Archive
OUSA Exec Gives Birth to Student Charter
Posted 4:53pm Saturday 19th July 2025 by Gryffin Blockley
OUSA’s proposed Student Charter was finally approved at last week’s Exec meeting, birthing it into the wonderful world of policy and bureaucracy. The charter outlines key issues and priorities that students are facing in Dunedin – unfortunately lowering the price of butter did not Read more...
The Rise and Fall of the Green Solo
Posted 4:48pm Saturday 19th July 2025 by Zoe Eckhoff
Ah the kakariki takitahi, a force that once breathed minty nicotine into the lungs of breathas and sheathas alike. But no more, for its reign hath come to a halt. Before the eve of June 17th there was a time when you couldn’t walk down George Street on a Saturday night without seeing the Read more...
Breaking News: You Might Be on Meth and Not Even Know It
Posted 4:47pm Saturday 19th July 2025 by Molly Smith-Soppet
If you felt like O-Week hit harder this year, it wasn't just the hangxiety talking. We felt the same, so we’ve done it again; we hit up the Police to analyse everyone’s piss, and fuck you had a good O-Week! There was a dramatic surge in MDMA consumption across Dunedin during February Read more...
Critical Tribune: University of Otago Reveals Rainbet Sponsorship
Posted 4:18pm Saturday 19th July 2025 by Anderson Coomer
A University of Otago spokesperson, operating under the Instagram handle UoOslaps, has revealed a controversial new partnership with offshore gambling platform Rainbet. In an Instagram Reel featuring a desk littered with paperwork, a leaked law exam, and printouts of boomer complaints from Read more...
Critic Census Reveals Students’ Opinion on Uni’s Institutionally Neutral Stance
Posted 2:44pm Monday 14th July 2025 by Nina Brown
The University issued a statement on institutional neutrality on May 8th in response to mounting pressure to have a political stance on the genocide in Palestine. Shortly afterward, Critic Te Ārohi ran its fifth annual census, published on May 13th, including the question: “Do you think Read more...
Students Swarm the Beehive: Youth Parliament Debriefed
Posted 1:01pm Monday 14th July 2025 by Jonathan McCabe
Youth Parliament provides a socially acceptable setting for rangatahi to yell at a room full of important people. The biggest news story to come from Youth Parliament were the accusations of censoring the youth voice, levied against the Ministry of Youth Development (MYD). Critic Te Ārohi had a Read more...
(OUSA) Greening Out: Second Quarter Reports Summarised
Posted 12:59pm Monday 14th July 2025 by Gryffin Blockley
Two quarters (for non math majors: half) of a year in, it’s been hectic for the OUSA Executive. They’ve been no strangers to Critic Te Ārohi’s headlines, with a referendum, BDS postures and questions of Political Rep Jett’s conflict of interest making appearances – Read more...
Law Exam Leak Labelled “Crippling”
Posted 12:51pm Monday 14th July 2025 by Sam Smith-Soppet
On the morning of Friday June 6, Law students had been gearing up for one of their biggest exams of Semester One, LAWS407 Company Law. A couple of hours before the exam, however, they received an email from the University advising that following a breach of academic conduct, they’d been forced Read more...
Campus Banksy Calls Out ‘Old Boys' Club’ Exec
Posted 12:46pm Tuesday 17th June 2025 by Nina Brown
In the wake of news that Political Rep Jett Groshinski will be running for council and continuing in his role despite a conflict of interest, anti-OUSA Exec propaganda posters have popped up on notice boards around campus calling for Jett to resign. As of writing, Jett tells Critic he has no plans Read more...
Council-Gunning Political Rep’s Conflict of Interest
Posted 3:50pm Tuesday 3rd June 2025 by Nina Brown
With a cheesy ODT photoshoot and a big wide grin, on Wednesday, May 21st OUSA’s Political Representative Jett Groshinski announced his Labour-endorsed bid to stand for Local Body Elections (LBE). Over the course of two (rather tense) Exec meetings, they have collectively decided on a conflict Read more...
Online Gambling Platform Illegally Promotes Through Students
Posted 5:54pm Sunday 25th May 2025 by Sam Smith-Soppet
Online gambling monolith, Rainbet, has come into the spotlight for their advertising strategy in New Zealand, dishing out the cash for Gen Z influencers to promote gambling to their peers – some right here in Dunedin. The catch: it’s not exactly legal. Rainbet has been using student Read more...
Campus Creeps (and what to do about them)
Posted 5:52pm Sunday 25th May 2025 by Gryffin Blockley
A student has approached Critic Te Ārohi with an uncomfortable situation that took place in the Staff Club café, involving a “creepy” encounter with an older man who could not take a hint. Anita* originally reached out to Critic with a letter to the Editor after an Read more...
Rachel Brooking’s Stance for Students
Posted 5:29pm Sunday 25th May 2025 by Hanna Varrs
Politics are at the forefront of people’s minds in a local body election year – most of all your local politicians, such as Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking. For many students, Dunedin living is a temporary situation, nestled in North D for three years before jetting back to Te Read more...
The Great Cup Snatch: Takeaway Cups Gone from Campus Cafés
Posted 5:23pm Sunday 25th May 2025 by Jonathan McCabe
Uni-owned cafés were rocked by a surprise email on the 7th of May, being served with the ice-cold news that iced drinks could no longer be served in biodegradable plastic takeaway cups. In a huge loss for people who actually go to class, students will no longer be able to carry around their Read more...
Breaking In, Throwing Up
Posted 5:21pm Sunday 25th May 2025 by Molly Smith-Soppet
A Roslyn flat got more than they bargained for on a quiet Friday night when a drunk student broke into their home, took off his shoes, and vomited into a flatmate's hamper – all while apologising profusely. Daniel, a recent PhD grad (yes, Doctor Daniel) had been asleep in bed when he Read more...
Mould-Mapping North D
Posted 4:52pm Sunday 25th May 2025 by Hunter Jolly
Last week, the Tenancy Compliance and Investigation Team (TCIT) did the rounds of North-D flats. The government-run team sieged (door-knocked) flats to check that they are complying with the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. In other words, to check whether students have been slumming it in Read more...
Political (In)Action Committee?
Posted 10:52pm Sunday 18th May 2025 by Gryffin Blockley
Amnesty Youth Otago (AYO) and the Politics Students Association (POLSA) have expressed concern to Critic Te Ārohi over OUSA’s new Political Action Committee (PAC), citing worries about inclusion and representation. PAC is supposedly a committee formed to assist Political Rep Jett Read more...
Marine Science Students Refunded After Unfair Paper Charges Revealed
Posted 10:49pm Sunday 18th May 2025 by Gryffin Blockley
In great news for Mako Mermaid fans-turned-students, MARI403 students have been refunded the $267.89 more they were paying for the exact same paper as ECOL411 students. This comes after Critic reported on the disparity last week, thanks to a tip-off from ECOL411 student and OUSA Academic Rep Stella Read more...
Exec SLASHES 82% of Referendum Questions
Posted 10:43pm Sunday 18th May 2025 by Nina Brown
After begging students to submit questions for the biannual OUSA referendum, the Exec has slashed the final list of 103 questions to just 19. Students will soon be invited to flex their democratic muscles and vote a hearty “yes”, disapproving “no” or an apathetic “I Read more...
The Heavy Breathers Are Back, Baby
Posted 10:40pm Sunday 18th May 2025 by Tilly Rumball-Smith
In 2023, a group of 33 third-year boys, calling themselves the ‘Heavy Breathers’, raised 100k to support men’s mental health. The Breathers ran the Emerson’s Dunedin Marathon, donating their proceeds to mental health charity Spark That Chat. And for 2025, they’re back. Read more...


