James and the Giant Pile of Broken Promises

Posted 3:15pm Friday 14th September 2018

OPINION: In 2012, Francisco Hernandez was elected OUSA President with a manifesto (or “Franifesto”) containing over 100 policies. He spent the following year meticulously checking his progress against these pledges, eventually delivering around two-thirds of what he’d promised and Read more...

Opinion: The OUSA Exec Needs a Massive Overhaul

Posted 5:01pm Thursday 16th August 2018

Back in the day, the OUSA executive had almost 20 members. They fought a lot and spent lots of money. They were a bit like a pretentious, high-rolling kindergarten. They had positions for everything. They even had two “general reps,” who did…well, nobody really knew what they did. Read more...

Please Stop Electing Unqualified White Guys

Posted 10:43am Sunday 10th September 2017

In Iron Fist, Marvel’s tone-deaf TV show about mighty-whitey kung-fu billionaire Danny Rand, Rand gives a monologue about how he came to be the Iron Fist: “When I got to the monastery post-crash, I learned of a certain position. A powerful, important job and I wanted it … The Read more...

University Murders Thousands; Critic Runs Inflammatory Headline

Posted 10:31am Sunday 23rd July 2017

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...

Opinion Piece: On The Upcoming OUSA Referendum

Posted 11:13am Sunday 28th May 2017

A few years back, when the government was pushing through Voluntary Student Membership (VSM), students’ associations across the country were being slammed as leftwing fringe groups. Students’ associations, it was claimed, had no business making political statements on behalf of students Read more...

Survivor NZ: Dee shits in the ocean, Tony shits the bed

Posted 1:26pm Tuesday 9th May 2017

  Sam is a Survivor superfan, which means he’d be voted off first if he ever played. This is his weekly blog on Survivor New Zealand strategy.   At some point in Survivor, you need to become a threat if you want to win. If you’re seen as a passenger, then barring an Read more...

Tickets? More like clique-ets

Posted 11:01am Saturday 17th September 2016

My judgement is, to put it mildly, questionable. One of my desert island films is The Room, I’ve recently rekindled a long-suppressed enjoyment of the Spice Girls, and I want Gilda Kirkpatrick to be my life coach. I like to call myself a connoisseur of guilty pleasures; you could just say that Read more...

Why NZUSA sucks, & what we can do about it

Posted 10:39am Sunday 15th May 2016

What do poop-flavoured lollipops, tits on a bull, and Matthew McConaughey’s shirts all have in common? They’re all slightly more useful than NZUSA. Last month, the annual chorus of boos aimed at the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations began, kicked off by Massey student Read more...

Hipsters boycott sold-out festival

Posted 10:36am Sunday 1st May 2016

It was time once again for long hair, bandanas, rull koiwi senging eccents, weed smoke and Double Brown at Pine Hill last Saturday as local music festival Feastock celebrated its eighth year. Around 400 people attended the sold-out event, which featured 18 acts from Dunedin, Auckland, Read more...

Sycamore-Smith Coasts to Victory Despite Video Gaffe | Opinion

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013

With the Zac Gawn ticket victorious in two out of three contested positions, the outcome of the OUSA Presidential election can largely be seen as a personal endorsement of Ruby Sycamore-Smith. The election also saw the rise of iPredict and the resurgence of feminism, and cemented the importance of Read more...