Archive

Police Fail to Catch 4chan Shitposter

Posted 11:37pm Thursday 9th August 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The extensive police investigation into the Otago University anonymous shooting threat made in 2015 has reached a dead end, according to a police report released to Stuff and later Critic under the Official information Act.  In October 2015 an anonymous person posted on 4chan, "If Read more...

Third Student Flat Wins Tenancy Payout Against Landlord Mike Harbott

Posted 11:35pm Thursday 9th August 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Landlord Mike Harbott, who owns several student flats in the North Dunedin area, has been ordered to pay $4,020 in exemplary damages to the residents of 9 Duke Street for failing to provide smoke alarms, lodge the bond, or provide and maintain the flat in a reasonable state of repair.  This Read more...

Critic Takes Over AskOtago And Makes It Way More Useful

Posted 11:27pm Thursday 9th August 2018 by Joel MacManus

At the start of the semester, the mysterious wall of mystery that mystified the masses on the ground floor of Central Library came down, and the TRUTH was revealed to all. Unfortunately, that TRUTH was really just the Uni coming up with an excuse to lay off a bunch of staff and build some yellow Read more...

OUSA Joins Wā Collective To Provide Discounted Menstrual Cups

Posted 8:23pm Thursday 9th August 2018 by Esme Hall

OUSA has partnered with the Wā Collective to offer affordable menstrual cups to Otago students. The Wā Collective is a kiwi social enterprise that fights period poverty by providing $15 medical grade menstrual cups to students across the country. Menstrual cups are reusable and are worn Read more...

No Change to Number of Selwyn College Returners After Students Fight Back

Posted 8:22pm Thursday 9th August 2018 by Esme Hall

After pressure from students, the Selwyn College Board of Governors has shut down a proposal to reduce the intake of returning second year students at the college for 2019 from over fifty to twenty-five.  The Selwyn College Students’ Association (SCSA) presented their opposition at a Read more...

OPINION: The Mess of Medicinal Marijuana Politics

Posted 8:21pm Thursday 9th August 2018 by Esme Hall

New Zealand now has cross-party support on medicinal marijuana. And 78% of New Zealanders are in favour of legalising medicinal marijuana for pain relief, according to a Drug Foundation research poll. But, no political party is willing to put their name to another party’s Bill on the issue. Read more...

OUSA Grants Funding Runs Out

Posted 8:19pm Thursday 9th August 2018 by Sinead Gill

As of last week, the OUSA grant budget has run out of money early, with just over $3400 left out of an initial pool of $80,000, according to OUSA Recreation Officer Josh Smythe.  OUSA grants are typically available throughout the year for groups or individuals who need money. This can range Read more...

Unprecedented Demand for Beer Festival Tickets

Posted 8:14pm Thursday 9th August 2018 by Joel MacManus

The Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival sold out of tickets in a record three minutes after going on sale last Friday. The OUSA-owned festival, which is scheduled for November 10, made 6000 tickets available. 2000 were made available to email subscribers on Wednesday August 1, which sold out in Read more...

Why We Need Landlord Licensing

Posted 8:10pm Thursday 9th August 2018 by Joel MacManus

EDITORIAL: In issue three of Critic this year we labelled Mike Harbott as “Dunedin’s Dodgiest Landlord” after he rented unliveable flats, ignored Tenancy Tribunal orders to make repairs, and failed to pay thousands of dollars of compensation.  Adding to that, he threatened Read more...

By Refusing to Ban Tickets, OUSA Exec Turned Their Back on Students to Serve Themselves

Posted 8:00pm Thursday 2nd August 2018 by Joel MacManus

OPINION: What’s the word for when politicians rig the system against the will of the people to keep themselves in power? Because maybe someone should teach it to the baby politicians on the OUSA Executive. In this year’s OUSA referendum, students voted to ban people from running on Read more...

The Otago Uni Student Swimming the Foveaux Strait

Posted 7:48pm Thursday 2nd August 2018 by Esme Hall

Hannah Morgan is a swimmer. Not a ‘yes I swim laps at Moana Pool every now and then’ kind of swimmer. She’s an open ocean swimmer and, in February next year, she’s going to swim the Foveaux Strait. You know, that shark-infested stretch of sub-Antarctic water separating the Read more...

OUSA Fighting for Increase to RA Pay

Posted 7:44pm Thursday 2nd August 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

OUSA is currently lobbying the University to increase pay for RAs after 85% of students in the recent OUSA referendum said that they wanted RA’s pay to entirely cover their accommodation costs. Currently, after their pay is deducted, an RA at a University-owned college still has to pay Read more...

Microwave Reinstated in Women’s Room After Two-Year Struggle

Posted 7:43pm Thursday 2nd August 2018 by Esme Hall

In the most important news Critic breaks this week: a microwave has been reinstated in the Women’s Room on a trial basis after a two-year struggle, although the University said the microwave will be removed again if people revert to the dangerous behaviour of leaving their cooking Read more...

International Students Feel Like The University’s ATM

Posted 7:40pm Thursday 2nd August 2018 by Umi Asaka

OPINION:  International students pay far more for their fees than domestic students, and, because there is no cap on how much the university can increase international fees, that amount only keeps going up every year for most of the departments.  On average, international Read more...

Can We Stop with the Double Standards on Gendered Spaces?

Posted 7:21pm Thursday 2nd August 2018 by Esme Hall

OPINION: Recently, the Women’s+ Club was affiliated by OUSA, despite specifically excluding membership for cis-gender males. Last semester, Men in Med, a social and emotional support group for male medical students, was shut down for being ‘too exclusive’. By the same logic, one Read more...

Power Use Overloads Infrastructure During Free Hour of Power

Posted 7:18pm Thursday 2nd August 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

Students have been left “frustrated” after repeated power cuts in the student quarter due to system overloads during Electric Kiwi’s Hour of Power.  For the first few weeks of semester two, power use has been so high during the Hour of Power that Dundas Street, as well as Read more...

Diversity Week Was Cool

Posted 7:14pm Thursday 2nd August 2018 by Sinead Gill

Diversity Week is an annual campaign by OUSA Queer Support and student volunteers to increase visibility and awareness of sexuality and gender diversity, and provides a platform for experts and students to educate each other on issues that the LGBTQIA+ community faces.  The week started with Read more...

ART: The Big Friendly Giant

Posted 7:05pm Thursday 2nd August 2018 by Jessica Thompson Carr

GUEST EDITORIAL:  Art is daunting. Art is broad. Art is the big friendly giant who wakes you up in the middle of the night to give you a good fright, but turns out to be your best friend who takes you on adventures.  I am not going to go on with more ideas on what art is because Read more...

New Plan for Suicide Prevention at Otago University

Posted 3:41pm Friday 27th July 2018 by Esme Hall

TRIGGER WARNING: contains discussion of suicide     The University is currently operating with no specific suicide prevention or postvention policy, though a new plan hopes to bring together existing efforts in an over-arching system.  While some students that Critic Read more...

Women’s+ Club Causes Controversy Over Cis Male Exclusion

Posted 6:39pm Thursday 26th July 2018 by Charlie O’Mannin

The Women’s+ Club has been affiliated to OUSA despite controversy about its policy of excluding cis men from membership.  Members of the OUSA executive raised concerns with the group in an exec meeting, as it would be the only group affiliated with OUSA that excludes membership to a Read more...