Archive

Tertiary education to the Future!

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Claudia Herron

A board of panellists comprised of tertiary education staff, students, and politicians gathered at the Otago Museum on Wednesday 8 August for the Tertiary Education Union’s latest public forum “Speak up for Education”. The forum had a distinctly left-wing slant, being chaired by Radio 1 Read more...

Shit's Getting Kronic

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Zane Pocock

Peter Dunne is at it again. After receiving a less than satisfactory do from his Kronic-tripping hairstylist, he has apparently put the final nail in the coffin of “dangerous” synthetic drugs, with a new policy designed to deal with syntheic drugs like Kronic. This policy will explicitly ban the Read more...

Greg goes to The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Greg Hall

Something new on your sporting pages this week. For a change of pace, Critic sent the bravest and most hirsute reporter we could find on the most dangerous assignment we could dream up. Faux-Geordie reporter Greg Hall was instructed to stake out the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, examine some Read more...

Girls Get Down And Derby

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Gus Gawn

Roller derby is the marmite of sports: you either love it or you don't. There are no half-measures when it comes to roller derby. Those who love it are obsessed with it. It takes over their lives and the lives of their families. People who don't really couldn't give a shit. I’m not ashamed to Read more...

Air NZ Removes GPS

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Bella Macdonald

Air New Zealand has finally realised that Dunedin has some tourism opportunities, and has announced fare reductions of 11 – 41% for regional routes, which will save travellers on the Auckland to Dunedin route $14 per trip. The fare reductions, which will apply to flights after September 1 Read more...

Calves “Slaughtered Like Cattle”

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Callum Fredric

A merciless attack on four calves on a farm north of Dunedin has left the farm’s owners and their stock gutted. The attack occurred on June 19 between 10:30am and 5pm at a farm in Seacliff, roughly 30km north of Dunedin. Critic spoke to Constable Jon-Paul Tremain, who said that three calves Read more...

ACC tells injured students to “Man up” and “Walk it off”

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Margot Taylor

Academic support for students on ACC is set to change significantly. Spokespeople for the government-run accident compensation scheme have stated that the $6 million budgeted annually for children and young people who require assistance to participate in education could be better targeted to Read more...

Canterbury Uni Staff “Quaking with Fear”

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Callum Fredric

The University of Canterbury is set to cut staff numbers by 150 over the next three years in an attempt to prevent its debt, which is currently at $50 million, from spiralling out of control. Canterbury is in dire financial straits as the true financial toll of the earthquake becomes Read more...

Joyce and Hayne Get Together on Postgrads

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Staff Reporter

Critic has finally made sense of the changes to postgraduate access to the student allowance scheme, which will prevent all postgraduate students from receiving the allowance. Following a meeting between University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne and Tertiary Education Minister Read more...

Mayor Tells Oil and Gas Industry to Frack Off

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Josie Adams

On July 24, the DCC voted 7-6 to join the call for a moratorium on fracking, making it the fifth local authority to do so. Following the decision, the ODT reported a “fracture” in the relationship between Mayor Dave Cull and his Council and Dunedin-based National MP Michael Woodhouse, which on Read more...

Maverick Professor Threatens to Assemble Eco-Army

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Claudia Herron

Government-owned farming corporation Landcorp and the Department of Conservation are at loggerheads over the potential threat of wilding (it’s a real word, look it up) Douglas-fir trees spreading onto conservation land. Landcorp planted 189ha of Douglas-fir trees on Waipori Station near Read more...

New Drugs Regime Dunne

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Zane Pocock

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne is crafting a new legal high law which will be introduced to Parliament later this year and is expected to be in force by the middle of next year. Once passed, the new law will immediately criminalise all psychoactive substances, including synthetic cannabinoids Read more...

What is a Sport (Part 2)

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Gus Gawn

So here goes. First, I would like to say that this is a completely thankless task. This debate will never be decided, and no amount of emotive vitriol or ascerbic wit will bring us any closer. They only thing we can hope for is to be dragged entertainingly off-topic by some interesting thoughts and Read more...

What is a Sport (Part 1)

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Callum Fredric

Rowing is not a sport. Neither is cycling. In fact, most of the events at the 2012 Olympics are not sports. And most of the ones that are sports don’t belong at the Olympics. Sometimes the dictionary definition of a word just doesn’t cut it. According to the ivory-tower intellectuals who Read more...

Medieval Trenchcoat Knight Terrorises Waikato

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Zane Pocock

Students at the University of Waikato were falsely alarmed on Wednesday July 25 when a man wearing a trenchcoat was reported to be carrying a weapon on campus. At 10:29am, an email was sent to all staff and students following the sighting of a “tall, Caucasian male, in his twenties... with Read more...

OUSA Revolving Door Keeps On Turning

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Bella Macdonald

Maria Pozza has been elected as OUSA’s Postgraduate Representative after a fierce campaign against bitter rival No Confidence. In the final count, Pozza won with 70 votes, compared with four votes for No Confidence. Poor showing, old buddy. Pozza believed that her PhD would make her a Read more...

Lavender Armageddon Begins

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Callum Fredric

God is reportedly “gutted” after a bill aiming to legalise gay marriage was pulled from the Members’ ballot on Thursday. The Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill was submitted into the ballot by Labour MP Louisa Wall. The first reading of the bill is expected to be held in around six Read more...

Margaret Mahy - She Dead

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Callum Fredric

Margaret Mahy, the author who gave New Zealand the gift of such brilliant children’s books as The Lion in the Meadow and The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate, died at the age of 76 in a Christchurch hospice last Monday night after losing her battle with cancer. Mahy arguably found her point of Read more...

Rumours not enough to kill captain cook

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Josie Adams

With the University’s new Alcohol Implementation Group (AIG) aiming to rid the streets of shameful Scarfie inebriation, it was only a matter of time before rumours began to abound regarding their nefarious plotting. Professor Jennie Connor, chairwoman of the AIG, has publicly stated that the board Read more...

Panel Debates Age Restrictions for Fermented Grain

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Claudia Herron

The controversial topic of a split legal drinking age came before a caffeine-fuelled Otago University Debating Society and a panel of guest judges in the Great Alcohol Debate last Wednesday. The negating team, who were arguing that the drinking age should remain 18, secured the win as well as Read more...

South Dunedin Blamed for all Problems

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Zane Pocock

Alternatives to the proposed liquor ban are being sought following a meeting between OUSA, Dunedin City Council representatives, and the Youth Action Committee on Tuesday July 24. The Council’s Liquor Ban Implementation Group delayed its decision on the liquor ban last month to consider Read more...

Student Health Sickened By Influenza Outbreak

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Margot Taylor

An increasing number of people have been affected by the spread of the influenza strain known as H3N2. While the name of the virus sounds similar to that of Star Wars’ R2D2, those afflicted will feel as though they’ve crash-landed on the Ice Planet Hoth. Christchurch has been hit hardest by the Read more...

University Staff Member Receives C+ in FRAUD101

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012 by Callum Fredric

A University of Otago staff member was escorted from the University campus by security guards last week, as police began investigating an alleged major fraud that was uncovered by an internal University audit in June. National Radio has reported that between $200,000 and $300,000 was Read more...

Sexuality in sports

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Gus Gawn

I have to admit that I was a little nervous writing this article. Not because of what people will think, but because I am certain that I am bound to offend someone in some way. I am mindful that there might be a bit of a “poking your uneducated nose into something that doesn't really concern you” Read more...

Caden Shields

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Gus Gawn

Caden Shields might not be at the Olympic level just yet but it seems he's on the fast track. The Dunedin-raised physiotherapy student has recently returned from a scholarship at Purdue University in Indiana, where he competed for the “Boilermakers” in long-distance running events and found his Read more...

AUSA Attempts to Abort Student Group

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Zane Pocock

A motion that “the Pro-Life Club be disaffiliated for propagating harmful misinformation” has been voted against 227-125 by members of the Auckland University Student Association (AUSA) at a Special General Meeting on Wednesday July 18. Following an anonymous complaint made to AUSA, the Read more...

At Last! OUSA Is Incomplete Again!

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Zane Pocock

OUSA is holding yet another by-election, for the position of Post-Graduate Officer, following the departure of Victoria Koszowski. Critic speculates that Victoria valiantly resigned after hearing murmurs that students were disappointed they hadn't had enough opportunities to vote this year. Read more...

A Visit From the Chunder Bunny

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Bella Macdonald

Paint was not the only thing being splattered around on Tuesday July 10, as a 20-year-old female student was found unconscious and covered in her own vomit after attending the Illuminate Paint Party at the Edgar Centre. The near-hypothermic girl was found by Police at around 1.30am on the Read more...

Maori Council Thirsty

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Dan Benson-Guiu

Prime Minister John Key’s statement that the government might “ignore” what the Waitangi Tribunal has to say about water rights and asset sales has caused tensions in Parliament and the Maori community. The Waitangi Tribunal is currently hearing an urgent case by the Maori Council, which is Read more...

University Unveils Union Usurper, Uganda Utterly Unaffected

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Margot Taylor

The redevelopment of the Union building, which cost $5.7 million and began in December 2011, is finally complete. The downstairs area of the Union has been revamped and given a colourful and relaxing feel, but the most significant change is the construction of a completely new upstairs mezzanine. Read more...

Lecturers follow Sheens’ example, take up winning

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Josie Adams

University of Otago lecturers Doctor Rhiannon Braund, Associate Professor Steve Dawson, and Associate Professor Anthony Robins have won the three annual University Teaching Awards awarded by Otago. These awards recognise an “outstanding ability to teach”, and are generally awarded to those willing Read more...

Deluded, Talentless Losers Have Dreams Crushed

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Callum Fredric

North Dunedin’s talent, and South Dunedin’s lack thereof, were on show at the Regent Theatre as the Dunedin leg of the second round of New Zealand’s Got Talent auditions was held on the 14 and 15 July. Dunedin’s preliminary round of auditions was held on 2 and 3 May at Otago Boys’ High Read more...

Castle Street Residents Fail at Keg Party, Life in General

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Margot Taylor

Despite the frenzied anti-alcohol sentiment swirling around political circles, the annual Castle Street Keg Party contradicted the assumption that all students are alcohol-guzzling machines. Although more than 2,300 people indicated on Facebook that they would be attending the event, which was held Read more...

Students Celebrate Christchurch Heritage by Recreating Earthquake

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Zane Pocock

Investigations are underway into the collapse of the floor of the University of Canterbury’s new $2.5 million temporary events centre, which opened in April after the University's student bar was damaged by the February 2011 earthquake. The incident occurred after some intense moshing early Read more...

Local Motel Owner Talks Trash

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012 by Claudia Herron

Accusations were thrown around last week that University of Otago students are “living like pigs” and turning Dunedin into a “third world” city, following a problem with drunken students repeatedly knocking over rubbish bins put out for early collection. Alhambra Oaks Motor Lodge owner-operator Alan Read more...

A review of the Highlanders’ Season

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012 by Gus Gawn

Best player: Aaron SmithWent from being underrated backup to best halfback in the country in the space of about six weeks. A rapid pass, good decision making, and an improving running game. Critic’s favourite Highlander is now everyone’s favourite Highlander. Best Win: Highlanders 27-24 Read more...

London – a sensible but boring Olympics?

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012 by Gus Gawn

Unfortunately, for most cities that win the right to host the Summer Olympic Games the blessing quickly becomes a curse. Enormous sporting organisations such as the IOC, FIFA, and the IRD operate by farming out the risk to the host countries while keeping all the goodies for themselves. The host Read more...

Carnies Trick OUSA With Gypsy Magic

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012 by Callum Fredric

Sudents eager to risk their lives on the dilapidated ferris wheel that traditionally graces Re-Orientation’s carnival day on campus had to put down their ACC forms on Thursday, as the carnival and associated carnies never showed up. According to rumours heard by Critic, OUSA has been well and Read more...

The Exec Reports

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012 by Staff Reporter

Every quarter your student execies have to hand in a report saying what they’ve been doing for the last three months. If they don’t, or if the exec decides they’ve done a shite job, then they don’t get paid their measly honorariums. Critic had to read each and every report then sit through an Read more...

We should just accept it, we’re all pissheads

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012 by Dan Benson-Guiu

The University of Otago has set up a new group that could see the University, famous for good scholarship over a couple of beers, change its policy towards alcohol. The AIG aims to change the drinking culture in Dunedin by focussing on drinking in flats, student halls, and first year initiation Read more...

Howie’s Excellent Adventure

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012 by Claudia Herron

A case of mistaken identity sent Critic’s resident cat Howie Staples on a trip down memory lane after a concerned member of the public mistook the cat for a stray and deposited him at the SPCA. A “crazy mofo” spotted Howie on Monday July 12 during a regular jaunt to the Otago Museum, and Read more...

Critic Designers Succeed In Land of The Free

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012 by Callum Fredric

Critic’s superiority over other student magazines has received further confirmation after three Critic employees were commissioned to design the cover for a recent issue of Newsweek, a US magazine with a readership of 13.2 million. The design is based on the cover of Critic’s 14th issue, Read more...

$24 for a dozen, $16 for a bottle of wine, world will indeed end in 2012.

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012 by Zane Pocock

The Alcohol Reform Bill continues its progress through Parliament, but although parties agree on the importance of the bill, debate persists regarding the exact details of the proposed changes currently before the Justice and Electoral Committee. The hot topics of the day are a proposed minimum Read more...

Re-O Puts Rio to Shame

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012 by Josie Adams

Re-Orientation kicked off on Wednesday and ended on Saturday, with a stellar line-up running throughout the week. Ladyhawke, Kora, and the comedy night with Paul Ego and Chopper Reed were predicted to be the big hits, while OUSA’s Clubs Day, Market Day and International Food Festival provided Read more...

Woo Sports!

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 8th July 2012 by Gus Gawn

For Critic Issue 15 of 2012 I have compiled ten reasons I'm excited about sports in second semester. Semester One was okay I guess, but Semester Two is offering up an absolute smorgasbord of sexy sporting action to watch both locally and on the telly. So, in no particular order, here are some things Read more...

What does Sonny Bill Williams want?

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 8th July 2012 by Gus Gawn

Straight after winning a World Cup and killing it for the Chiefs this year Sonny Bill Williams might be quitting New Zealand rugby, at least for now. He’s been pretty damn good at everything he's tried, but what does Sonny Bill want to look back on when he retires from sport? What does Sonny Bill Read more...

Critic’s Requisite Students-Are-Not-All-Drunken-IdIots Story

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 8th July 2012 by Ivy Ruto

In a blatant attempt to flesh out their CVs, two Otago students have set up a free tutoring service for students in mid-to low-decile Dunedin high schools. Under the arrangement Otago students tutor for one hour per week in NCEA subjects they studied at high school or university. Organisers Read more...

Mosgiel: It’s a Gas

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 8th July 2012 by Margot Taylor

In a tragic example of the limited entertainment activities on offer for Mosgiel teenagers, two young Mosgelians (as Critic likes to call them) are in induced comas after the gas bottle they were huffing from was ignited by a heater last Monday. The two teens, aged 17 and 18, received Read more...

Oi, Syria, Fucking Stop It!

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 8th July 2012 by Staff Reporter

The 47th Otago Foreign Policy School took place over the uni holidays, with the ongoing conflict in Syria at the forefront of the conference’s discussions. The three-day conference at St Margaret’s is an opportunity for New Zealand and international experts to meet with government officials and Read more...

Elderly Forget Children’s Names, Remember to Hate Edgar

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 8th July 2012 by Charlotte Greenfield

The debate over whether students actually care about asset sales has continued, with NZUSA halfheartedly withdrawing its support from the Keep Our Assets Campaign, OUSA maintaining its neutrality, and Grey Power accusing OUSA of failing to properly communicate with its members. In May the Read more...