I don’t know about you, but these past couple of weeks have left me reeling. Both on campus, in wider Ōtepoti, in national and international news (I won’t linger on this one too long), it’s as if whoever runs the simulation has turned up the dial to “hard” and left it going. If it’s left you wanting to curl into a ball and let your brain melt into a puddle, same. But it’s also left me feeling sentimental about the diversity of opportunities and cool shit that happens in little old Duds.
First there were the Local Body Elections forums held on campus. I went to every one and only had enough room in the runsheet to report on the mayoral candidates, complete with a sovereign citizen type, a student who’s campaigning on carpeted streets and chocolate fish currency, and a vampire (a nice one, though). We didn’t even mention the two other forums of candidates, but the talent on display and forward-thinking policies – besides the climate change denier – was uplifting.
Then came the rollercoaster of an OUSA Exec campaign period. After years of OUSA wringing its hands over uncontested candidates with boring campaigns – because what’s the point in going hard when you’re up against Mr No Confidence? – we’ve had the opposite this year. Importantly, the President is a contested position, the first time that’s happened in two election cycles. It hasn’t been clean, per se, but it’s been better than former presidents’ campaigns of sitting on an empty stage before a crowd of three and chatting shit about I don’t even know what.
News Editor Gryffin took 14,000 words of notes last week on the campaigns, and that was about the forums alone. We know you don’t have the time or energy to dedicate to six hours of forums or to trawling through 20 separate campaign accounts. My advice if you’re time poor is to listen to the Radio One recording of the presidential candidates. That’s the biggest one. If your interests are piqued, there’s a summary of the campaigns in news, and blurbs on each candidate in a centrefold pull-out.
If you paid attention, you’d know there’s a good cohort of students in the race this year. Like you, they’ve gone through the trials and tribulations of the StudyLink phone line. They’ve cursed papers that don’t provide lecture recordings and debated the use of ChatGPT for assignments. They’ve scraped mould off their clothes kept in the back of a musty wardrobe. They’ve made the most of OUSA’s free breakfast services after running out of food and transferred money from savings in the Night n’ Day line to afford a post-town pie. And their policies are based on these experiences to advocate for the betterment of their peers’ lives.
Beyond the refreshingly fierce political campaigning, Ōtepoti has been alive with activity. We’ve had celebrations for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, the return of Te Rōpū Māori from their Te Huinga Tauira trip, the Otago Pacific Students’ Association Pacific week, a Thursdays in Black ‘What I Was Wearing’ campaign, a pizza eating competition on Castle St, the Dunedin marathon, the NZ Young Writers Festival, the release of local legend IVY’s debut album, and a ski jump competition in the middle of campus. I’m probably missing things, too.
Maybe it’s because I’m coming towards the end of my time in Dunedin soon, but after taking a pause and reflecting on the past couple of weeks, I’d say we’re pretty lucky down here. While the news headlines have been dominated by doom and gloom about the state of the world – there’s been political violence stoking culture wars, opinion pieces arguing you should get out of Aotearoa while you can – our corner of the world isn’t so bad. Happy voting, keep up the good mahi, and make the most of the community, creativity, and chaos in your backyard. Someone get me a box of tissues.