Dear Madam Critic
I am writing in disgust at the recent price increases at uni cafés. From the start of this semester, a thing Chicken and Cranberry Panini or a Breakfast Wrap is $12!! This is nuts! Campus cafe food was never supposed to be Michelin Star quality, but it was supposed to at least be affordable. I remember when such menu items were capped at aprox $8.50. Now you have to wait for an end of day special to find such savings.
It is my hope that our courageous OUSA exec will fight this most insidious injustice
Best,
Milton Friedman
Dear Critic,
Last semester, as Moaningful Confessions continued, I began to believe people at this uni have a communication problem. Absolutely not to blame or shame anyone, but I believe in beautiful learning experiences and showing kindness. I’m confused why we aren’t normalising teaching one’s partners how to pleasure you, and asking/learning in return. It’s quite sad that people are having such bad experiences with each other, often because one or both do not stop to have a chat about how to do something properly.
I just want to encourage everyone to have friendly learning experiences and fun experiments. They don’t have to feel scared or ashamed of not knowing everything. Even the most seasoned sex havers will always have something to learn they’ve never done before – that's part of the fun. Undernegotiated sex is a problem fr.
- Wishing Otago students better sex
Kia ora Critic,
Last week's Clubs Day was overall pretty fun. But, was it just me or was it a little off this time?
I don't remember being chased around by some Christian group in the last few Clubs Days. Made me super uncomfortable. Which is a shame! The Christian clubs are always good for a casual yarn. Then along comes these people, making the rest look bad. I'm not sure they're if they're from uni? They kinda looked lost.
Another shame was how pissy some student activists were. Idk which groups they were from, but some were pretty aggro in insisting our club take and display the pamphlets for this Student Strike thing. I've wanted to find some time to get more involved, but if the people running it are this arrogant and snobby, why bother? Being "right" doesn't give you an excuse to be rude to my friends.
Sincerely,
Someone looking forward to finishing my BSc and getting out of dodge. Sorry.
Kia Ora Critic,
I'm writing regarding this week's crossword. It uses the word pansy, and not in terms of the flower. You've framed it as a rude word for weak men but frankly it's a slur, used against gay men specifically. It may have been reclaimed by the queer community but returning it to its original meaning undoes all that work. In light of our recent gender bill and the subsequent protest, using a slur in a crossword no matter how it is framed is pretty upsetting. Do better.
Sincerely,
A queer and upset student.
Editor’s Response: Thanks for bringing this to our attention. The crossword is often handled by contributors, and we completely missed that pansy had been used in this context. After speaking to the contributors that made the crossword, they explained that they had themed their crossword around flowers, specifically queer-coded flowers, because they are both queer. They explained that they chose 'pansy' because of their understanding that it had a positive queer history, being used in the 19th-20th century drag scene. The other flower clues were all unrelated to the reasons they chose them: "flower of the gods" for carnation, "a soft purple" for lilac. They chose each of these flowers because of their relation to the queer community, but gave them clues that were completely distinct from their queer meanings. They further explained that they wrote the clue thinking of its alternative definition, not its queer definition, and neglected to realise the alternative definition came about to turn the word against the queer community. They accept it was a complete oversight on their part, as it was on mine, and we are appalled that we did not notice it ourselves. Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention!
