has been a highlight on many students’ calendars for years, is now facing an uphill battle to see a Read more...

Labour whip Darren Hughes faces allegations

Posted 2:07am Tuesday 29th March 2011 by Gregor Whyte

Labour MP Darren Hughes last Wednesday stood down from his parliamentary responsibilities after it emerged police were investigating a sexual complaint laid by an 18-year old male Victoria University student. Mr Hughes has categorically denied any wrongdoing. Hughes, the senior whip and Education Read more...

Fired Up

Posted 2:03am Tuesday 29th March 2011 by Lozz Holding

The pyromanic activities of some students at the Hyde Street party have been slammed by fire fighters and officials, with Willowbank fire station officer Grant Clarkson labelling students “idiots” and “sheep”. Clarkson told the Otago Daily Times that “half of our future leaders appear to be Read more...

Execrable - 5

Posted 1:58am Tuesday 29th March 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

Critic bowled in a teeny tiny bit late to the Exec meeting last week and was shocked to find they had started without us. Obviously having Critic there isn’t as special to them as it is to us…*sob* Moving right along, it didn’t seem like we had missed much until Stephanie Ruddock (the now Read more...

Successful Scholar

Posted 1:56am Tuesday 29th March 2011 by Andrew Oliver

First-year University of Otago student Will Coleman has been awarded the prestigious Sir Douglas Myers scholarship for 2011. The scholarship is worth $100,000 per annum and covers four years of study at Cambridge University. The former King’s College Head Boy achieved the highest mark in the Read more...

Canterbury Students Flee

Posted 4:17am Monday 28th March 2011 by Staff Reporter

The University of Canterbury has announced a new exchange opportunity which will allow 42 senior students to study for a term at the University of Oxford. There will be places for 32 honours students and 10 postgraduates students from arts, humanities, social sciences or law. The term will Read more...

Fear and loathing in Dunedin

Posted 4:36am Monday 21st March 2011 by Staff Reporter

Dunedin students, absolved from responsibility over the increasingly violent nature of the inner city, are now taking the opportunity to express the constant and harrowing fear in which they find themselves living. Critic interviewed several students, all of whom wished to remain anonymous for Read more...

University not planning to buy Monkey Bar. Students breath collective sigh of relief

Posted 4:33am Monday 21st March 2011 by Gregor Whyte and Lozz Holding

The University has confirmed that they have no plans to buy popular student nightspot The Monkey Bar and turn it into a cutting-edge research lab for the only part of the University that anyone in power really cares about; the Medical School. Monkey Bar has been listed for sale on popular auction Read more...

Hughes demands students get 454 more Sogos per annum

Posted 4:31am Monday 21st March 2011 by Aimee Gulliver

The Green Party has issued a statement saying that the amount students can borrow for course-related costs should be increased to $1500 to reflect inflation. Critic is frothing at the gash at the idea of the extra moneyz. The current borrowing limit on course-related costs is $1000 each year, an Read more...

Stride captures Critic’s attention. Literally.

Posted 4:29am Monday 21st March 2011 by Staff Reporter

Critic sent a news reporter to speak to OUSA Finance and Services Officer Dan Stride last Thursday in an attempt to weasel information out of him that he had been expressly forbidden from giving us. Stride, however, was playing his cards close to his chest and refused to let slip any juicy details Read more...

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...