Archive
Well that all sounds very nice.
Posted 4:16pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
The University of Otago Campus Master Plan was launched last week at an event in the Link, where the wine flowed and excitement was palpable. This followed an informative lecture to University staff and community leaders in Castle 1 that unveiled the bold and possibly unrealistic plan. Read more...
The Stanford of the South, maybe.
Posted 4:15pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
he University of Otago has launched its Campus Master Plan, intended to guide the development of the University campuses over the next 20 to 25 years. The full plan is nearly 200 pages in length, and covers a huge array of issues. International firm DEWG was commissioned to lead the Read more...
Grad Party #3 Up in Flames
Posted 4:14pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Critic
Grad Party 3 was cancelled late last week due to poor ticket sales. Wilder Promotions Director Callum Fry pulled the plug on the gig, scheduled to be held on over the weekend at Sammy’s, blaming a fickle Dunedin market and a busy month for University work for the poor sales. When Critic spoke Read more...
Another treasure snapped up for offshore interests:
Posted 4:13pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by
University leases 14 Castle Street flats for international students. It appears that the University has taken further steps in it’s ongoing war against the ‘Scarfie’ drinking culture. The University has leased a number of Castle Street flats from tenancy Read more...
BUDGET 2010 : Few surprises for the tertiary sector.
Posted 4:12pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
Students were not lead to expect much from last week’s Budget announcement and it turned out to be as boring and lacklustre as expected with all the main points signalled ahead of time. The big news for students was a raft of changes to the student loans and allowances programmes, Read more...
Budget News Analysis: From The Right
Posted 4:10pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Edward Greig
Tax is the main Budget feature this year, and it has been delivered on. Of course, those on lower incomes will be getting fewer extra dollars a week, but it is important not to forget that those on higher rates already pay a lot more tax in absolute terms. Taking the GST rise into account, Read more...
Budget News Analysis: From The Left
Posted 4:09pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Dominic Szeker
Last week, Finance Minister Bill English presented the “Don’t Be Jealous” Budget to New Zealand. Tax reform was the biggest feature. The spin-doctor at Crosby/Textor who came up with the tagline ‘Tax Shift’ probably got a nice bonus. Good frames don’t save bad paintings, though, and numerous voices Read more...
Bouncing off the Halls - 12
Posted 3:49pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by
We learned that at UniCol, after constant nagging from his girlfriend, one particular young man went out and bought some pills that allowed him to keep nocturnal activities interesting for more than sixty seconds. For whatever reason, he then decided to sell them off to his mates, and Read more...
Simon Moore SC
Posted 3:32pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Georgie Fenwicke
Simon Moore SC is a real-world Denny Crane -- without the mad-cow. A Crown Prosecutor for Auckland since 1994, Moore has appeared in a number of New Zealand's most prolific criminal trials. Animated and knowledgable, he spoke to graduating Law and Commerce students over the weekend. Critic Read more...
Otago Powerbroker.
Posted 3:26pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Teuila Fuatai
The University of Otago is part of a new, select, international group of outstanding universities, dubbed the ‘Matariki Network of Universities’ (MNU). Members of the MNU are research-intensive and campus-based, with a focus on providing a high-quality student experience. The Read more...
Professor Gains Top Publication.
Posted 3:25pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Teuila Fuatai
Inconsistent diagnoses of illnesses and the varied treatment paths prescribed are a major problem in the practice of medicine. After being awarded a Harkness Fellowship at Boston University, University of Otago Health Policy Associate Professor Robin Gauld spent a year investigating this Read more...
The College that Cried Wolf.
Posted 3:24pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
Knox College got a little hot under the collar on Wednesday night last week, with not one, but two, fire evacuations on the same night. Both callouts involved multiple fire appliances, and residents were forced out into the night air for a little bit of bonding. Critic attempted to contact Read more...
Another one bites the dust.
Posted 3:23pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
The second OUSA Executive resignation of the year occurred last week as Health Sci Rep Presant Singh quit his post, citing a busy schedule that meant he could not fulfil his duties. By-elections for the now open post in Health Sciences, and for the already vacated Postgraduate Rep Read more...
Lazy Politicians.
Posted 3:23pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by
The Select Committee deciding the fate of student services has resolved to report back at the end of September, not the end of this month as it had originally planned. The committee received a huge number of submissions regarding the bill, and preliminary counts appear to show a large Read more...
All Fun and Games.
Posted 3:22pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
The first SGM of the year took place last Thursday, with about 200 students showing up. he first motions – accepting the audited accounts, and appointing auditors, solicitors, and reinstating Donna Jones as secretary – passed unanimously. Proposed Constitutional changes and Read more...
Finally, justice for the puppies.
Posted 3:21pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Calida Smylie
A new group on campus is aiming to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. Student Animal Legal Defence Fund (SALDF) is the student branch of the international organisation the Animal Legal Defence Fund, a non-profit group devoted to enhancing the welfare and Read more...
Proctology - 11
Posted 3:20pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Tailgunner Joe
The Proctor was getting ready to attend his granddaughter’s birthday party when I arrived to interview him this week, although he also allowed of his charges that “they’ve gone mad this week”. This might bring to mind visions of hordes of unhinged lunatics rampaging across campus. You have to Read more...
OUSA staff member gets buzzy on US excursion.
Posted 3:17pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Guy Wilson
A new ‘40-point drinking plan’ has been floated to deal with Scarfie alcohol abuse. The plan is the product of a year-long trip to the US by OUSA Events Manager Vanessa Reddy. Reddy toured dozens of major US universities, investigating how different campuses have tackled the problem Read more...
Execrable - 11
Posted 3:16pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
If there’s one thing Critic learnt last week, it’s that Budget Revision (BR) is a bore. Officially, BR is when the Executive makes adjustments to the budget. Unofficially, BR is when Meager’s head threatens to explode with his sense of self-importance. Motions were carried that the Read more...
Capping Week: Uni gets wrong end of the stick
Posted 3:14pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
Enrolments in tertiary institutions are increasing beyond sustainable levels, causing both Otago and Victoria to take measures to limit them. At Otago, enrolments for semester two are to be capped, with further caps for next year in the works. The caps were part of a recommendation from the Read more...
It’s Officially Official: Design Now Fully Dead.
Posted 3:13pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
The fate of the Design Department was sealed last week by the University Council, which voted to pass the proposed recommendations from the Senate. The recommendations state that the Design Department should be disestablished, and deleted as a major subject. Transitional arrangements Read more...
Helicopter parents and douches asked to stay away this year.
Posted 3:12pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Anthony Riseley
The Society of Otago Law Students (SOULS) is having its annual quiz night, complete with subsidised drinks and sponsored by law firm Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, this Wednesday at the Captain Cook Tavern. This arrangement is strikingly similar to last year’s event, also held at the Cook on a Read more...
Adam Thomson
Posted 2:40pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Critic
Straight back from a win over the Brumbies last weekend, Adam Thomson's season is really just beginning. With two more games to play in Australia (at the time this interview went to press), AND the provincial season and the All Black tours still to come, it is sure to be a long year. This is Read more...
Dunedin the New Milan?
Posted 2:35pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Anthony Riseley
Two Dunedin fashion graduates will compete on the international fashion design stage, after being selected to contend at the prestigious Mittelmoda Fashion Awards. Sophie Brooke Hardy and Roxanna Zamani will travel to Gorizia in northeast Italy at the end of June, and the Read more...
Rabbit Virus Vaccine for Cancer.
Posted 2:34pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
A University of Otago team has developed a potential cure for colo-rectal cancer based on a virus that affects rabbits. The therapy is now moving closer to human trials, the ODT reported last week. Dr Sarah Young, an immunologist at the University of Otago, says the treatment is “like gold Read more...
FairTrade Fortnight.
Posted 2:33pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
FairTrade Fortnight, designed to raise awareness about the fair trade message, starts today. The first event is a coffee giveaway, taking place at the OUSA main office between 11.30 and 1pm today. The Exec and the Fair Trade Steering Committee will be grinding coffee to give away to anyone who Read more...
Cook Loses Licence.
Posted 2:32pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
The popular student watering hole The Captain Cook Tavern has had its licence suspended for 24 hours after the Liquor Licensing Board upheld a complaint that it had encouraged excess drinking by selling jugs for $3.50 at a Society of Otago Law Students (SOULS) Quiz night. Clearly having studied Read more...
Geoghegan Gagging To Get Out The Broom.
Posted 2:31pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Calida Smylie
The OUSA President wants to scrap almost all OUSA policy and start over. At the OUSA Student General Meeting (SGM), which will be held on Thursday at midday on the Union Lawn, President Harriet Geoghegan is intending to move a motion relevant to OUSA external policy. “I am Read more...
Mic Check
Posted 2:30pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by
Last week saw the launch of NZMiC, or the New Zealand Music Industry Centre, at Albany Street Studios, coinciding with the start of New Zealand Music Month. NZMiC is a collaborative effort between members of the University of Otago Music Department and Dunedinmusic.com Ltd, a local music Read more...
Arts Students Too Poor To Attend Graduation
Posted 2:29pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
Graduation fever has hit town, with Science graduation taking place on Saturday. 500 students graduated in person, and 110 students in absentia. The Commerce and Law graduations will take place this weekend with 429 students graduated in person, and 70 in absentia. The Arts graduation has 339 Read more...
Token Weekly Steven Joyce Story.
Posted 2:28pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
A very small cloud looms over students’ futures as the Government considers charging an annual fee to more than 500 000 people with student debt. The fee is expected to be around $50 a year for every person with outstanding student debt, and will net the Government approximately $15 million. Read more...
After The Dust Has Settled.
Posted 2:27pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
Some University of Otago Design Studies students are distressed about how they were treated in the lead-up to the decision to close the Department. Although a silent protest did not change the outcome of the Senate meeting last week which voted to disestablish the Department, Read more...
One down, three to go.
Posted 2:24pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
In the wake of the closure of the Design Studies Department, Critic can reveal that three other departments are also under review. The three departments are: the Department of Social Work and Community Development; the Departments of Accountancy and Business Law and Finance and Read more...
Bouncing off the Halls - 10
Posted 2:23pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by
Aquinas, usually so studious and reserved, is in the midst of a Hall-wide alcohol ban brought on by some hefty property destruction. The recently-installed hallway lights took a massive beating a few weeks back, after the usual Saturday night banter turned from school disco nervousness into a Read more...
Computer Says No.
Posted 2:21pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
Students found themselves locked out of Blackboard after the University of Otago took action against students with unpaid debts, and a few other unfortunate souls who hadn’t done anything wrong. The Blackboard blackout was the University’s response to rising numbers of Read more...
Get Them Young.
Posted 2:20pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Teuila Fuatai
Public health researchers from the University of Otago campus in Wellington have published a study critical of the New Zealand Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) regulation of food advertising to children. The research contends that the ASA self-regulatory system for controlling Read more...
Dr. Claire Bretherton
Posted 1:34pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Georgie Fenwicke
Dr. Claire Bretherton was at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in the UK before recently migrating to work at the newly-redeveloped Carter Observatory in Wellington. Seeing as she holds a doctorate in astronomy, specialising in galaxies, Critic thought Dr. Bretherton would be the perfect person to Read more...
NZ Music Month on Radio One.
Posted 1:26pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
As you may or may not know (see what we did there?), May is New Zealand Music Month. Radio One will be bringing more events than you can shake a stick at. Kicking off the month is Die! Die! Die! with special guests SEWAGE playing at Kings High School Auditorium, 270 Bay View Road, Read more...
2010 Alternative Budget Competition
Posted 1:26pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
The Productive Economy Council and NZMEA are sponsoring a competition to design an ‘Alternative Budget’, which is open to all university students. The winning team in the nation-wide competition will receive $7000, while the three other finalists will receive $1000 per team. Read more...
OUSA Postgraduate Rep Resigns.
Posted 1:25pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gregor Whyte
OUSA Postgraduate Rep Amith Koleth has resigned from the Executive, citing personal reasons necessitating his return to India. OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan says, “Amith did lots of good works and I would like to extend my thanks to him.” She added that Amith had put in Read more...
Submissions on VSM bill begin.
Posted 1:23pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Jacob McSweeny, Salient
Approximately 65 million years ago, an asteroid hit the Earth and became the catalyst that contributed to the extinction of dinosaurs. Some believe VSM (voluntary student membership) could be that asteroid for students’ associations nation-wide if Sir Roger Douglas’ Education (Freedom of Read more...
Proctology - 09
Posted 1:21pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Tailgunner Joe
I had to spend some time in the Proctor’s waiting room this week, in the company of a trio of young gentlemen who were being hauled in for a discussion about something or other (large-scale white-collar insider trading fraud, by the looks of them). As we whiled away the minutes, one of these Read more...
University to compete with diabetics, cancer kids, puppies.
Posted 1:19pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Anthony Riseley
The Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has indicated that universities will have to rely more on charitable donations, commercialisation, and foreign student fees for funding when the 2010 Budget is announced. Joyce says there is a limit to how much taxpayers could support the tertiary Read more...
Critic Rates The Exec (part 02)
Posted 1:18pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Critic
Katie Bryan – Rizzo the Rat Commerce Representative Critic had never seen this “Katie” character previous to the presentation of her first report, and apparently neither had the Executive, as Katie has been spending a large proportion of her time with OCOM. Her first Read more...
Execrable - 09
Posted 1:16pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
RIP the three hours and thirty-three minutes Critic spent in the boardroom. You will be sorely missed. Suffice it to say, the meeting dragged on, to the point where someone could have watched The Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition AND made two-minute noodles during the time. Or, in Read more...
Ding-Dong Design is Dead
Posted 1:13pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by
The University of Otago Design Studies School will be disbanded, after a closed-door meeting of the University Senate on Wednesday last week. Senate meetings are always off-limits to the media and public, but Critic understands that Vice Chancellor Sir Professor David Skegg made a Read more...
Dunedin on High Alert After Two Days of Terror
Posted 1:11pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by
Dunedin residents are beginning to nervously venture into the streets again after the city was rocked by two bomb scares in two days. The nightmare began on Thurday, April 22 when the ‘International’ Airport was shut down due to a “suspicious package” found in the Read more...
Bernard Hickey
Posted 4:02am Monday 28th June 2010 by Georgie Fenwicke
Bernard Hickey is a financial journalist who has worked as the former Managing Editor of Business at Fairfax and held positions at Reuters and the Financial Times Group. Today, he is the Managing Editor of interest.co.nz and a regular contributor to the New Zealand Herald business section. A rather Read more...
Otago Study: Limit Teens’ TV Time
Posted 4:00am Monday 28th June 2010 by Anthony Riseley
Researchers from the University of Otago have published a study that found young people who viewed more television tended to have poorer relationships with friends and family. This is perhaps the 1, 045, 874th study of this kind. The study involved 3 043 New Zealand adolescents aged 14 Read more...
Joyce's choices not universally well received
Posted 3:59am Monday 28th June 2010 by
Newly crowned Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has begun his reign by attempting to tackle the problem of completion and retention rates among tertiary students. Specifically, he is unhappy about the current loan system, and is also focusing his guns on over-20s entry and second-chance Read more...
Save Our Services
Posted 3:54am Monday 28th June 2010 by Paul Comrie-Thomson and Angela Mabey
The battle to ‘save New Zealand's student associations’ was kicked off with the Save our Services campaign launch in Wellington last week. The NZUSA-driven Save our Services (SOS) campaign brings together a number of organisations that oppose Roger Douglas’ Education (Freedom of Association) Read more...
Would you like Coke, Pepsi, or an injection of youth?
Posted 3:52am Monday 28th June 2010 by
At 28, Greens MP Gareth Hughes is the youngest sitting Member of Parliament, but he doesn’t think that is a disadvantage. “I think my youth is a benefit … it makes me more accessible … everyone should be represented.” Growing up in Gisbourne in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Read more...
Fortune Favours Those Who Randomly Tick Boxes
Posted 3:50am Monday 28th June 2010 by Guy Wilson
This year’s Fresher Comp winner is one Jacqui Gale, an 18-year-old Health Sci student currently residing at UniCol. Gale saw off her competitors in a week that involved karaoke, fire-eating, and abseiling down the side of the Chemistry Building. The final event involved an offal Read more...
Execrable
Posted 3:49am Monday 28th June 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
The first OUSA meeting of the year (well, the first Critic deemed worthy of attendance) saw the room brimming with as much excitement as a primary school dance. The girls and boys were even seated on opposite sides of the room. Chirpy stories were swapped, but best of all was Read more...
Leave your guns at home, Gerry, Don't take your guns to town
Posted 3:47am Monday 28th June 2010 by Jackson James Wood and Gregor Whyte
Minister for Energy Gerry Brownlee rode into town last week with his Stetson and six shooter only to find out that he should've left his guns at home to avoid shooting his mouth off. Comments about Voluntary Student Membership made by Brownlee following a meeting with the Otago Young Read more...
Win an OE
Posted 3:46am Monday 28th June 2010 by
Jenny Stein has returned from the trip of a lifetime. After submittting an entry at myOE.com, Jenny was invited to make a video about herself, which she duly did. The next thing she knew she was in the UK on an all-expenses-paid OE. The two-week trip took her all across the UK, visiting places Read more...
International Women’s Day
Posted 3:46am Monday 28th June 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
Monday March 8 is the 99th International Women’s Day. Fifteen countries, including Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Moldova, celebrate International Women’s Day as an official holiday. Unfortunately, no such luck in New Zealand, so everyone will still be expected to turn up to lectures Read more...
OUSA Great Bucket Delivery
Posted 3:45am Monday 28th June 2010 by Calida Smylie
Flat still filthy after O-Week? If so, the OUSA Great Bucket Delivery should be right up your alley. Flats in need of some cleaning gear can email their address to welfare@ousa.org.nz with ‘Buckets’ in the subject line. The first 180 entries will get a bucket delivered to their flat Read more...
Students Arrive, Coathanger Shortage Ensues
Posted 4:11am Tuesday 18th May 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
Thousands of students arrived in Dunedin last week, much to the excitement of local businesses. Over 20 000 students are enrolled at the University of Otago, many of whom have come from out of town. A large proportion of these students came into the city within a two-day period over the Read more...
Realationships under microscope
Posted 4:00am Tuesday 18th May 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
A review of the University of Otago ethics policy, which may ultimately result in tighter restrictions on student-staff relationships, is currently underway. The review originated as a result of Sophie Elliott’s murder at the hands of her tutor Clayton Weatherston. In total sixteen Read more...
Science Exec off to Cambridge
Posted 3:57am Tuesday 18th May 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
Last year’s Science Representative on the OUSA Executive has been awarded a prestigious Woolf Fisher scholarship to support her postgraduate study at Cambridge University. Nathalie Saurat is one of three students nationwide to be awarded the scholarship, which is selected by a panel of Read more...
Proctology - 01
Posted 3:54am Tuesday 18th May 2010 by Tailgunner Joe
The Proctor is the University official charged with discipline on campus. Behind his genial boys-will-be-boys demeanour and splendid moustache is a very practical and unsentimental man who, for the duration of your enrolment, has more statutory authority over you than any public employee this side Read more...
For when you realise that all 1800 of you aren’t getting into Med …
Posted 3:37am Tuesday 18th May 2010 by Gregor Whyte
For all those students who know they want to be at university, but aren’t quite sure what they should be studying, comes an innovative and award-winning piece of software developed at the University of Otago. Otago Choice asks users to answer questions on their interests and then ranks the 103 major Read more...
Bainimarama would never let Dane Rumble play at his party
Posted 3:35am Tuesday 18th May 2010 by
The news media are pissed off with OUSA over a form they were forced to sign before they could film inside Orientation gigs. The gag, in the form of a contract, demands that media who are filming any O-Week event refrain from recording any material showing students drinking excess amounts of Read more...
University forced to sell kidney to get by
Posted 3:38am Monday 10th May 2010 by Anthony Riseley
University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Sir Professor David Skegg is pushing for the Government to invest more in universities, saying New Zealand institutions are likely to lose high calibre staff and students to Australia if funding continues as it is. The University of Otago has a strong Read more...
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the Clutha …
Posted 3:37am Monday 10th May 2010 by Julia Hollingsworth
Former Cambridge University coach Grant Craies is the newly appointed Head Coach of the 70-strong Otago University Rowing Club. Craies began coaching in 1994 after representing New Zealand and winning championship gold medals in 1993. Craies’ coaching highlight to date has been his Read more...
Government Set to Wean Addicted Students Off Loan Teat
Posted 3:36am Monday 10th May 2010 by Calida Smylie
The Government has planned significant changes to student loan eligibility, which include cutting loans to students who take too long to finish their undergraduate degrees and introducing a requirement that students pass half of all their courses to remain eligible. Tertiary Education Read more...
Couch Fire of Unusual Stupidity
Posted 3:35am Monday 10th May 2010 by
For most of us, the Bloodhound Gang’s ‘The Roof is on Fire’ is something we sing along to whilst pissed, without it having too much relevance to real life. However, for University of Otago students Phoebe Roach, Kylie Campbell, Jess Findsen, Josie Mooney, Alana Bright, and Julia Prier, the song Read more...
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