It’s been a week in which the University of Otago and, more so, the students associated have been the focus of national headlines and the debate that comes with it.
Many of the headlines have been centred on the University’s plans to install surveillance cameras in the student area in response to calls about taking a tougher stand around student behaviour following Orientation week.
The discussion on whether or not the University should install surveillance cameras has most of the student population split, with valid reasons on both sides.
Earlier in the week an open letter to our Vice Chancellor, Harlene Hayne, was co-authored by ten collective students that suggested compulsory courses in respect, consent, and sexual health for all new undergraduate students after complaints about behaviour in the student quarter during O-week.
However, as the statistics from last week will tell you, with only two of the thirteen arrests up until Thursday actually being students, majority of the trouble from the past week has come from those outside of the student body.
This of course doesn’t mean that students aren’t causing some of the trouble; it’s merely suggesting that majority of the mischief is from those outside of the campus who believe they can come here and get away with anything.
So, potentially, is there some merit in installing cameras around the University if it is to catch those outsiders and clear the student name? But where do you draw the line? What about those small and innocuous misdemeanours committed by students that may, without the use of cameras, go unnoticed? Small and relatively minor things such as public nudity and the like.
When you enter into a public space, be that walking the main street, entering a stadium, or even filling up your car, you know full well that there’s every likelihood you’re being filmed. However, private residences are different. They’re private. Filming students in their private homes is intrusive, prying, and shouldn’t be condoned.
Perhaps money would be better spent on more Campus Watch personnel patrolling notorious streets at peak times. It’s an idea that would hopefully mean those who feel threatened also feel safer at night as well as protecting residents’ privacy in their own home.
Enjoy your upcoming week!
Hugh Baird
Critic Editor