Archive

“Farewell After 45 Years, Here, Have a Coffee and a Christmas Voucher”

Posted 2:42pm Sunday 9th May 2021 by Denzel Chung

Just two months after asking for “a bit of respect, a bit of courtesy” from her workplace of 45 years, Sue Loan who previously co-ordinated delivery of newspapers across Dunedin, received a 15 minute coffee break and two New World vouchers left over from Christmas.  “We are Read more...

“Democracy is Dead”

Posted 2:38pm Sunday 9th May 2021 by Fox Meyer

Sign Up Club’s 30 April OUSA SGM ended not with a bang, but a fizzle. The only motion to pass was an increase in pay for ex-officio positions at OUSA. This raised the pay for the Te Roopū Māori Tumuaki Karamea Pēwhairangi and Pasifika Students Association’s President Read more...

“Where Them Students At? Students At?” Ask Protesters

Posted 2:34pm Sunday 9th May 2021 by Denzel Chung

May 1 saw two protests happening in the Octagon simultaneously, with organisers lamenting a lack of student activism in a city once known for rowdy student-led protests.  The annual J Day protest, organised by the Ōtepoti Cannabis Collective, was designed to continue pushing for Read more...

Students Targeted With Anti-Vax Propaganda

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 9th May 2021 by Fox Meyer

On Thursday 6 May, studentville was bombarded with flyers full of bullshit about the Covid vaccine. The flyers could be found on Castle Street, George Street, and Queen Street.  They were created by the anti-vax group “Voices for Freedom”, founded by three “passionate Kiwi Read more...

Exchanges To Aus Starting Next Semester

Posted 2:24pm Sunday 9th May 2021 by Fox Meyer

Your Tinder pool will finally increase past 69 people next semester, as students will be able to jump back and forth across the ditch on exchange. Danielle Yamamoto Kerr told Critic that Otago and its Aussie partner universities will resume the exchanges in the second semester after several Read more...

Admin Job Losses Actually Led to Larger Departments

Posted 2:21pm Sunday 9th May 2021 by Denzel Chung

The University initiative which cut 160 support staff jobs for “efficiency” has led to the hiring of at least 170 full-time equivalent staff to replace them. The Support Services Review (SSR) was implemented by then Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne, and basically involved yeeting many Read more...

Gigs Suffer From Noise Complaints

Posted 10:13pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Denzel Chung

Local musicians and venue owners are pushing the DCC to stop noise complaints “killing live music,” after a folk gig at Dog With Two Tails was shut down because noise control could “hear it from a carpark.” As if that wasn’t the whole point. Dave Bennett was sound Read more...

Students Really Suck At Returning Library Books On Time

Posted 5:10pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

I have a confession to make. I’m a criminal. My $9 library fine (for a second-year psychology textbook, if you must know) is now over a year overdue and contributes to precisely 0.39% of the $2321.20 in library fines incurred by Uni and Polytech students. Campus Watch, you know where to find Read more...

Departments Inconsistent on Disability Note-taking Service

Posted 5:06pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Eileen Corcoran

750 students across the university receive lecture notes from peer note-takers, but inconsistencies across departments are still a barrier for some students with learning disabilities. Disability Information and Support provides a range of assistance to around 1500 students each year, half of Read more...

Meat-Free Mondays Means More Mindfulness Of Mother Nature

Posted 5:02pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

Anyone who relies on Cafe Albany for their daily caffeine hit may have recently noticed a lower quantity of meat being sold on Mondays. This is part of a new University sustainability initiative. According to Campus and Collegiate Life Services Director James Lindsay, Cafe Albany “started Read more...

Cryptocurrency Connoisseurs Create Club

Posted 4:58pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Fox Meyer

A new OUSA-affiliated club wants to spread the word about Bitcoin and all the other cryptocurrencies that Critic Te Arohi doesn’t know the name of, but presumably exist. Campbell Miller and his flatmate started the crypto club this year to fill a void they saw in the club scene. “I Read more...

Otago Students Raise Over $100k During Relay For Life

Posted 4:55pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

In an incredible effort unmatched by any other university in the country, Otago students raised over $100,00 for the Cancer Society (the disease, not the star sign). Otago is also the only Uni to have its own separate Relay event. We may be crippling alcoholics every other week, but we know what Read more...

Campus Queer Space Faces More Hurdles

Posted 4:51pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Elliot Weir

A dedicated queer space on campus has been in the works since 2018 and, more than two years down the track, is still facing issues.  As previously reported by Critic, the space was meant to open on the first floor of the University Union building near the Terrace Lounge by the end of April. Read more...

Sign Up Club SGM Happened But We Wrote This Before Then

Posted 4:48pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Fox Meyer

Sign Up Club’s SGM will have been completed by the time you read this. Critic goes to print on Thursday night, and the SGM is on Friday, so we can only speculate as to what happened. Here’s our best guess as to how things went down last Friday. The SGM, held at 2.00pm, not 5.00pm Read more...

OUSA Ask City Council To Change Their Ten Year Plan

Posted 4:39pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Fox Meyer

The DCC’s draft for their 2021–2031 plan is underway, and OUSA want the DCC to significantly change it. After listening to what students said, OUSA told the city council to do something. Their suggestions are 15 pages long, and worded in impenetrable bureaucrat-speak. It’s not Read more...

Burglar Allegedly Cut Holes in Curtains to Peep

Posted 4:24pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Susana Jones

Police asked students on Dundas Street and Harbour Terrace to check their curtains for holes, after the arrest of a 32-year-old burglar who allegedly entered houses to cut peepholes in curtains.  A police spokesperson said that “these offences took place in the student area and some of Read more...

OUSA ANZAC Service Well-Attended

Posted 4:13pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Denzel Chung

Around 500 people of all ages attended OUSA’s ANZAC Day service, the first to be held on campus since 2019.  Held in conjunction with Te Roopū Māori and the University, the service was held in the Main Common Room, but attendee numbers meant the crowd ended up overflowing out Read more...

Tumuaki Resigns From UCSA In Protest

Posted 4:04pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Erin Gourley

The Tumuaki of Te Akatoki Māori Students’ Association at the University of Canterbury resigned from UCSA last week, criticising UCSA’s approach to Māori students.  “Not one more minute will we be undervalued,” Rosa Hibbert-Schooner wrote in a letter, which Read more...

What Ramadan Means to Muslim Students at Otago

Posted 3:57pm Sunday 2nd May 2021 by Aiman Amerul Muner

Ramadan is here from 12 April to 12 May. Muslim students here in Dunedin observe the Islamic holy month by fasting from dawn and congregating together at sunset to pray and share a meal.  This year, the University of Otago Muslim Students' Association (MUSA) is organising daily Iftars Read more...

SOULS Raises $13000 for Relay for Life

Posted 2:30pm Monday 26th April 2021 by Erin Gourley

Law students have raised over $13,000 in their Relay for Life campaign, making them the largest contributor in the Otago region. The large amount of money has been made possible thanks to a collaboration between all the representative groups of law students. SOULS, Pride in Law Otago, Otago Asian Read more...