Archive

Some Gymmers Still Ignoring Unipol’s Level 2 Rules

Posted 1:08am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Denzel Chung

With the drop to Alert Level 2 came the long-awaited re-opening of Unipol. However, it seems that gym-deprived students have not been obeying the new Level 2 restrictions.  Unipol announced their re-opening in a Facebook post last Wednesday evening, saying that their doors would open for the Read more...

Office Plants Sentenced to Death By University

Posted 1:05am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Asia Martusia King

On Friday 2 September, postgraduate students and staff across Otago campuses were allocated 15-minute slots to re-enter campus and retrieve essential research material. Office plants were explicitly forbidden to be rescued. Some postgraduate students are reportedly “devastated” by Read more...

Flat Parties May Require Sign-Ins

Posted 1:03am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Fox Meyer

New Level 2 guidelines mean you’ll have to take attendance at flat parties. Hon Chris Hipkins said last week that any places where “people gather consistently and in large numbers” must abide by attendance-keeping rules. This means scanning in, signing in, or whatever other method Read more...

How Otago Will Function at Delta 2

Posted 12:55am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Erin Gourley

All updates in this article are accurate as of Thursday 9 September.  Since Level 2 (Delta Edition) was announced, students have been wondering how the University would function under the new guidelines. There were a few chains of communication that operated slowly, with the Ministry of Read more...

Extra Course-Related Costs Look Unlikely

Posted 3:01pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

During the lockdown last year, the Government gave us the ability to put ourselves into an extra $1,000 of debt by expanding the course related costs scheme. But not this year. Students remain frustrated at the lack of financial support.  Education Minister Chris Hipkins did not respond in Read more...

Passwords Changed to Boot Exec from Social Media

Posted 2:57pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Erin Gourley

The OUSA Exec was given a taste of social media access and now they want more.  During the first few days of lockdown, they were given access to OUSA’s Instagram and Facebook in order to promote the Exec election. Just a little bit, as a treat. That meant that the elected students on Read more...

A Third of Hall Residents Headed Home

Posted 2:44pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Fox Meyer

Following the quick shift into Level 4, many hall residents decided to gap it back home rather than stay in Dunedin. The University was quick to offer a 100% rebate to students and subwardens who left their residential colleges for lockdown. President Michaela Waite-Harvey said that OUSA was Read more...

“Cursed” Pint Night Gig Postponed for Fourth Time

Posted 2:39pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Fox Meyer

One specific Pint Night line-up have had their gig postponed and rescheduled four times in a row due to Covid. Since the first lockdown cancelled their original Pint Night on 18 March 2020, Rezzy Crooks, Jam Henderson and Alex Dykes have been trying their best to get on the subterranean stage, to no Read more...

Students Voice Support for Ending Conversion Therapy

Posted 1:55pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Elliot Weir

As the September 8 deadline for public submissions looms, numerous churches, many with Otago student groups, have publicly expressed concern over the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill. After this deadline, the Bill will appear before the Justice Select Committee. Many activist, Read more...

Uni Loo Rolls Linked To Deforestation, Human Rights Abuses

Posted 1:50pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Denzel Chung

Otago Uni is buying toilet paper from a company linked to deforestation and human rights abuses, particularly in Indonesia. This company has been blacklisted by tens of environmental groups worldwide, including Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Your flat will probably have a few Read more...

International Students “Neglected” During Lockdown

Posted 1:41pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Denzel Chung

Major avenues for international students to get financial support have been shut down by the Government, with no replacement in sight. The New Zealand International Students’ Association (NZISA) have claimed this shows international students are being “neglected” by both the Read more...

Close Election Sees 15% Of Students Elect New Exec

Posted 1:35pm Sunday 5th September 2021 by Denzel Chung

A new OUSA Exec for 2022 was appointed over lockdown. The races this year were very close, with most races won by just a percentage point or two.  Three of the races were a foregone conclusion: President (won by Melissa Lama), Finance & Strategy (won by Emily Fau-Goodwin) and Political Read more...

No Internet? You're Not Alone

Posted 2:05pm Friday 3rd September 2021 by Erin Gourley

UPDATE: The internet is back, as of 2.15pm. Hope everyone with an assignment due this arvo can recover from this 25-minute break. Turns out the outage was caused by DDOS attack. Wifi outages are affecting all of New Zealand at the moment.    The issues appear to affect Orcon, Read more...

The Students Behind the Forsyth Barr Vaccine Clinic

Posted 5:36pm Monday 30th August 2021 by Erin Gourley

The student leaders behind the pop-up vaccination clinic at Forsyth Barr stadium feel that their concerns were ignored by the University. Melissa Lama and Karamea Pēwhairangi gave up on asking the University for help with establishing a student-focused vaccination clinic. They turned to Te Read more...

Main Building of Wellington Campus Evacuated

Posted 9:52pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Fox Meyer

Users of the main building on Otago’s Wellington campus were told on Thursday 12 August that they would need to relocate for at least a month. The building was found to be compliant with just 15% of the earthquake safety requirements of New Zealand’s New Building Standard. Staff and Read more...

OUSA Exec Candidates Say, Unanimously, “Please Vote For Me”

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by

In what would prove to be their last chance to greet the voting public before lockdown, OUSA’s candidates for the 2022 Exec took the stage last week to share their plans for the coming year. All of the forums were held in the Main Common Room. The Presidential race was uncontested from day Read more...

The People Demand Health Sci Data

Posted 2:57pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Denzel Chung

Over half of the Official Information Act (OIA) requests sent to the Uni through FYI.org.nz revolve around getting into health professional programmes. 40% of these were about getting into med. Under the OIA, any citizen of Aotearoa New Zealand is able to ask for any official information held by Read more...

Castle’s Lockdown-Breaching Party Was “Bound to Happen”

Posted 2:54pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Fox Meyer

“It was just like any other Saturday night in Dunedin, but it was on a Tuesday, which is why it felt quite bizarre when the police came in wearing full face-masks.”  Such is the scene set by Emilio*, a second-year Castle Street resident, as he described the inside of the flat Read more...

Liquor Lines Lengthen in Lead Up to Level 4

Posted 2:27pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Fox Meyer

Student priorities were made obvious on the night of Tuesday 18 August, following the announcement that the entire country would return to Level 4 for the first time in 477 days. Queues outside of Leith Liquor stretched all the way to the street, with students reporting that the inside of the Read more...

Ominous Uni Email Spooks Students

Posted 2:25pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Fox Meyer

With a jarring entry back into Level 4, many students were met with unwelcome news from the University. The announcement said that online learning and exam options were not guaranteed, and that the graduation scheduled for 21 August would be cancelled. Whilst the graduation cancellation was not Read more...