Archive

One in Five Chance Your Re-O MDMA Was Bath Salts

Posted 8:11pm Thursday 16th July 2020 by Oscar Paul

20% of the drug samples tested by KnowYourStuff during Re-O Week turned out to be synthetic cathinones (a.k.a. bath salts, a.k.a. a bad time). KnowYourStuff detected nine samples of mephedrone and eight samples of a new, unknown cathinone. “This unknown cathinone [detected during Re-O Week] Read more...

Vibe Check: Political Debate Edition

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Sophia Carter Peters

I care about things, but I know very little about politics. So when I was asked to attend and take some notes on the ‘Response to Covid’ debate in Union Hall (organised by DebSoc), I was confused, but intrigued. Honestly, I love a bit of drama and as much as David Seymour annoys me, he Read more...

Opinion: It’s Fucked that Dunedin Clubs Don’t have Cloakrooms

Posted 2:22pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Caroline Moratti

It’s a Saturday night, and you’ve been bobbing to Glitter by Benee for the past three hours in Suburbia. It’s been a good night but you’re ready to call it quits and shelve some kebabs before passing out in your best mate’s bed. The issue is that you have to survive the Read more...

OUSA Sexual Misconduct Policy Two Months Away

Posted 2:20pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

The development of an OUSA sexual misconduct policy began in 2019. Seven months into 2020, club leaders are still waiting. OUSA told Critic that the policy will be “achieved… during second semester” through OUSA’s Affiliated Clubs Council. Last September, Critic covered Read more...

SOCIAL EXPERIMENT: Critic Attempts Crime

Posted 2:02pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

Last week, Critic received an anonymous tip from someone claiming to be “member of the student community” about a certain “hack” (crime) that allowed people to get Victorian Bitters (VBs) beers for free from Countdown. A week after exposing this “hack” (crime), Read more...

Results Withheld Due to “Unprecedented Volume” of Academic Misconduct

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

Due to an “unprecedented volume” of potential academic misconduct cases across all four divisions of the University of Otago, many exam results have been withheld. The University aims to confirm all results by this Friday, 10 July. Students who show “above-average levels of Read more...

“Abusive and Predatory Behaviour”: Report Claims OUSA-Affiliated Club Had a Culture of Abuse

Posted 1:55pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

Content warning: Explicit descriptions of sexual abuse, violent behaviours and emotional manipulation. After a member alleged they were sexually assaulted, the Dunedin Fire and Circus Club published a preliminary report on internal sexual and emotional abuse, and proposed changes within the Read more...

Southernmost Foosball Club Launched and Free to Play

Posted 1:26pm Sunday 12th July 2020 by Sophia Carter Peters

Amidst a global pandemic, a collective social upheaval, and the general decay of the 21st century, there is but one truth: foosball. Otago’s first foosball association, the Dunedin Foosball Association, has finally broken ground. The association, led by Zoology lecturer Paul Szyszka, has Read more...

OUSA Takes Pro-Cannabis Legalisation Stance

Posted 3:04pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Sinead Gill

Just over a month ago, OUSA asked students whether or not OUSA should take a stance in the upcoming cannabis legalisation referendum. Students said yes. The Exec decided to have a punishingly long discussion about whether or not they should do it, anyway. The Exec had a choice between two Read more...

Residential College Rebate Increases to $200

Posted 3:03pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

Students who left their residential colleges for lockdown got $200 per week as a residential fee rebate. This was an increase of $80 from the initial rebate, agreed to after OUSA met with the University to put students’ concerns forward. The original amount the University offered students Read more...

Local Hero Catches Thief Mid-Burglary

Posted 3:01pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Fox Meyer

A flat a stone’s throw from the Clocktower would’ve been burglarised last week if it weren’t for the heroic efforts of an upstanding young Kiwi. Thom Harrison (6’7”, 120 kg, single) was surprised to see “this fuckin’ random dude just taking shit outta my Read more...

OUSA Exec Are Confused About Their Own Referendum

Posted 2:55pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

The OUSA Executive asked students some confusing questions about what they should do and now they are confused about what they should do. The annual OUSA Referendum was held online from 25-28 May. When the results came in, the OUSA Exec realised they had fucked up a few of the questions or were Read more...

Pint Night Returns for Semester Two

Posted 2:50pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Annabelle Vaughan

The University has confirmed that Pint Night is on for semester two. Despite fearmongering in the student community that Pint Night was not going to go ahead post-lockdown, a University spokesperson confirmed to Critic that Pint Night will in fact recommence on Wednesday, 8 July, during Re-O Read more...

Where to Not Park if You Don’t Want a Ticket

Posted 2:49pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Jack Gilmore

An official information act request has revealed which streets and parking meters near campus produce the most amount of tickets. In the past three years, the University Campus area alone has racked up over 10,000 parking violations.  In 2018 and 2019, the most infamous street for Read more...

Otago Polytech Students Launch Rape Prevention Programme in Dunedin

Posted 2:44pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Sophia Carter Peters

Angel Shot, Ask for Angela, Sophie’s Angels; if you’ve spent any time on social media since 2016, chances are you’re familiar with these campaigns. If not, they offer people a way to leave unsafe or uncomfortable dates. These initiatives provide a code word disguised as a drink Read more...

Non-students Have Paid a Lot of Money at Request of the Proctor

Posted 2:22pm Sunday 5th July 2020 by Erin Gourley

Non-students have paid $1480 in what the Proctor describes as “voluntary reparation” on six separate occasions since the start of 2019, according to information released to Critic under the Official Information Act.  Initially, the University denied that non-students had ever Read more...

R.I.P. Re-Creation Officer Josh Smythe

Posted 2:06am Friday 3rd July 2020 by Sinead Gill

On 26 June, the eve of Re-Flo, OUSA Clubs and Societies Representative Josh Smith (a.k.a Smythe) resigned from OUSA. In an email to his colleagues and Critic he cited “personal circumstances”, specifically his “family, businesses, and charitable activities”. Josh said that Read more...

What the Exec Have Been Up to

Posted 2:00am Friday 3rd July 2020 by Erin Gourley

Every quarter, the OUSA Exec try to convince Otago students that they are busy and important people. As you can imagine, their reports are rollercoasters of tense emotion where each exec member tries to justify the amount of student money we give them. So you don’t have to sit through their Read more...

OUSA to Inspect Financial Records of Dunedin Fire and Circus Club

Posted 1:54am Friday 3rd July 2020 by Erin Gourley

The Dunedin Fire and Circus Club (DFCC), perhaps best known for dreadlocked guys with fire who randomly appear at parties on Castle Street, is having its financial records inspected by OUSA. OUSA decided to inspect the Club’s financial records in an emergency OUSA meeting on Thursday 2 Read more...

Students “Felt Ripped Off” by Late Digital Device Offer

Posted 1:50am Friday 3rd July 2020 by Saskia Rushton-Green

Students who took out extra course-related costs to buy devices “felt ripped off” when it was later announced that they could those same devices for free.  On 15 April, the Government announced that students could take out an extra $1000 for course-related costs, bringing the Read more...