Wifi Among Changes Aimed at Bringing Dunedin’s Buses into the 21st Century

Posted 11:46am Sunday 6th August 2017

The Otago Regional Council (ORC) has announced that it will be installing Wifi in their fleet of 80 buses around late September, among a raft of other changes. ORC Manager Support Services Gerard Collings told Critic that the council has had “many community requests for Wifi over a long Read more...

Jacinda Ardern Becomes Labour’s Sixth Leader in Nine Years

Posted 11:00am Sunday 6th August 2017

The leadership of the Labour Party has changed just six weeks out from September 23rd’s General Election, following their worst poll result in 24 years. Former Deputy Leader and MP for Mt Albert Jacinda Ardern was nominated unopposed to replace Andrew Little, who said that “while Read more...

One Hundred Attend TEU Protest Against Staff Cuts

Posted 10:55am Sunday 6th August 2017

Approximately 100 people took to the University of Otago Clocktower on Tuesday last week to protest the proposed 182 full-time equivalent (FTE) general staff cuts. Set up by the Tertiary Education Union (TEU), the protesters drew chalk-outlined bodies on the road outside the building to symbolise Read more...

Fate of Octagon Five-Star Hotel Rests in Hands of Panel

Posted 10:53am Sunday 6th August 2017

The fate of the five-star hotel to be built in Dunedin’s Moray Place rests on the result of a consent panel, as the hearing was slated to end on Friday last week. Tekapo businessman Anthony Tosswill is behind the 17-storey residential development, which, according to his application, will Read more...

Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 18

Posted 10:42am Sunday 6th August 2017

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...

Editorial | Cowardice Trumps Free Speech, at Least When 1.7 Billion People’s Feelings Are Involved

Posted 10:38am Sunday 6th August 2017

This week (August 9) was meant to have KPFA, a Californian radio station who describe themselves as “emphatically supporting serious free speech,” host world-renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, that is, until they abruptly cancelled the event. Their message to Dawkins Read more...

Household Income Report Reveals No Sign of Change for Poorest Families

Posted 10:51am Sunday 30th July 2017

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

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...

Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 17

Posted 10:37am Sunday 30th July 2017

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...

Critic Interviews New Zealand’s Funniest Comedian: Rhys Darby

Posted 1:35pm Sunday 23rd July 2017

Touching on his time in the NZ Army, his belief in reincarnation, his comedy heroes and more, Rhys Darby had a chat to Critic as he returns to New Zealand and Australia for his new Mystic Time Bird tour.  Joe Higham: How's the tour going so far? Rhys Darby: Great, yeah, fantastic. Only Read more...