Archive
OPINION: I Hate that the Uni Wasted 42k on Some Promo Screens
Posted 7:14pm Sunday 15th September 2019 by Nina Minogue
Over the last few weeks the Uni installed a massive nine panel screen in the Link that cost $42,000. It plays exclusively ads for the Uni – you know, that place you already go. I have a conspiracy. The University is slowly but surely turning the Link into a massive man-cave. Think about it, Read more...
EDITORIAL: The OUSA Presidency is Anyone's Game
Posted 6:50pm Sunday 15th September 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
This week is the Otago University Students’ Association student elections. For those that don’t really give a fuck (fair), OUSA is the student union that represents you, entertains you, and fights for you. OUSA runs O-Week, Starters Bar, Student Support, and Clubs and Socs, as well as Read more...
Critic Breaks Down the OUSA Presidential Debate
Posted 12:58am Friday 13th September 2019 by Erin Gourley
Are Jack, Will and Sam the characters from a boring nursery rhyme? No, they’re the OUSA presidential candidates for 2020. It was repeatedly brought up that Jack Manning, Will Moffett, and Sam Purchas were “stale, pale, and male” during the daytime presidential forum - mostly by the Read more...
Critic Watches Student Politicians Fight Each Other
Posted 12:56am Friday 13th September 2019 by Critic
At last week’s forum debates, almost 20 students fought each other for the honour of fighting for you as your OUSA representatives. Critic was there through all of them, through the awkward roasts and the boring empty speeches. This year saw an unprecedented number of positions go Read more...
Otago Medical Students Association Denies that Electoral Fraud Influenced Election
Posted 11:32pm Thursday 12th September 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
The Otago University Medical Students Association (OUMSA) has said that a “very small percentage” of students exploiting a loophole in the system to vote twice in the recent MOUSA elections “were not counted towards the final results of the position” and that even if they had Read more...
DCC Mayoral Forum Makes Critic Lose Faith In Democracy
Posted 6:08pm Sunday 8th September 2019 by Critic
Critic’s winners of the DCC Mayoral Forum, hosted by OUSA and the University, are Mandy Mayhem-Bullock and Aaron Hawkins, with an incredibly honourable mention to Bob Barlin. But, to be honest, hearing fourteen people talk for about five minutes each doesn’t give a great idea about who Read more...
‘Near-Misses’ Provoked Walk Your Wheels Campaign, Rather than Actual Injuries
Posted 1:01am Friday 6th September 2019 by Esme Hall
The University has said that “near-misses” provoked its ban on skateboards, bikes and scooters on campus, the “Walk Your Wheels” campaign, rather than actual injuries. An Official Information Act request to the University of Otago revealed that there have only been two Read more...
Great Peanut Purge at Residential Colleges
Posted 1:00am Friday 6th September 2019 by James Joblin
Peanuts have been taken off the menu at University-managed residential colleges to protect students with severe nut allergies. As of 2 September, residential college kitchens are no longer serving peanut products, except Toroa and Abbey colleges, which do not currently house students with peanut Read more...
OUSA To Lobby For Independent Investigator on Sexual Violence at Unis and Polytechs
Posted 12:55am Friday 6th September 2019 by Esme Hall
The OUSA Exec wants an independent body to investigate sexual violence against students and staff, rather than incidents being handled by universities and polytechnics internally. In their meeting over the break, the OUSA Exec agreed to start lobbying the University of Otago, the New Zealand Read more...
More CCTV rolling out on Castle
Posted 12:53am Friday 6th September 2019 by Sinead Gill
A blind spot in the CCTV network in studentville has been identified, and Campus Watch are rubbing their hungry hands together in glee – more cameras are coming to Castle Street. Specifically on the corner of Castle and Duke Street, and the corner of Castle and Dundas street. In a letter Read more...
Harlene Tells High Schoolers to Piss Off
Posted 12:50am Friday 6th September 2019 by Nina Minogue
Before this year’s O-Week, Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne sent a letter to all Dunedin secondary schools asking them to encourage their students to stay away from university parties. The letter was a response to Campus Watch reporting an alarming rise in uninvited high school students Read more...
How Much Are Breathas Paying For Flats? A Critic Investigation
Posted 12:47am Friday 6th September 2019 by Sinead Gill
Some truths are eternal when it comes to being a University of Otago student. You’re going to gain 20 kilos in your first year, only old people call us Scarfies, and living in a ‘notorious’ flat on Castle street is going to be expensive as fuck. But why is that? Not the 20 kilos Read more...
The Tea So Far: 2020 OUSA Executive Candidates
Posted 12:45am Friday 6th September 2019 by Esme Hall
Critic will reserve a full judgement until the forums this week, but here is what you need to know about the returners and insiders of OUSA who are running. All the Presidential candidates are men (gross): Will Moffett, Jack Manning, and Sam Purchas. All we could find out about Will online, from Read more...
More Tenants Come Forward With Landlords Trying to Rent Boarding Houses on Illegal Contracts
Posted 12:43am Friday 6th September 2019 by Erin Gourley
The problem of landlords trying to rent boarding houses on fixed-term leases is widespread, with three tenants telling Critic that they realised they were living in a boarding house after reading our boarding house article last week. One tenant told us that she lived in a boarding house in 2018 Read more...
Second Year Law Exam Timetable Mix-Up Creates 24 Hours of Panic
Posted 12:42am Friday 6th September 2019 by Erin Gourley
Second-year law students were shocked to find all of their exams scheduled within one week when the exam timetable was released on the Tuesday of the break. “A lot of people lost their shit,” said one second-year student. The mix-up was quickly resolved after a barrage of complaints Read more...
OUSA To Solve Climate Change
Posted 12:40am Friday 6th September 2019 by Sinead Gill
OUSA have stepped their pussies up and are not just encouraging students to ditch class, but TELLING them to not go to class and go to Union Lawn on the 27th of September, 11:30am, for climate change. They’re doing it as a part of the School Strike 4 Climate campaign, which sees high Read more...
Guest Editorial: Don't Just Learn Māori this Week, Learn It Every Week.
Posted 10:22pm Thursday 5th September 2019 by Taylor Terekia
Kia ora e te whānau! (Hey fam) It's your one and only Tumuakz or Tumuaki, not to be confused with Tumauki (iykyk) of Te Roopū Māori. It's that one week of the year people seem to remember te reo Māori is a national language. You'll find Māori language Read more...
Library Opening Hours Extended
Posted 12:06am Friday 30th August 2019 by Esme Hall
The University Central Library will trial being open from 6am to 12pm seven days a week in the lead up to exams. The change in hours, which were previously 7am to 11pm, comes after OUSA President James Heath and Education Officer Will Dreyer negotiated with the Library Executive. “The Read more...
Clubs Vote Against Having to Attend Boring OUSA Meetings at a Boring OUSA Meeting
Posted 12:05am Friday 30th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
In what has been described as both a resounding victory and a crushing defeat for boring OUSA meetings, 88% of people at a boring OUSA meeting voted against forcing representatives from OUSA Clubs and Societies to attend boring OUSA meetings. The rejected proposal was to have OUSA grants funding Read more...
DCC Candidates Commit to Student Pledges
Posted 11:53pm Thursday 29th August 2019 by Erin Gourley
OUSA have released the seven local body election pledges they will ask candidates to sign. “Take that, Lee Vandervis,” said Bonnie Harrison, OUSA’s Finance Officer, as they announced the pledges. The OUSA pledges for DCC candidates are, in summary: To reinstate a one Read more...
Students Choose Politics Over Equity
Posted 11:45pm Thursday 29th August 2019 by Sinead Gill
The week before mid-semester break, OUSA had a Student General Meeting (SGM). Critic, along with the 100-and-a-bit other students, went for the free pizza, dumplings, and hot goss. Although the motion to tie SGM attendance to club grants was the real reason why so many people turned up, in the Read more...
Employee of the Month: Ella Roding
Posted 11:43pm Thursday 29th August 2019 by Sinead Gill
Everybody stop what you’re fucking doing. There is a doggo at OUSA student support (5 Ethel Benjamin Place) every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and she has an employment contract. Ella Roding, a rescue dog from a Community Led Animal Welfare organisation in South Africa (CLAW), had an Read more...
Spiked Drinks At Student Event Raises Alarms
Posted 11:41pm Thursday 29th August 2019 by Sinead Gill
In May of this year there was a student event hosted at a Central Dunedin venue. During this event, the water dispenser was allegedly spiked, and multiple attendees ended up in the Emergency Department. Jenny* was one of the students whose drink was spiked. She said that she was lucky her friends Read more...
Editorial: Dunedin’s Landlords Are Shit and Something Needs to Change
Posted 10:08pm Thursday 29th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
Over the past few years Critic has covered a lot of tenancy stories about landlords and property managers being cunts: Mike “Dunedin’s Dodgiest Landlord” Harbott rented properties that were “unliveable” and then just refused to pay when the Tenancy Tribunal ruled Read more...
Boarding Houses and Illegal Contracts: How a Dunedin Landlord Got Her Tenants to Pay Extra Rent
Posted 10:06pm Thursday 29th August 2019 by Erin Gourley
Don’t you just hate it when your landlord emails to say that “your father is DISGUSTING PUTRID AND RUDE”? And accuses you of “RUDENESS, DISGUSTING BEHAVIOR, DISGUSTING MOCKING AND BULLY LAUGHING, RUNNING YOUR MOUTH 10000 MILES AN HOUR WITH BS”? That’s the kind of Read more...
RIP Forever, Captain Cook
Posted 12:23pm Monday 19th August 2019 by Sinead Gill
The Captain Cook has been sold (again), cementing the pub’s status as Otago students’ ex-boyfriend with serious commitment issues. Michael McLeod, who had operated the Cook since early 2018, told the ODT that he planned on keeping the upstairs venue open for hire under the Cook Read more...
Squash Club Evicted From Damaged Courts
Posted 11:04pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by James Joblin
The Otago University Squash Club has been walloped from their courts at 51 Union Street after being served a closure notice by the University. “We would have loved to stay at the venue,” Squash Club President Jayden Millard told Critic. “It’s on campus, it has history, and Read more...
Sustainable Student Business Gets National Interest
Posted 11:02pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Esme Hall
The University said that new sustainable Otago student-led business ‘Spout Alternatives’ should tender for the University’s milk contract when the current supplier’s three-year contract ends. Spout Alternatives founder Jo Mohan told Critic that cafes all over the country Read more...
Storming the Dundas Wall Kind of a Success
Posted 11:01pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
Despite multiple people storming the Dundas Street Construction last weekend, the Otago Regional Council (ORC) is “really pleased that nothing came from the storming of the Bridge” according to ORC Communications Channels Manager Eleanor Ross. Ross said that the storming was a Read more...
“Incident” with Richardson Building Lift
Posted 11:00pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Esme Hall
An “incident” with one of the Richardson Building lifts that made a loud crash was not the lift falling, according to the Property Services spokesperson. “Whilst Property Services is awaiting its full report from the Lift Contractor (Otis), we can advise the lift car did not Read more...
Korean Bible “Cult” Returns to Campus
Posted 10:59pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Esme Hall
International students allege they were targeted by a controversial Korean religious group, described by many as a cult, that has been trespassed from campus. Sela and Mele, residents of a St David’s Street UniFlat, allege two young Korean people knocked on their door with an iPad and a Read more...
OUSA Deciding About Mandatory Club Attendance at Student General Meetings, at a Student General Meeting
Posted 10:57pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
The OUSA Student Executive have decided to take the question of whether it should be mandatory for a representative from every club and society to attend their Student General Meetings (SGMs), which historically have an abysmal turnout, to the next SGM for the students to vote on. Or at least the 90 Read more...
Everyone Agrees Agnew Street Went Pretty Okay
Posted 10:56pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Erin Gourley
Students traversed freezing weather and hiked up a small hill to make it to the annual, un-ticketed Agnew Street Party. The party went ahead despite a steady temperature of 4°C and persistent rain. “You can’t deter Otago students,” said one of the organisers. An organiser Read more...
Locals Leaders Claim Programme is Underfunded and Underappreciated
Posted 10:56pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Sinead Gill
The Locals programme is underfunded and underappreciated by the University, according to three Locals leaders. The Locals programme was established in 2011 to make sure the 25% of first-year students who aren’t in colleges have a way to participate in all of the thrilling fresher events. Read more...
HEARTBREAKING: Local Artist’s Masterpiece Goes Unsold
Posted 10:54pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Sinead Gill
Despite having a fanatic fanbase, James Heath’s fledgling art career didn’t take flight during OUSA Art Week. Art Week is an annual campaign to support student artists. As far as we can tell, James is the first President in recent history to be brave enough to submit his masterpiece Read more...
Guest Editorial: An Open Love Letter to Supré
Posted 8:08pm Saturday 17th August 2019 by Henessey Griffiths
The day that Supré closed down in the Meridian Mall was a sad day for Dunedin. Although I was more of a Jay-Jays kid growing up, I remember going there in my early teenage years and it completely changed me. When you walked in, you were greeted with overwhelming fluorescent lights, Taio Read more...
THE MOST INTERESTING THING YOU WILL EVER READ
Posted 6:18pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
Get ready you motherfuckers for some motherfucking news. Oh yeah, this is going to be good. Hold onto your hats, because you’re about to be taken on a ride down the sensual slippery slide of journalism. Let me introduce the key players in this high-octane psychosexual drama: the old kids on Read more...
OPINION: Students Are Not Free Labour
Posted 6:17pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by Nina Minogue
It’s that time of year, baby. Halfway through semester two, internships and summer employment are all the rage. And I’m raging. Like two thousand other Otago students, I am graduating at the end of this year. I’ll have a Bachelor of Arts and a bunch of paid and voluntary work Read more...
Physiotherapy Defeats Medicine in Inter-Faculty Rugby Game
Posted 6:12pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by James Joblin
Physiotherapy students have proved that they are about more than just feet after last Sunday's cracking-good rugby game against the Otago University Medical Students’ Association’s team, the ‘Teratomas’ (gross medical word for a gross tumor made up of different types of Read more...
OUSA Exec Restructure Going to Student Vote
Posted 6:10pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by Sinead Gill
It’s Thursday, and OUSA is in an early morning emergency meeting. Education Officer Will Dreyer’s vape cloud dissipates to reveal the Executive flicking through two versions of the OUSA constitution. This document dictates the purpose, powers, and rules of our entire student union, and Read more...
Who Owns Castle Street? A Critic Investigation
Posted 6:07pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by Esme Hall
Most student flats in the stretch of Castle Street from Dundas to Duke and Brook Street are owned by Dunedin locals, a Critic investigation found after trawling through a lot boring information. Of the sixty-three flats whose owners’ information was publicly available, forty-three had local Read more...
Editorial: Critic Officially Endorses Everglades Premium Liquors Peach Schnapps
Posted 4:22pm Sunday 11th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
If you’ve ever bothered looking at the cool old Orientation posters up in the Link you might have noticed who they’re all sponsored by: Speight’s. And then, suddenly, no more Speight’s. Surprise, surprise, students didn’t suddenly stop being interested in beer, and Read more...
Cutlers Property Management Threatens Students For Talking to Critic
Posted 9:19pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by Esme Hall
Cutlers Property Management threatened to share current Cutlers tenants’ names and address in a Facebook post if they didn’t retract negative comments made to Critic about their flat. Last Tuesday Critic requested comment from Cutlers about claims made by current tenants in a Queen Read more...
World Record Scrum Hopes Crushed By ‘Boomers’
Posted 9:16pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by Sinead Gill
Last week, an effort to break the world record for the biggest scrum during the Agnew Street party was tragically thwarted before it even began. (For those who don’t know sports, a scrum is a “move” in rugby where players on both teams line up, lock arms with each other, and have Read more...
SPORT! STUDENTS WIN!
Posted 9:00pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by James Joblin
Otago University Rugby Club has triumphed at the men’s and women’s rugby premier finals held at Forsyth Barr Stadium on 27 July. The moustachioed University Men A team tallied up a 38-31 win against Taieri, and the less moustachioed University Women defeated the hitherto undefeated Read more...
Students Volunteer For Fox River Rubbish Clean Up
Posted 8:58pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by Erin Gourley
On the weekend of August 9-11, OUSA will send 74 staff and students to help with the Fox River clean up. They will contribute to the removal of “roughly 500 rugby fields worth of rubbish,” said OUSA President, James Heath. In March this year, flooding broke open a landfill near Fox Read more...
Bike Thefts: a Trial, a Tribulation
Posted 8:34pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by Nina Minogue
Earlier this year Critic received a news tip alleging there was a spate of bike thefts happening on campus. To see if it was a story worth pursuing, I contacted the Police Communications team with an OIA request to get some evidence on reported thefts. Simple stuff. For those that don’t Read more...
Editorial: I don’t know, vote or something
Posted 7:49pm Sunday 4th August 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
This week’s centrefold is really boring. It’s an enrolment form to vote in the local body elections. In case you didn’t know, there are a bunch of incredibly boring committees and councils, exclusively staffed with people over the age of 95, who make decisions about your lives; Read more...
Editorial: Dunedin Needs its Own Mantracker
Posted 5:10pm Wednesday 31st July 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
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Former OUSA Presidents Hit Up Harlene for CV References
Posted 4:35am Friday 26th July 2019 by Esme Hall
Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne has provided written references for one OUSA President and one OUSA Executive member since August 2011, according to records obtained via the Official Information Act. To the best of her recollection, she has also provided verbal references for two further OUSA Read more...
OUSA Will Introduce Candidate Pledges in Upcoming Local Body Election
Posted 4:22am Friday 26th July 2019 by Erin Gourley
For this year’s local body election, OUSA will ask candidates to sign a pledge stating that they will commit to student-focused policies if elected. The policy pledges will cover rental standards, landlord regulation, BYO policy, climate change, public transport, and mental health services. Read more...
Opinion: The University Lied About Stationery and I Feel Weirdly Vindicated
Posted 3:57am Friday 26th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
Last week Critic reported that the Archway Shop stationery would move to Campus Shop South (the weird merch store next to the library). This was allegedly due to a high demand for stationary and a need for more space to stock things. We asked the University point-blank if Campus Shop South, which Read more...
Students Felt “Unfriendly Vibe” at Queer Night
Posted 3:55am Friday 26th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
Accusations of homophobic behaviour from members of the crowd have tainted the Queen of Hearts gig, “a queer-friendly event”, which kicked off OUSA’s 2019 Diversity Week. One male student was removed from the gig after tearing down a pride flag, though OUSA and Starters Bar said Read more...
OPINION: Why We Must All Protect Ihumātao.
Posted 3:43am Friday 26th July 2019 by Tiana Mihaere
“Not One More Acre of Māori Land” was the rallying cry of the late Dame Whina Cooper in 1975. 44 years on we use her words to rally behind the Protectors of Ihumātao who call us to stand up against the destruction of Papatūānuku. Ihumātao has seen over 800 Read more...
A Win for OUSA Insiders in the Exec By-Election Results
Posted 3:33am Friday 26th July 2019 by Esme Hall
Georgia Mischefski-Gray is the new Admin VP, Benjamin McCook-Weir is the new Campaigns Officer and Matthew Schep is new Postgraduate Officer in a by-election Critic is calling a win for OUSA insiders. Hoping it’ll catch on. Probably won’t. All the new Exec members are OUSA adjacent. Read more...
Agnew Street Party Organisers Want a More Controlled Party than Last Year
Posted 6:15pm Thursday 25th July 2019 by Esme Hall
The student organisers of the Agnew Street Party are trying to make this year’s party safer after last year’s got out of hand. One of the organisers said the Proctor, Dave Scott, has been “an absolute legend” in helping them figure out how to make the now seemingly annual Read more...
Critic Gets Street Sign Spelling Error Corrected
Posted 6:14pm Thursday 25th July 2019 by Esme Hall
Critic corrected a spelling mistake not in our magazine, but in real life. We’re cool, promise. Since 26 April, the street sign on Ethel McMillan Pl has read “Ethel McMillian Pl”. Critic’s intrepid reporter stared at the sign for weeks wondering if they’d Read more...
OPINION: VSM is the Worst
Posted 4:30pm Friday 19th July 2019 by Bonnie Harrison
The Otago University Students’ Association exists purely because Harlene Hayne saw a poor little piglet, primed for slaughter, and decided they were too special to be turned into pork mince. The story of OUSA is essentially Charlotte’s Web. Our student union was conceived and born in Read more...
North Dunedin to Get Two More “Barnes Dance” Crossings
Posted 3:20am Friday 19th July 2019 by Wyatt Ryder
Two more ‘Barnes Dance Crossings’ are being installed in North Dunedin in the next three weeks. Barnes Dance is a really lame name for those crossings that let you cross in any direction and have a flashing countdown that lets you challenge yourself to see if you can run across with Read more...
Advocacy Groups Have “No Empathy” for Landlords Scrambling to Insulate Properties
Posted 3:17am Friday 19th July 2019 by Esme Hall
Local advocacy groups are disappointed in landlords who left it to the last minute to insulate the underfloor and ceilings of rental homes for the July 1st deadline, which they had three years to meet. Changes to the Residential Tenancies Act mean that from July 1st rental homes must have ceiling Read more...
Who to Vote For in the By-Election
Posted 3:13am Friday 19th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
As per usual for OUSA events the seats in the Main Common Room were vacant for the candidates forum, all bar the current Executive, the candidates’ friends, and depressed Critic reporters. But no worries, we’ve assessed the quality of the candidates for you. For the more discerning voter Read more...
My Editorials: A Review
Posted 1:57am Friday 19th July 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
This is a review issue. We’ve got a bunch of reviews. Here’s a review of my editorials so far: Editorial #1 Drugs are lame. 2/10 Editorial #2 We still haven’t had an answer from AskOtago. 7/10 Editorial #3 The University Read more...
Archway Shop is Dead and There is Nothing We Can Do About It
Posted 10:01pm Thursday 18th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
Despite having a name that confusingly refers to another building on campus, the Archway Stationery Shop has been a staple of the Link for decades. But as of last Thursday, the University pulled the plug. Campus and Collegiate Life Services Director, James Lindsay, said that this move was to Read more...
DCC VERSUS DCC: WHO WILL WIN?
Posted 9:59pm Thursday 18th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
One bold, annonymous Dunedin local has perfected community outreach by launching a ‘Dunedin City Council - DCC’ Facebook page that people actually engage with. Overnight they became a city-wide hit and quickly superseeded the 1k-follower mark. While unfortunately their posts are just Read more...
Writing About The Executive Reports So They Stop Asking Us To
Posted 12:46am Friday 12th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
If you noticed that we never covered the first quarterly reports of the OUSA Executive back in March, then you are either Will Dreyer or... (no, you’re just Will Dreyer). Now that the second quarterly reports are out, though, Critic can compare what goals and promises they kept first semester, Read more...
The University & The Sexual Misconduct Policy
Posted 12:43am Friday 12th July 2019 by Caroline Moratti
Under the new Sexual Misconduct Policy, which was made public at the end of May this year, the University is obligated to “ensure that students are informed of this policy, related resources, and education programmes,”. However, according to Thursdays in Black Otago, the University has Read more...
Editorial: I Don’t Want to Live in a World Without the Giant Mountain Lobelia
Posted 12:40am Friday 12th July 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
Ok, buckos. It’s happened. I’ve snapped. This was the last fucking straw. I was on board, but now I’m jumping off. Don’t count on me no more. We all know that climate change is destroying the planet and that as humans we’ve pretty much proved ourselves to be unworthy Read more...
NZUSA are Preparing to Fight “Tweaks” to the Fees-Free Policy
Posted 11:28pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
Although the National Student Union, NZUSA, started the year at a $74,000 deficit, the entire staff of James Ranstead (President) and Caity Barlow-Groome (Vice-President), with the blessing of the NZUSA National Executive, have decided to invest in a 20-hour staff member for a Read more...
Student Enrolment Numbers Double
Posted 11:27pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by James Joblin
The number of students enrolled to vote in the upcoming local elections is on the rise, with the number of Otago students enrolled doubling so far this year. These numbers still remain a fraction of the total student body. In recent years, the percentage of Otago students enrolled has remained at Read more...
Savoury Scroll “No Longer Worthy” Of Hilarious $4.20 Price Tag
Posted 11:25pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
An anonymous student has accused St. David’s Cafe of shrinking the size of their savoury scrolls. In an interview with Critic, they allege that the portions are “no longer worthy” of the hilarious $4.20 price tag, but that “the real betrayal is that they never even Read more...
Otago University Trades Suicide Prevention Framework For ‘Wellbeing Matrix’
Posted 11:24pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
Despite working on a Suicide Prevention Framework for over a year, the Healthy University Advisory Group (HUAG) have decided to replace it with a ‘Wellbeing Matrix’. A framework is basically a set of ideas and principles about how something should work (so, how suicide could be Read more...
University Set to Start Charging for Cup Libraries
Posted 11:22pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Caroline Moratti
In your daily update of ceramic news, the University is set to start charging for use of cup libraries, with borrowers paying $1 to get a cup and on returning it will get $1 off their next coffee purchase. You may have seen the colourful, quirky cup libraries around campus, looking like something Read more...
Otago Uni Says Nup to 126,000 Cups
Posted 11:21pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Nina Minogue
Otago Uni has announced that as of July 15, they will be phasing out disposable cups across all campus cafes. The first three cafes to be affected by this change will be St. Davids, Te Mātiti and Staff Club. While some students already use reusable cups at the campus cafes, the University has Read more...
OPINION: My eQuals is Bullshit
Posted 11:20pm Thursday 11th July 2019 by Erin Gourley
“Pay $30 so that employers can trust that your grades are what you say they are, you lying/untrustworthy/deceitful student.” Underneath it all, that’s the vibe of My eQuals. The system is based on the idea that students want to scam employers by sending them false academic Read more...
OUSA Welfare Officer Will Resign If President Does Not Think She Has “Stepped Up” Her Game
Posted 1:50pm Monday 8th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
Disclaimer: Kerrin has had ongoing health issues that she says affected her ability to communicate her progress on goals. Critic has previously addressed that the Welfare Officer role is fucking massive and it is easy to over-commit: however, this does not mean Exec members should not be held Read more...
OUSA Exec Members Resign Over Mid-Sem Break
Posted 1:43pm Monday 8th July 2019 by Sinead Gill
Three OUSA Exec members resigned from their posts during the mid-semester break. Administration Vice-Prez Porourangi Templeton-Reedy resigned to take a job in Wellington. Post-Graduate Officer Dermot Frengley resigned to focus on his studies, and Campaigns Officer Georgia Mischefski-Gray resigned so Read more...
ORC Oligarchs Condemn East Dundas Residents to Three More Months Behind Wall
Posted 1:38pm Monday 8th July 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
The Otago Regional Council has confirmed the Dundas Street Bridge construction will be postponed for another three months, opening in October instead of August. This delay is apparently because it is very mysterious “what happens underground and where” and apparently there was no way for Read more...
OPINION: Stop knocking on my front door
Posted 11:38pm Thursday 4th July 2019 by Mary Hawkes
Get off my fucking lawn. I can’t believe I actually have to say that. It’s way too soon to be looking for flats, and I don’t want to talk to you, so the roaming groups of star-eyed undergrads wandering around the inaccessible hilly back ends of nowhere need to stop hammering on Read more...
The Best Anonymous Comments From the OUSA Referendum
Posted 11:36pm Thursday 4th July 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
The latest OUSA referendum was one of the most interesting referendums in recent memory, which is to say it was slightly less interesting than green top milk. Highlights included 88.5% of students agreeing that fucking freshers shouldn't be allowed to go to Hyde, and a tragic minority of Read more...
Sausage with Substance: Fight Night Returns
Posted 11:32pm Thursday 4th July 2019 by Caroline Moratti
Tom “The Tank Engine” Tremewan lives up to his name. An aura of childlike mischievousness cascading through a tight, streamlined body of pure mechanical engineering. Much like his fictional counterpart, his tank wasn’t built overnight, but rather through a labour of love for last Read more...
OUSA will run drug testing again for Re-Ori
Posted 11:31pm Thursday 4th July 2019 by Erin Gourley
OUSA, the New Zealand Drug Foundation and KnowYourStuffNZ are collaborating to make drug testing available to students (again) during Re-Ori. The testing model is very similar to the initiatives run during O-Week and before the Hyde Street Party. According to students who used the tent last Read more...
Guest Editorial: The Exec is Broken
Posted 10:57pm Thursday 4th July 2019 by Esme Hall
The Exec is falling apart. Last week, three of them resigned. Admin VP Porourangi Templeton-Reedy abandoned his post for a job in Wellington, Post-Grad Officer Dermot Frengley was overloaded with study and Campaigns Officer Georgia Mischefski-Gray resigned to run for Admin VP in the upcoming Read more...
Editorial: We Summoned a Ghost to Write This Editorial
Posted 12:21am Friday 24th May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
Welcome to Issue 13, the Occult Issue. Instead of writing an editorial this week we decided to construct a Ouija board and channel the eternal spirit of His Miraculousness Archibald Campbell, the First Critic Editor, may he forever be in our loins. Critic Illustrators Asia and Saskia combined Read more...
Government Will Not Repeal VSM This Term, say Student Lobbyists
Posted 11:49pm Thursday 23rd May 2019 by Sinead Gill
OUSA Exec members Will Dreyer and Bonnie Harrison have said that Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Education Minister Chris Hipkins will not repeal Voluntary Student Membership (VSM) in this term of government. OUSA Finance Officer, Bonnie, said “it seems abundantly clear from Grant Read more...
Critic Breaks Down the OUSA Referendum Questions
Posted 11:15pm Thursday 23rd May 2019 by Esme Hall
In an impressive show of #studentengagement, 38 student submitted questions ended up in the upcoming OUSA Referendum. Admittedly, Critic submitted 21 questions, but most of those were actually submitted to us by students. Critic Editor Charlie O’Mannin is still sad his question to get OUSA to Read more...
University’s ‘Walk Your Wheels’ Campaign Labelled Ableist
Posted 9:39pm Thursday 23rd May 2019 by Oscar Francis
A student with a physical disability is saying that the wheeled transport ban on campus is more than just an inconvenience for skateboarders; it does not consider the needs of students for whom walking around campus is not an option. Disability Services said students will be able to apply for an Read more...
Students Still Waiting For a Sexual Misconduct Policy
Posted 9:36pm Thursday 23rd May 2019 by Sinead Gill
A month after the University approved a Sexual Violence Misconduct policy, students are still waiting to find out what that policy actually entails. In a statement to the media last month, the University explained that the policy would be operational once “a specific team of suitably Read more...
OUSA Executive Give Dying Man Life Membership
Posted 9:34pm Thursday 23rd May 2019 by James Joblin
Last month, the OUSA Executive bestowed the honour of lifetime OUSA membership on Michael Tull. The Exec gave the life membership after seeing a Facebook post by Tull that said he was “nearing the end of [his] days” and had always been disappointed he’d never been granted OUSA Read more...
SOULS to Decline Russell McVeagh’s Money
Posted 2:19pm Tuesday 21st May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
After consulting its members, the Society of Otago Law Students (SOULS) has decided not to accept sponsorship from law firm Russell McVeagh. SOULS cut ties with the law firm in 2018 when it was accused by multiple students, including one student from Otago, of systematic sexual harassment. In a Read more...
Editorial: The Menstruation Issue One Year Later
Posted 5:26pm Friday 17th May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
This time last year, Critic made international news. There were Slovak opinion pieces and arguments on French radio. There were stories in Reuters and CNN rung the editor at 2am. That’s right, it’s Issue 12, which makes it the one year anniversary of the Menstruation Issue. This time Read more...
Four Walls still M.I.A.
Posted 10:46pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Nina Minogue
In the wake of Critic’s recent article on Four Walls Property Management, the current tenants of a Leith Street property have come forward with allegations of poor communication in regards to broken appliances and delayed payment for pest extermination. They say action was only taken after Read more...
Auckland Students’ Association President Resigns
Posted 10:44pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Esme Hall
AUSA President Anand Rama has handed in notice of his resignation just nine weeks into his first semester as head of the organisation. In a Facebook post after his resignation, Rama said he was not “in a good headspace” during his tenure and said resigning was “[putting] myself Read more...
“Excessive” Police Presence at Graduation Party Called “Racial Profiling” By Students
Posted 10:41pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Sinead Gill
Māori students are calling the police presence at a graduation party “excessive” and “racial profiling” after 7 police and noise control officers turned up to a 30-40 person event. On Friday 10 May a group of 30 to 40 Māori students gathered at a flat to Read more...
Third Year Pharmacy Students Miss Out on Hospital Placements
Posted 10:39pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Erin Gourley
Changes to the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme mean thirty-two third year students will miss out on placements in hospitals this year. A new Bachelor of Pharmacy curriculum has introduced clinical experiences earlier in third year. Dean of the School of Pharmacy, Professor Carlo Marra, said that Read more...
Critic Office Broken Into Twice
Posted 10:37pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
The Critic office has been the target of two break-ins over the past month, with two non-students, reportedly highschoolers with links to youth gang the “Vit-Cs”, facing court action over the second break-in. At the first break-in, which happened over a month ago, the thieves stole Read more...
Eight Cases of Flatmate Violence Reported to OUSA Student Support This Year
Posted 10:36pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Esme Hall
OUSA Student Support has dealt with eight cases of flatmate violence reported by students so far this year. Acting Manager of OUSA Student Support Hahna Briggs said that flatmate violence is “basically any behaviour where the purpose is to gain power and control over a flatmate,” and Read more...
Students Sent to Proctor for Hayward College-Themed Meme Pages
Posted 10:35pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Wyatt Ryder
Last week two Facebook meme pages, “Hoyword College Memes” and "Hoyword Confessions, were unpublished from the site and their admins were sent to the Proctor. The admins of the pages were told by Hayward College staff to remove the pages to avoid getting in trouble. The primary Read more...
OUSA Call DCC Parking Proposal “An Absurdity”
Posted 10:33pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Nina Minogue
Last week OUSA made a submission to the DCC, calling the proposed Tertiary Precinct and Jetty to Police Street parking changes, which would see paid-meter parking rolled out to more streets in the student area, “an absurdity”, and recommended it be changed to benefit the student Read more...
The Future of Thursdays in Black in Question
Posted 10:32pm Thursday 16th May 2019 by Sinead Gill
It’s been well over a year since NZUSA lost a $1.4million contract with ACC to fund sexual violence prevention campaigns on university campuses. They were awarded it on the back of the mahi behind a report NZUSA’s Thursdays in Black (TiB) team released called “In Our Own Read more...
Editorial: Boomers Are Upset About Something
Posted 3:00am Friday 10th May 2019 by Charlie O’Mannin
Buying drinks in a bar is like artificial insemination. It’ll cost more than your entire student loan and you’ll end up being disappointed. Last week the media latched onto OUSA pointing out that buying alcohol in a bar costs too much. The ODT ran the inflammatory headline Read more...
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