Archive

Te Roopū Māori Votes to Become Financially Independent from OUSA

Posted 11:35pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Te Roopū Māori, the Māori Students’ Association, has voted at a recent Student General Meeting to separate their finances from OUSA and join the Office of Māori Development, taking their funding directly from the University instead of through OUSA.   At the moment Read more...

Is This the Sexiest OUSA Budget Yet?

Posted 11:31pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Sinead Gill

Every year your student union has to lobby the University for funding (which is fucked, we know) and then has to decide where that money will go. A lot of the time these budgets look like a copy and paste from the previous year, but this year there are some notable changes that you need to look out Read more...

OPINION: Half of the OUSA Exec Positions Are a Complete Waste of Time

Posted 11:24pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Joel MacManus

OUSA just went an entire year without the Campaigns Officer running a campaign, despite it being in their job title. The closest thing to a ‘campaign’ was making a weekly exec roundup video on Facebook that fuck all people watched.  We don’t want to entirely dismiss the Read more...

Selwyn 4 Sale

Posted 11:22pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Sophia Carter Peters

The Anglican Church has placed Selwyn College, one of the four independent colleges left (St Margs, Knox, and Salmond being the others), up for sale. As the oldest college at Otago, being in the possession of the Anglican Church since 1893, this is a historic event. At a recent synod (churchey Read more...

Critic Breaks Down the Second OUSA Referendum

Posted 11:20pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

As winter passes to spring and Mole crawls out of his hole in the ground (casual Wind in the Willows reference for all my peeps out there) the student population gradually come out of hibernation and their minds turn irresistibly to a single end. That’s right, the OUSA Referendum is upon us Read more...

Proctor Protest Was the Biggest Otago Student Protest Since the ‘90s

Posted 11:17pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Tyler West

The 1990s hold a weird place of reverence in campus politics at Otago. Grainy black & white photos of students seizing control of the Clocktower or marching in their thousands alongside the Leith are impossible to surpass. It’s pretty easy when you’re on a march across campus today Read more...

Proctor Offered Resignation After Bong-Taking Revelations

Posted 11:16pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Joel MacManus

University of Otago Proctor Dave Scott offered to resign after it was revealed that he had removed several bongs from student flats while the residents were away. Vice Chancellor Harlene Hayne rejected his offer and told him she wanted him to stay on in the role.  A university spokesperson Read more...

Consent Workshops in Colleges Fail Due To “Lack of Interest”

Posted 11:02pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Esme Hall

Te Whare Tāwharau’s consent workshops in colleges did not go ahead this semester. Melanie Beres, Academic Leader for Te Whare Tāwharau, said that although college leadership were supportive of consent workshops, pick-up from students was “very limited”.  OUSA Read more...

Re-Creation Officer Josh Smythe’s Pay Re-duced by 20%

Posted 8:28pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Josh Smythe, OUSA Re-Creation Officer, has been in the centre of a debate around whether honorarium payments should be linked to an Exec Officer’s performance after his pay was cut by 20% at a recent OUSA Exec meeting for not fulfilling his role to the satisfaction of the Read more...

The Best Unpublished OUSA Exec Quotes

Posted 6:54pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Critic has to sit through all the OUSA Exec meetings, which are mostly either horrendously boring or absurdly tense. However, in between there are some ok moments.  So Critic presents: the best quotes from Exec meetings that never made it into Read more...

A Super Duper Extra Special Exclusive Interview with Caitlin Barlow-Groome

Posted 6:49pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Esme Hall

OUSA President Caitlin Barlow-Groome is leaving our fine institution and plans to move up in the world of student politics and run for NZUSA President.   What do you think your most rewarding moment was as OUSA Pres? Ah that’s tough, do I only get to choose one? Reflecting on Read more...

Editorial: The One Where I Get Self-Indulgent

Posted 6:41pm Thursday 4th October 2018 by Joel MacManus

I’m very sad. This is the last issue of Critic for 2018. I will be moving on next year, appointing a new editor, and leaving this beautiful city and all you wonderful people. That makes me sad.  I love this magazine. I really do, despite all the 4am nights and 60+ hour weeks, I love Read more...

OUSA Demands Proctor and Campus Watch Be Stripped of All Disciplinary Powers For Off-Campus Actions

Posted 1:29am Friday 28th September 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

After political infighting and threats of no confidence, OUSA came together last week and dramatically voted to both support the Proctor Protest and to demand that all off-campus disciplinary powers of the Proctor and of Campus Watch be removed.  Critic went to print on Thursday, so we Read more...

Blues and Golds: Behind the Awards

Posted 12:27am Friday 28th September 2018 by Sinead Gill

Every year OUSA gives out awards to the people who represent the top of the top at Otago University. Or at least the ones who are keen enough to put their names up for an award. Critic hunted some of the winners down to get to know some of Otago’s best.    Sportswoman of the Read more...

Checking in on the Exec: Third Quarter Exec Reports

Posted 12:21am Friday 28th September 2018 by Esme Hall

Dear OUSA Exec, Critic are paid to read your reports and even we struggled. We tried to find the good bits but it took ages. If you’re so big on ‘engagement’ and ‘consultation’ you need to communicate in a more accessible way. Please and thank you. Love, Critic. All Read more...

The Proctor BongShell: The Complete Chronic-les

Posted 12:06am Friday 28th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

The story of University Proctor Dave Scott entering student flats and removing bongs without permission has captured the imaginations of the student population and the national media in a way no story has in years, overshadowing even the Critic censorship debacle earlier this year.  It all Read more...

Police Shut Down Running of the Beers Charity Event

Posted 12:03am Friday 28th September 2018 by Caroline Moratti

The Dunedin Police have successfully cancelled the Running of the Beers charity event after threatening the organiser with prosecution if it went ahead.  As the name so eloquently suggests, Running of the Beers contestants signed up to run and drink beer simultaneously; an impressive feat Read more...

Harlene Hayne Votes Down Student Bid to Save Art History

Posted 11:46pm Thursday 27th September 2018 by Esme Hall

University Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne cast the deciding vote against OUSA’s proposal to save the Art History and Visual Culture programme, at the University Senate last week. OUSA Education Officer James Heath motioned “that Senate halts the proposal to disestablish the Art History Read more...

OPINION: Don’t Fire the Proctor, Reform the Position

Posted 10:03pm Thursday 27th September 2018 by Joel MacManus

EDITORIAL: When the story of the Proctor entering student flats to remove bongs broke last week, there was naturally an angry reaction from a lot of people. A petition demanding Dave Scott’s resignation got over 2000 signatures before it was taken down and Abe from Whakamana is talking about a Read more...

OPINION: Colleges Need to Chill on ‘Study Zones’

Posted 10:02pm Thursday 27th September 2018 by Sophia Carter Peters

OPINION: We’re heading into exam season, meaning that residential colleges around Dunedin are cracking into the dreaded “study zone”. However, the accompanying alcohol ban is likely to do more harm than good, as well as making life more difficult for both staff and Read more...