Keeping tabs on the Exec | Issue 17

Posted 10:37am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joe Higham

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...

OUCC Kayakers Take on Raging Leith During Floods

Posted 10:44am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joel MacManus

For some Dunedin residents, the recent flooding was a major disaster, putting homes at risk and straining emergency services beyond capacity. But for the Otago University Canoe Club (OUCC), it was a cause for celebration. When the Leith River floods, it becomes perfect for white water kayaking, Read more...

Nominate Your Favourite Teachers for OUSA’s Annual Teaching Awards

Posted 10:46am Sunday 30th July 2017 by Joe Higham

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...

Poland Pulls Back from the Authoritarian Brink after Protests and EU Condemnation

Posted 11:16am Sunday 30th July 2017 by George Elliott

Poland, once the poster child of the post-1989 democratic wave against communism in Europe, has been going through rough political times. Thousands of Poles have flooded city streets to protest the government’s continued effort to limit the independence of the country’s judiciary. Read more...

University Murders Thousands; Critic Runs Inflammatory Headline

Posted 10:31am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Sam McChesney

Over 70,000 animals have died in research at the  university over the past five years. Figures released to Critic under the Official Information Act show that between 2012 and 2016 the University used 89,680 live animals for research purposes. 71,496 of those (80 per cent) were Read more...

No Plastic Bag Ban for Countdown NZ Despite Aussie Progress

Posted 11:07am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Zahra Shahtahmasebi

Two large supermarket chains in Australia, Woolworths and Coles, plan to phase out plastic bag usage over the next 12 months. Four states (South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and Tasmania) have already implemented state-wide bans. Coles supermarket is the Read more...

Is $200/week Enough To Buy The Under 23 Vote In The Election?

Posted 10:43am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joe Higham

The Opportunities Party (TOP) last week extended its Universal Basic Income (UBI) policy to all New Zealanders aged between 18-23. Set at $200 per week (after tax), the youth UBI is “designed to give all young New Zealanders a safety net of income to allow them to pursue their Read more...

“No One Man Should Have All That Power” – Football Agents and Their Dangerous Message

Posted 11:28am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Charlie Hantler

“And here comes Hurst! He's got... Some people are on the pitch! They think it's all over! It is now, it's four!” The scene is the mid-1960s, as Geoff Hurst famously scored in extra-time to put England 4-2 up against West Germany and seal their one and only World Cup. Read more...

How Healthy Is Our Democracy? Otago Academics Make Their Arguments

Posted 10:48am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Joel MacManus

We are entering an age of radical politics, where extremism on the left and right will become mainstream and authenticity of personality will trump good policies in the hearts of voters, according to a panel of political experts which spoke at the University of Otago public lecture “How Read more...

Opinion: Don’t be a Sucker – Vote or Get Voted on

Posted 11:21am Sunday 23rd July 2017 by Isaac Yu

It’s that happy time that only comes around once every three years. ‘It was the best of times, the most shitposty of times,’ the famous proclamation tells us. A time of soap box Facebook statuses on WHY. YOU. SHOULD. VOTE. Yet, despite all the internet slacktivism about how Read more...