Non-students living in North Dunedin flats have been blamed
by the University of Otago for a marked increase in the
numbers of fires being lit last year in the student quarter.
As the start of student Orientation looms next week, Otago
University Students' Association staff and volunteers were
busy yesterday delivering nearly 4000 "college packs" to
Dunedin colleges of residence.
A welcome was extended to a group of University of Otago
students as they settled into their flat yesterday by a
former resident who knew their new home better than they
might have expected.
The northern suburbs of Dunedin are reawakening from their
summer slumber as University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic
students move back into the area to prepare for a new
academic year.
Student disciplinary matters at the University of Otago will
be discussed behind closed doors at its first council meeting
of the year this week - three months after criticisms were
made by a council member about how disciplinary outcomes were
being ignored by media.
A photo-covered wall in the office of Donna Jones at the
Otago University Students' Association headquarters says all
you need to know about the self-confessed "people person".
The Dunedin City Council,
police and the University of Otago have student street
parties like the Hyde St keg party - which Mayor Dave Cull
yesterday labelled "too dangerous to continue" - firmly in
their sights.
Students around New Zealand, increasingly struggling to make
ends meet, have claimed almost $3.5 million in emergency
financial assistance from the Ministry of Social Development
during the past three years.
A media watchdog entity being formed by the University of
Otago to monitor contentious student magazine Critic
and Radio One should not compromise the independence of the
two outlets, a New Zealand media commentator says.
