It’s a common path to employment for young graduates, but being paid in experience doesn’t cover the rent. Sherry Zhang delves into the shady world of unpaid internships. The intern! Eager, earnest, nervous bright young thing. Are we doomed to grab endless cups of coffee, the boss’s lunch and photocopy till our fingertips turn to … Read more
What happens when you put a bunch of farming students in a deeply National electorate in a room with their local candidates? Alex Braae went to the Lincoln University election debate to see the political equivalent of an abattoir. Despite the protestations of most of the candidates, there’s only going to be one winner in … Read more
The new sexuality education guidelines aim to teach kids about healthy relationships – and what sort of parent wouldn’t welcome that? On Tuesday, new sexuality education guidelines were introduced in New Zealand schools. The long-awaited changes include a greater focus on consent, gender and pornography. These guidelines have been years in the making and parents … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes rippling through architecture of local government, ‘yellow flag’ case causes concern about Auckland outbreak, and health select committee to reconvene. To lead us off today, a roundup of a few stories taking place at local government level. It keeps going while the rest of the … Read more
Communication issues and policy changes exacerbated students’ uncertainty during the lockdown period, reports Ellen Sinclair. The level four announcement on March 24 signalled the start of a period of upheaval for all New Zealanders, but few groups faced more challenges over lockdown than university students. From the rush to get home at short notice, to … Read more
Final year law student Elliott Harris has been researching the new pastoral care code of practice, and in a piece he worked on with NZUSA’s Isabella Lenihan-Ikin, says universities are already attempting to push the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. The decision of several New Zealand universities to charge accommodation fees even though Covid-19 restrictions prevent … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: What it means now that we’re at level three, contact tracing app on the way, and Vic students in halls protest resumption of fees. Well, we made it. The first – and hopefully only – stint of level four restrictions has come to an end, and … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Bleak Treasury scenarios show massive unemployment looming, rest home cluster claims more lives, and students disappointed at support package. The scenarios are in for how Treasury expects Covid-19 to affect GDP and unemployment rates, and they’re pretty bleak. You can read a report on them here, but … Read more
Four PhD students engaged a clinical psychologist to help them navigate an uncertain time in their studies. They share their findings here. As four PhD students from Massey University’s Joint Centre for Disaster Research we, like many others, can’t stop reading and talking about the unfolding events that have gripped our communities and the world … Read more
With New Zealand moving to the highest Covid-19 alert level within 48 hours, here’s how schools and early childhood facilities will be affected. What in the world is going on? With New Zealand’s first cases of community transmission confirmed, the prime minister has announced an immediate lift in the Covid-19 alert status from level two … Read more
Eamonn Marra’s debut novel makes a study of the mundane: sanding a fence, heating baked beans, three pizzas for $29.99 delivered. Alie Benge reckons it belongs somewhere between Sally Rooney and Elena Ferrante. It was about page three of 2000ft Above Worry Level. A feeling burst inside me: the joy of recognising something so beautiful … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Business groups welcome big infrastructure spend, four charged by SFO in relation to election donations, and Pacific countries act against coronavirus. So, the massive infrastructure package has been announced. Here’s the top lines of the announcement in the form of a cheat sheet, and Stuff has a breakdown of … Read more
Dunedin’s new mayor Aaron Hawkins is the first official Green Party mayor in NZ and, arguably, the first to represent the city’s student population as much as its older residents. Josie Adams, who guessed he would win, asked him some questions about it. The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff … Read more
How are students gambling, and is it possible to actually make a success out of it? Nina Minogue spoke to a few gamblers to find out in a story originally published by Critic Te Arohi, the Otago University student magazine. Between 2017 and 2018, New Zealanders lost nearly $2.4 billion on gambling between the TAB, … Read more
Otago University’s student magazine Critic Te Arohi has had a stellar couple of years, producing bold, disruptive journalism that delights in poking authority with a large stick. Respective editors have taken the same approach to their covers, producing a number of anarchic images designed to provoke and titillate (with great success). As anyone in magazine … Read more
A story about the perils of being a non-drinking university student gave an inaccurate impression of how widespread heavy drinking really is, argues Amy Russell. On Saturday The Spinoff published a good read first published in Critic, the Otago University student magazine, titled “What it’s like to be sober at New Zealand’s drunkest university”. The … Read more
Being a student means exam panic, crappy flats and getting wasted, a lot. So what does that mean for non-drinkers? Chelle Fitzgerald talks to Otago University students who gave up the drink. This story was first published in Critic, the University of Otago student magazine. In late 2016, I decided to become one with wellness … Read more
The gap between lectures and exams is often a crucial time for students to regroup and prepare for the oncoming exam storm. So it’s understandable that a proposal by Victoria University of Wellington to remove it is causing a stir. Faced with a condensed exam period and shorter break for students, Victoria University administrators have … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Another major day of climate protests puts pressure on politicians, PMs fall in dramatic political weekend, and calls to stop use of remand for young people. If activism in 2019 so far has been defined by any one movement, it is climate change. And there’s every reason … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Doubt cast on full rollout of fees free tertiary education policy, Vodafone NZ sale analysed, and Tamihere proposes partial port privatisation. The fees free policy for tertiary students may not get fully rolled out. Currently, the first year of study is free, and funding for the next … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: MPs weigh in on upcoming student climate strikes, backpackers speak out about NZ work conditions, and sex crime reports still not resulting in charges. Some of New Zealand’s MPs have little good to say about the upcoming school strikes around climate change. Demonstrations will be taking place … Read more
Last week we published a piece from a journalism student who feared there might not be a worthwhile career for them when they finally graduated. Today, a rebuttal from journalism academic Daniel Nielsen who says actually, it’s not as bad as you might think. In times of incessant job cuts, mergers, failed mergers, fake news, … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to James Koo, co-founder of student discount and job listings app Niesh. ONE: How did Niesh start and what was the inspiration behind it? Niesh actually started as a project between me and … Read more
A group of Indian students who were kicked out of New Zealand say their lives are ruined, and that electioneering Labour MPs, including Jacinda Ardern, promised help but went silent after coming to power. This story was originally published on RNZ Few people celebrated Labour’s 2017 return to power more than a broke, unemployed IT … Read more
It might seem unbelievable to today’s students, but it’s true: once upon a time students regularly drank in bars, lured there by cheap drinks and a crude culture of excess. Chelle Fitzgerald looks back on the student pubs Dunedin has loved and lost, and talks to Marc Ellis, the celebrity sportsman who tried to resuscitate … Read more
An anti-corruption student media start-up says there’s an ugly underbelly to building a new life in Aotearoa. Leo Shao is an unlikely caped crusader. The softly spoken 20-something looks like any other student striding around Auckland’s CBD in his dark duffle coat, takeaway cup in hand. Yet behind this understated exterior lies an alter ego. Shao … Read more
It may sound like a sweet gig, but halls of residence can be incubators of stress, anxiety and awful mental health problems. This article was first published in April 2018 in the Otago University student magazine Critic Te Arohi. My parents may not be legally obligated to look after my drunk ass after age 18, … Read more
What are our children missing out on when they’re excluded from graduation ceremonies? And what is it like for parents? Heidi North makes the case for inclusivity. I graduated from the University of Auckland in May with a Master in Creative Writing. I’m a study-junkie, so this is the third time I’ve got a qualification from … Read more
Most students at the University of Auckland have no idea that their education provider has millions invested in fossil fuels. Fossil Free UoA would be happy to tell them about it – if the university only gave them the chance, writes member Ben Martelli. Early in the morning a couple of Thursdays ago I and … Read more