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Post-Hyde Street already! If you were lucky enough to purchase tickets in the three-point-something minutes before they sold out, we hope it was all you wanted it to be. If, for any reason, it wasn’t, you’re welcome to drop into OUSA Student Support at 5 Ethel Benjamin Place (look for the giant green flags) for a chupa chup and a debrief. We’d love to hear what you thought and what you’d like to see, or not see, next time around.

In the first issue of Critic this year, we gave some suggestions about how to avoid flatting misery. We’re going to say a bit more about this today because we have to warn you that there is some seriously dodgy stuff going down with flats.

Thankfully, dodgy stuff’s the minority, but that’s not much consolation if you’re in that minority. Is any of the following familiar? A landlord who turns up inside the flat without warning, or snoops outside peeking through the curtains while you’re quietly minding your own business watching re-runs of Master Chef, or screams at you when you ask politely for the crap (hopefully “stuff” and not actual crap) last year’s tenants left in your bedroom to be removed? Or maybe your ultra-fast, unlimited-fibre broadband (as per the advertisement) is as slow as an octogenarian three-legged donkey carrying sandbags up a hill? Hey, you need to come and see us!

While it’s a bit late to change the flat you’ve signed for this year, check out this student initiative to get the power to the people: www.ratemyflat.org.nz. If you were in a flat last year, go there now and rate it so some poor sucker next year doesn’t have to go through the same things as you did (or, if it was a great flat, share the love). If you read this and rate last year’s flat before Easter, drop me a line at flatting@ousa.org.nz, tell me which flat you’ve rated and why you deserve a Poppa’s Pizza and I will make it happen (first five emails will be lucky in pizza and karma, subsequent emails will be lucky in karma only).

Don’t forget that this week is Diversity Week! Check out OUSA’s web or Facebook page for event details.

Whole lotta love from OUSA Student Support xox.