Archive

Students Call Cutler’s Latest Campaign “Exploitation”

Posted 10:49am Wednesday 1st May 2019 by Sinead Gill

On Monday, Cutlers Property Management launched a ‘tender campaign’ of “arguably the most notorious flat on campus,” the ‘Debacle’, on their student Facebook page. This means that instead of students applying for a flat at a fixed price, students must send them Read more...

Editorial: Student General Meetings Are Very Boring and Very Powerful

Posted 1:11am Friday 26th April 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

In 1999 the Rowing Club’s shed burnt down. It was a little shack on the waterfront with a single shower and space for a couple of kayaks. Jump forward a few years and OUSA had built a giant $1.39 million Aquatic Centre in its place that was, and is, used by only a handful of students. OUSA Read more...

Law Students Considering Accepting Russell McVeagh’s Money Again

Posted 1:10am Friday 26th April 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Society of Otago University Law Students (SOULS) is polling its members as to whether they should go back to accepting sponsorship from law firm Russell McVeagh after they cut ties in 2018 when the firm was accused by multiple students, including one student from Otago, of systematic sexual Read more...

DCC Paid-Parking Meters Inch Closer to Student-Ville

Posted 10:23pm Thursday 25th April 2019 by Sinead Gill

The Dunedin City Council has turned three strips of unlimited and limited-time parking into pay and display as a part of a wider set of changes to parking in North and Central Dunedin. In a media release, the DCC explained that this was the result of a survey that indicated a need for improved Read more...

Pasifika Representation Returns to OUSA Executive

Posted 10:11pm Thursday 25th April 2019 by Sinead Gill

After nearly a decade, Pasifika students will see the return of a representative on the OUSA executive: this time, as an ex-officio position, the same system that Te Roopū Māori, the Māori students’ association, uses. The motion to restore the position passed almost Read more...

Quizzing and Shooting The Shit with Daddy Robertson

Posted 10:04pm Thursday 25th April 2019 by Sinead Gill

He turned up bang-on 2:30pm with his PR dude and a warm hello. He seemed completely at ease within moments - possibly a mix of the confidence that comes after decades of interviews, and because he felt at home in our office. As a member of parliament since 2008, and also former OUSA President, it Read more...

Finance Minister Talks About Something Very Interesting That You Should Read the Article to Find Out About

Posted 9:51pm Thursday 25th April 2019 by Sinead Gill

When you flick over this page you’ll find an interview with Grant Robertson, Finance Minister. During this interview, however, Voluntary Student Membership (VSM) managed to dominate the conversation. Because what he had to say was interesting, and also because most people don’t know what Read more...

Drug Testing at Hyde Finds Potentially Dangerous Substance

Posted 9:42pm Thursday 25th April 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

OUSA’s second trial of their new drug testing initiative at the Hyde Street Party found a potentially lethal substance that they were able to put out warnings about over social media. The initiative, run in conjunction with KnowYourStuffNZ and the New Zealand Drug Foundation, was used by 81 Read more...

Craccum Magazine to Throw Off the Chains of Democracy

Posted 9:36pm Thursday 25th April 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Craccum, the University of Auckland student magazine, has ended the controversial practise of electing its editors, creating new provisions for the editor to be appointed on the basis of merit, like is done at every other student magazine in New Zealand. Craccum Editor Bailley Devon told Critic Read more...

Law Camp 2019 Went Pretty Well

Posted 1:20am Friday 12th April 2019 by Phillip Plant

Despite the tragic events of the Christchurch shootings happening the same day, the 2019 second year Law Camp went smoothly, said students. Camp leaders were informed of the Christchurch shootings when the second years arrived at Starters Bar to be transported to the Wairoa Scout Camp, putting a Read more...

OUSA Finance Officer Will Enrol Anything that Breathes to Vote

Posted 1:18am Friday 12th April 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

OUSA Finance Officer Bonnie Harrison has proven that she will stop at nothing to get students enrolled to vote in the upcoming Dunedin City Council elections, going so far as to ambush people with voting papers while they’re lining up to get their tickets for Hyde. Desperate to understand Read more...

Editorial: We Created a Nudist Community

Posted 1:14am Friday 12th April 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin

Honestly, when we first brainstormed the cover for the Sex Issue, we were thinking of having only five or six people. I thought most of them would have to be people I knew who would be fine getting naked. But I put out the call on Facebook anyway, just in case. My inbox was immediately flooded Read more...

Otago Staff and Students Rally For Postgrad Allowances

Posted 1:14am Friday 12th April 2019 by Sinead Gill

On Thursday, April 11, almost 800 kilometres from Parliament steps, OUSA marched a group of students and staff from the Union Lawn to the Leith steps across from the Clocktower. There, almost fifty people rallied for the return of Student Allowances for postgrads in sync with those who turned up in Read more...

Residents Said Uni Best Practice Not Enough to Prevent or Discipline Sexual Violence at Knox

Posted 1:11am Friday 12th April 2019 by Esme Hall

CONTENT WARNING: rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment     Multiple survivors of sexual violence from Knox College reached out to Critic since our last story, and their experiences show the University of Otago’s sexual misconduct procedures were not applied consistently Read more...

Student General Meeting Cracking Up To Be Slightly Interesting

Posted 12:59am Friday 12th April 2019 by Staff Reporter

Last week, Critic speculated what the second floor of the University Book Shop could be developed into now that it is owned by OUSA. This week, someone has answered our prayers. This Wednesday, 17 April, at midday in the Main Common Room, students will be able to vote on whether or not they want Read more...

Random Shit the Uni Spends Money On

Posted 7:18pm Thursday 11th April 2019 by Critic

A tonne of milk in Otago Business School: $5,800 per year Have you ever walked past a fridge and decided to take a sneak peek inside? That’s what Critic did in-between lectures in the Business School. To this reporter’s shock it was completely packed with upward of a dozen two-litre Read more...

Opinion: OUSA Exec Meetings Are So Wholesome It’s Cringe

Posted 6:19pm Thursday 11th April 2019 by Esme Hall

Are you sitting there wondering why we haven’t reported very much on this year’s OUSA Exec? Yeah, thought not. But, for the three of you who actually care, it’s because they’re being so nice to each other there’s no juicy drama to report. The apparent harmony of the Read more...

Opinion: There Should Be a Pacific Rep on the OUSA Exec

Posted 6:18pm Thursday 11th April 2019 by Zayna Lam

Pasifika people are Aotearoa’s fourth largest ethnic population, 66% of whom are born in Aotearoa and over 50% are under 25. This growing population has, and will continue to have, an increasing presence in tertiary institutions. Education for Pasifika people is a priority area of work for the Read more...

Opinion: Knox College: Accepting our Flaws while Loving our Floors

Posted 6:16pm Thursday 11th April 2019 by Jack Manning

The last few weeks, our Facebook feeds have been filled with posts from UoO: Meaningful Confessions about the Critic Knox article. We’ve seen people defending the college, apologising on its behalf, and denouncing traditions and managerial problems that would allow sexual assaults to occur and Read more...

Enrolment Numbers Are Slightly Up

Posted 4:21pm Tuesday 9th April 2019 by Sinead Gill

It’s April, baby, and you know what this means: the University can now confirm how many students have enrolled at Otago for 2019. Yeet. Critic may only be reporting on it to beat the ODT to it but pettiness aside, here are some facts. Otago has seen a rise in 166 equivalent-full-time Read more...