Archive

Dunedin Hospital Rebuild may Cost Millions, Billions or Squillions

Posted 10:48am Sunday 9th July 2017 by Joe Higham

Dunedin’s Hospital rebuild has suffered yet another setback in its completion dates, with the Otago Daily Times reporting that the best case scenario is now 2027. They claim the worst-case scenario is a completion date of 2031, which would be a “part rebuild and part refurbishment on Read more...

Unipol Struggling to Keep In Shape

Posted 10:45am Sunday 9th July 2017 by Joel MacManus

The University Plaza Building, which houses the Unipol Recreation Centre, is suffering structural issues in the stonework. The cause of many of the issues has not yet been identified, although efforts are underway. Since the building was completed just over five years ago, a number of cracks have Read more...

Dr Timothy Molteno – University of Otago Physicist and Internationally Wanted Criminal

Posted 10:42am Sunday 9th July 2017 by Joe Higham

What names do you associate with Interpol’s wanted criminal list? El Chapo? Osama Bin Laden? Pablo Escobar? The list of infamy goes on and on. One name a little closer to home than downtown Medellín or the mountains of Afghanistan is Dr Timothy Molteno. Currently a Senior Lecturer Read more...

Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 14

Posted 10:37am Sunday 9th July 2017 by Joe Higham

Your OUSA Executive continued to meet up and work on your behalf throughout the semester break. With the results of the referendum coming just before the beginning of first semester’s exam period, they spent much of the meeting discussing the complaints arising out of the voting period and the Read more...

UKIP Tries to Stay Relevant by Turning to Islamophobia

Posted 11:51am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Cameron Meads

The Brexit vote rattled Britain and the world. The death of the European Union and the rise of a new world order seemed imminent with Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen’s mobilisation of alt-right voters. Almost a year on, many of these fears have faded while new implications have Read more...

Labour Confronting Important Issues

Posted 11:48am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Jack Pacey

The Labour Party has added to its promises for the upcoming election with another set of policy announcements centred around the growing housing debate and the issue of mental health in New Zealand. These plans represent the start of what Labour hopes to develop into a coordinated effort to present Read more...

The G.O.A.T. Series Part Two: Women’s Edition

Posted 11:37am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Charlie Hantler

Following on from the men’s edition, we now turn our focus in on the women’s sport and their greats. Names such as Venus and Serena Williams, Flo-Jo and Irene van Dyk spring to mind, due to their sheer dominance of their codes, but they have plenty of competition for their respective Read more...

Winston Peters Speaks at Otago Uni, Doesn’t Like Tomato Sauce

Posted 11:17am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Joe Higham

NZ First leader Winston Peters spoke at the University of Otago’s Main Common Room last Wednesday, and within just a few minutes of his speech beginning, began targeting Critic for an article we published in Issue Four. The article, entitled “Winnie Blues: Winston Peters on Yet Read more...

Opinion Piece: On The Upcoming OUSA Referendum

Posted 11:13am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Sam McChesney

A few years back, when the government was pushing through Voluntary Student Membership (VSM), students’ associations across the country were being slammed as leftwing fringe groups. Students’ associations, it was claimed, had no business making political statements on behalf of students Read more...

Students Outnumbered By Pizzas at OUSA Student Forum

Posted 10:57am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Joe Higham

OUSA’s annual Student Forum took place on Monday 22nd May, providing a chance for students to ask questions in relation to the 11 questions included in the upcoming referendum, due to begin from 9am on 29 May. The event is notoriously poorly attended, and this year saw even the amount of Read more...

Announcement of Financial Help for Students Not All It Seems for Dunedin

Posted 10:54am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Joel MacManus

Students in financial trouble may breathe a slight sigh of relief after the changes announced in the 2017 Budget, although little help is on the way for those studying in Dunedin. Minister for Finance Steve Joyce announced a $20 per week increase in the accommodation supplement for those on Student Read more...

CompSci pips Biology for hardest subject at Uni

Posted 10:51am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Joel MacManus

If you’re looking for an easy pass on that last paper of your degree, we’ve got your back. A request made by Critic under the Official Information Act (OIA) has revealed the average pass rates by subject area at the University of Otago for the last several years. As a public Read more...

Otago Scientist leads New Zealand Study in Opioid Addiction Recovery

Posted 10:38am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Anna Linton

An Otago Medical Anthropologist, Dr Geoff Noller, has conducted a study in New Zealand into the controversial use of ibogaine in treating opioid dependency. Ibogaine is a plant-alkaloid derived psychoactive substance. It has been toted as an alternative medicine treatment for drug addiction, Read more...

University To Finally Provide Late Night Study Spaces To Students

Posted 10:32am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Joel MacManus

The University of Otago has responded to student demand for more late night study spaces on campus. From 22 May to 21 June the St David lecture theatre concourse and surrounds, as well as the upstairs, will be available 24 hours with student swipe card access. From 29 May to 18 June the Union Read more...

Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 13

Posted 10:27am Sunday 28th May 2017 by Joe Higham

This OUSA Executive meeting was the final one before the vital referendum kicks off at 9am on Monday 29 May. During the meeting, Education Officer Bryn Jenkins pointed out that “this is the most important [OUSA] referendum in a decade,” a statement that caused the other eight members of Read more...

Teams I Hate and Why You Should Hate Them Too: Liverpool FC

Posted 11:22am Sunday 21st May 2017 by Charlie Hantler

Everyone has sports teams they love, for me these are Otago, the mighty Highlanders, the Black Caps, Manchester United, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. I thoroughly enjoy cracking open a Speight’s, putting my feet up and watching them do their thing. It really is a great time. However, like Read more...

Ransomware attack: Mass infrastructure catastrophes no longer sci-fi

Posted 11:15am Sunday 21st May 2017 by George Elliott

The ransomware attack last week, coined WannaCry, has been heralded as a wake-up call for the world on the very material dangers that cyberwarfare can have on society’s infrastructure. First appearing in Spain on 12 May, WannaCry spread via email, exploiting vulnerabilities in Microsoft Read more...

Animal Research at Otago

Posted 11:09am Sunday 21st May 2017 by Oska Rego

Animal testing is always a hugely controversial and divisive topic, with each side rigid in their beliefs. The University of Otago are following through on plans to spend $50 million on a new animal research facility meaning the debate has reared its head once again throughout campus. If Read more...

OUSA Referendum Questions

Posted 11:00am Sunday 21st May 2017 by Critic

Voting on student issues in the OUSA Referendum begins next week and will finish at 4pm on Wednesday. To discuss any of the questions head along to the OUSA Forum this Monday at 1pm in the Main Common Room in the Link. The things you can vote on are: Should the Otago University Students’ Read more...

Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 12

Posted 10:55am Sunday 21st May 2017 by Joe Higham

Concern over the Bible Elohim Academy, which some have labelled as a ‘religious cult’, was discussed, due to the group wanting to affiliate with OUSA. They are seen by OUSA Recreation Manager Michaela Tangimetua as being an “extension of” controversial South Korean religious Read more...