Archive

Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 18

Posted 10:42am Sunday 6th August 2017 by Joe Higham

After the various procedural matters were out of the way, Education Officer Bryn Jenkins formally announced that he will be running for the position of OUSA Executive in the upcoming election. As far as Critic knows, he is the first to publically state his intention to do so. The nominations Read more...

The G.O.A.T Series – Men’s Athletics

Posted 11:32am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Charlie Hantler

As they enter the starting blocks, the three men glance at each other. One exudes swagger, confidence and sheer superiority as he extends his perfectly sculpted arms into an arrow. He nods to the crowd in acknowledgement. He is the entertainer. The second has faced trial and tribulation; he was told Read more...

Authentic Fakery: Who is the new US ambassador to New Zealand?

Posted 11:22am Sunday 30th July 2017 by George Elliott

It’s more obvious when an American is not being genuine. They can’t hide it from us. Chiefly, it’s the accent. We’re so conditioned to hearing it try and sell us things. If the transatlantic Beeb accent broadcasts the truth with authority, the piercing North American accent Read more...

Poland Pulls Back from the Authoritarian Brink after Protests and EU Condemnation

Posted 11:16am Sunday 30th July 2017 by George Elliott

Poland, once the poster child of the post-1989 democratic wave against communism in Europe, has been going through rough political times. Thousands of Poles have flooded city streets to protest the government’s continued effort to limit the independence of the country’s judiciary. Read more...

Opinion: The Deliberate Flouting of the Crimes Act at Auckland’s Drury Christian School

Posted 10:56am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Jean Balchin

Last year, I wrote an article on the horrors of Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), a fundamentalist American homeschooling programme being taught in homes and schools across New Zealand. I discussed how ACE upholds the belief that the Bible is literally true, that there should be no distinction Read more...

Household Income Report Reveals No Sign of Change for Poorest Families

Posted 10:51am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joe Higham

A Ministry of Social Development report has revealed that the cost of housing in New Zealand remains a significant impediment to lifting people out of poverty. The Household Income Report (HIR) highlights that, although poverty has declined in the ten years since the Global Financial Crisis, Read more...

Nominate Your Favourite Teachers for OUSA’s Annual Teaching Awards

Posted 10:46am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joe Higham

Nominations for OUSA’s 2017 Teaching Awards close on 18 August, meaning there is still plenty of time to put forward any lecturers, tutors, or lab demonstrators that you think deserve the much sought after recognition. As students provide the university with their largest revenue stream by Read more...

OUCC Kayakers Take on Raging Leith During Floods

Posted 10:44am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joel MacManus

For some Dunedin residents, the recent flooding was a major disaster, putting homes at risk and straining emergency services beyond capacity. But for the Otago University Canoe Club (OUCC), it was a cause for celebration. When the Leith River floods, it becomes perfect for white water kayaking, Read more...

Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 17

Posted 10:37am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joe Higham

The OUSA Executive welcomed University of Otago Chief Operating Officer Stephen Willis, Deputy Proctor Andrew Ferguson, Director of Student Services Karyn Thomson, and Student Engagement Manager Rachel Curry, to further discuss the plans to implement CCTV surveillance across North Dunedin, having Read more...

Building Code Causes OUSA To Scale Back Gender Neutral Toilets

Posted 10:32am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Zahra Shahtahmasebi

Earlier this year, OUSA chose to make the toilets in the Clubs and Societies building on both the ground and first floors gender neutral. In 2013 the Clubs and Socs Centre underwent extensive renovations, which included the ground floor toilets. However, in 2016, OUSA staff noticed that there Read more...

“No One Man Should Have All That Power” – Football Agents and Their Dangerous Message

Posted 11:28am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Charlie Hantler

“And here comes Hurst! He's got... Some people are on the pitch! They think it's all over! It is now, it's four!” The scene is the mid-1960s, as Geoff Hurst famously scored in extra-time to put England 4-2 up against West Germany and seal their one and only World Cup. Read more...

Opinion: Don’t be a Sucker – Vote or Get Voted on

Posted 11:21am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Isaac Yu

It’s that happy time that only comes around once every three years. ‘It was the best of times, the most shitposty of times,’ the famous proclamation tells us. A time of soap box Facebook statuses on WHY. YOU. SHOULD. VOTE. Yet, despite all the internet slacktivism about how Read more...

No Plastic Bag Ban for Countdown NZ Despite Aussie Progress

Posted 11:07am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Zahra Shahtahmasebi

Two large supermarket chains in Australia, Woolworths and Coles, plan to phase out plastic bag usage over the next 12 months. Four states (South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and Tasmania) have already implemented state-wide bans. Coles supermarket is the Read more...

Controversial Warehouse Work-Experience Programme Expands

Posted 11:04am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham

The Ministry for Social Development (MOD) announced the expansion of the ‘Red Shirts in Community Programme’ that will now provide work experience opportunities to almost 1,000 16-24 year olds. The programme hit the headlines recently due to the absence of pay throughout the entirety Read more...

OPINION - Please OUSA, Can We Have Some More?

Posted 11:00am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham

The Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) website states that “online referenda are one of the many ways you can have your say through OUSA … on university policy or a wider issue, you can change OUSA’s stance.” This explanation, on top of the fact that Read more...

University Hits Roadblock In Plans to Implement CCTV Across North D

Posted 10:57am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham

The University of Otago’s planned CCTV surveillance installation took a hit last week as the university discovered they will likely need resource consent for many of their proposed camera locations. A university spokesperson told Critic that advice from the DCC is that “consent will Read more...

VC Reveals At Least 182 Job Cuts For General Staff

Posted 10:54am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham

University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne addressed a packed College of Education Auditorium on Friday 14 July to reveal the changes to be made in their Support Services Review. Hayne first provided background to the review, before revealing that 182 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) staff will Read more...

Do your bloody recycling properly – DCC

Posted 10:51am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joel MacManus

The DCC is cracking down on residents not chucking the right stuff in the right bins, so they have launched a new crackdown initiative to make sure you’re not throwing your glass out with your plastics. The rate of incorrect rubbish being put in yellow bins has almost doubled in the last five Read more...

How Healthy Is Our Democracy? Otago Academics Make Their Arguments

Posted 10:48am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joel MacManus

We are entering an age of radical politics, where extremism on the left and right will become mainstream and authenticity of personality will trump good policies in the hearts of voters, according to a panel of political experts which spoke at the University of Otago public lecture “How Read more...

Is $200/week Enough To Buy The Under 23 Vote In The Election?

Posted 10:43am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham

The Opportunities Party (TOP) last week extended its Universal Basic Income (UBI) policy to all New Zealanders aged between 18-23. Set at $200 per week (after tax), the youth UBI is “designed to give all young New Zealanders a safety net of income to allow them to pursue their Read more...