Ori 21 Magazine

PRESENTS

WELCOME TO ORI ‘21 MAGAZINE Kia ora tauira mā!

Ko Michaela Waite-Harvey tēnei, it’s my absolute privilege to be your President for the Otago University Students’ Association. OUSA is your union, we exist to represent you at the decision-making table at the uni, provide services for your welfare needs, and most visibly, we provide the events you all enjoy like O-Week. All of this and more is explained in this issue, giving you the knowledge to succeed here at Otago.

I think I can speak for everyone when I say we’re happy 2020 is behind us. This year I really hope you’ll make the most of your experience, both socially and academically. One thing I can’t stress enough is that you aren’t locked into your degree, you can change and test out different papers if you want. They’ve even made change of course applications online now (thanks Covid) so you won’t have to suffer in the threehour long line like my forebears did. Speaking from experience, I changed my entire degree on day one of lectures in my first year just by tagging along to a friend’s politics lecture. By the end of the year I decided to add a law degree, and that’s a pretty typical story.

When it comes to socialising, Otago has a bit of a reputation. Just know that everyone loves a good time, but make sure everyone is safe and know who to go to for help when you need it.

Campus Watch are always hanging around or a phone call away to help you on your way home.

You’ll be seeing the wonderful OUSA volunteers in O-Week wearing ‘Are You OK?’ shirts. Grab a hash brown off them, have a yarn, they’ll help you with any issue you’re having on your day/ night out. I made plenty of mates by being the shoulder to cry on or the crutch helping someone from my hall stumble back from toga. Look out for them and they’ll do the same in return.

So get prepped, grab your O-Week tickets and get hyped for the year ahead.

Ngā mihi,

Michaela Waite-Harvey

TICKETS & INFO AT OTAGOORI.CO.NZ SAT

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UNION HALL, 8PM – 1AM ORIENTASTER: THE UPBEATS FT TALI & ALIX PEREZ SHORTBALL B2B LUCY

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UNION HALL, 8PM – 1AM TOGA PARTY: SIN & BROOK GIBSON NO COMPLY, SYRUP

LOOSE & COLOURFUL

Hailing from Wellington, Jeremy Glenn and Dylan Jones are The Upbeats. Known for their eclectic tastes and energetic stage presence, The Upbeats deliver speaker-rattling sets to shake all manner of crowds — from festival glitterati at Pukkelpop, Shambhala and Glastonbury, to diehard bassheads at Outlook, EDC and Boomtown. Their last 3 New Zealand tours sold out in their entirety. ‘Dead Limit’ w/ Noisia won them best track at the DNB Arena Awards and quickly became a modern classic.

THE UPBEATS

With five studio albums under their belt, numerous awards and number 1 singles, and tunes on some of the most respected drum and bass labels in the scene (including Vision, Critical, and Virus Recordings), The Upbeats push the envelope time and time again.

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UNION HALL, 8PM – 1AM SACHI

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KEVIN IN LUV, HURRICANE EMILY

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Righto, where do we start with this lunatic?

You’ll catch Brook Gibson hosting GeorgeFM Nights throughout the week, carving himself a niche with his Saturday Morning “Disco Den” and parading his prized cat Maurice around the joint. When behind the decks he blends his love of all things disco and house to have ya throwing around high kicks like no one’s business. So if you’re down for a knees up and bloody good boogie, go check him out. But don’t be surprised if he asks “anyone here from Hastings?” Hooroo!

BROOK GIBSON

FOLEY, JACK BERRY

New Zealand electronic duo SACHI is made up of Auckland-bred musicians Nick Chrisp and Will Thomas, who met in primary school.

A chance run-in with Diplo gave them their big break: after waiting outside a restaurant for the producer to emerge, they managed to toss a USB of their music into an opened car window.

Months later, Diplo played one of their tracks on his radio show.

The debut set Your EP arrived in 2014, soon followed by 2016’s Lunch with Bianca. In 2017, they issued a pair of singles: “Lowkey” with Chicago MC Mick Jenkins and “Shelter” with vocalist NIKA. The next year, they released “Hollywood Angel” with E^ST. SACHI’s catchy dance music will be stuck in your head for weeks.

As the host of George FM Days on New Zealand’s dance and electronic radio station, Sin is totally plugged into the New Zealand dance music scene. She has quickly become a revered authority on all things electronica. She has appeared on NZ’s biggest festival line-ups and played on support for Fatboy Slim, Netsky, Solardo, Illyus & Barrientos, Sam Divine, Cut Snake, Eli Brown, and Rebuke. With her infectious, cheeky energy matched to groovy house and disco tunes, Sin is a total dance floor love affair.

SIN

home & design

HOM E DEC O R STAT I ON ER Y G I F T S 468 George St, Dunedin • Tel 479 2628 • www.olivierhome.co.nz

A History of O-Week O-Week is a beautiful time of year. Wearing too much body glitter, you meet your first-year boyfriend for the first time in the line for toga, and then proceed to throw up White Rhinos in the Arana bushes for the remainder of the evening.

It’s a confusing, smelly time of sex, social anxiety and pretending to like DnB. Critic delves into the history of orientation to figure out, well, what happened? Are the glory days really all in the past?

O-Week technically started in the 1920s, but it was boring and nothing good happened for at least 50 years. By the ‘80s it was an established staple of the Otago student experience, and had become a two-week gig extravaganza, similar to what we know and love today, all based in the Union Hall.

A two-week bender featuring iconic Dunedin bands might sound great, but controversially the ‘80s and ‘90s probably aren’t as cool as your David Bowie wet dreams lead you to believe. To buy alcohol you had to be over 20, which affected approximately “20% of the University” according to 1994 Critic. Students under this age were excluded from Orientation and the new Union Bar. This sucked for the underagers, but it would take an alcohol-related death during Canterbury O-Week (which was already supposed to be alcohol-free) for Otago to introduce a new system that allowed under-

By Caroline Moratti

age students to join in the festivities. Alcohol laws were weird and the law stated that those under 20 could drink a limited amount of alcohol, provided they also had a meal. So, for Otago’s Orientation, 18 and 19-year-olds had to buy a $3 meal ticket each night alongside their concert ticket which was “exchangeable for a large plate of food” in order to drink at the events.

However, this system wasn’t as perfect as one might think. A 1994 Critic editorial reads: “regretted getting food at the Union Kitchen because I wasn’t that impressed to say the least. I felt a bit sorry for the underages who were forced to buy a meal ticket.” Uni food: still consistently bad over the decades. At least some things never change. In 1995, the meal ticket price increased a whopping 33.3% to $4. We riot at dawn.

In the late ‘90s, the drinking age was thankfully changed to 18 and things started to look up.

The early 2000s saw some of the best O-Weeks that Otago could offer.

O-Week was coincidentally sponsored by Speight’s, the greatest beverage ever known to man. Staples of these O-Weeks included the Shane Warne pie eating competition, screaming contests, pavlova eating contest, clocktower race, treasure hunts, hypnotists and comedy shows.

Not only was there a toga party during the noughties, but there was also the toga parade. This hit a snag in 2009 where the ODT reported:

“hundreds of eggs, bottles, rubbish and buckets full of vomit and faeces were thrown from first-floor verandas and alleyways as well as at shop frontages.” To be fair, ancient Romans used to throw their faeces out of their windows and no one blinked an eye.

Participation began to dwindle, though, and the events were cut. OUSA Events Manager Jason Schroeder pointed out that because OUSA runs

“hundreds of eggs, bottles, rubbish and buckets full of vomit and faeces were thrown from first-floor verandas...”

on cost recovery, “if people aren’t paying for tickets then we simply can’t afford to run it”. In 2009 the University banned alcohol advertising on campus and all that sweet Speight’s money went out the window - as did our beloved hypnotist show.

The Fresher Comp also ran for a good part of the decade, in which freshers would endure humiliating tasks to win prizes like a trip for two to Queenstown, Xbox 360s, iPad Touches and a lifetime supply of Mountain Dew. A contestant from one year told Critic “we had to eat sheep parts, ten pigs; eyes, a heart, a liver, tongue and then like a couple of eggs and some wasabi.” Other years included milkshake wrestling. Jason said that “Fresher Comp was fantastic but had low participation and low impact for students”. Some years only ten people competed.

Voluntary Student Membership was introduced in 2011, and consequently student unions like OUSA started to shrink or disappear. This meant less money and time to convince big international acts to tour New Zealand for students. Schroeder told Critic that “One year we had Alien Ant Farm and Violent Femmes, so [the student unions around the country] would work together as a group and book tours internationally as well as helping acts like Shapeshifter and Fat Freddy’s Drop grow their presence.”

2011 also saw the creation of something that would heavily impact Orientation: the Forsyth Barr Stadium. “Going from a 1400 concert to a 4000 person concert is vastly different and so we had to focus on what’s the best use of staff resourcing,” said Jason.

In doing so, the very nature of O-Week fundamentally changed, with the stadium pulling all the focus. Everything was about the big concerts, so there was no real-life on campus during Orientation. OUSA is still trying to claw back this deficit with free movie nights and Union Hall concerts, but there’s still a long way to go.

On the flip side, according to Jason, shifting O-week from Union Hall to the Stadium did allow OUSA to achieve a better standard of harm minimisation in a safe environment, but to achieve this, “the quality of artists we have to get is way higher than it would be if it were at Union Hall. Orientation is a really tough time of year to book artists. The summer tour run has just finished with Laneway and all those festivals have eaten up the touring artists, and we come in late and there’s not much left.”

I, for one, haven’t heard of literally any of the artists that have headlined at Orientation at the stadium, with the sweet exception of Macklemore, thanks to OUSA booking him in 2013 before the success of Thrift Shop.

Will O-Week ever reclaim its former glory? 2021 will be different, with a return to the smaller scale events in Union Hall. But the return of the screaming competition is all I want.

TICKETS & INFO AT OTAGOORI.CO.NZ THU

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UNION HALL, 8PM – 1AM LEE MVTTHEWS, FLOWIDUS

UNION HALL, 8PM – 1AM RADIO ONE PRESENTS: MAKO ROAD

ASHER

MIA JAY, SOMETIME WINNER

ZEISHA, WILLY MAV & ELIPSA

THERE’S A TUESDAY, FLAMINGO PIER

Lee Mvtthews was formed in 2012 when Graham Matthews and Tom Lee discovered they had nearly identical taste in music. The pair have gained a reputation for turning out infectious tunes that pair colourful melodies with bass-driven drops. They have garnered plays from industry greats such as Grafix, Koven, Rene La Vice, ShockOne, Flowidus, T & Sugah, Trei, QUIX and more.

They have become a favourite in the New Zealand festival circuit, playing regularly at the likes of Rhythm & Vines, Bay Dreams, Homegrown, Springbreak Fiji. Up against some fine competition, the duo walked away with the Tui for Best Electronic Artist 2020 at the Aotearoa Music Awards. It seems nothing can stop Lee Mvtthews as they hold their spot as one of the hottest New Zealand drum & bass acts.

The sky’s the limit for Kiwi indie-rock outfit Mako Road. Band members Rhian Ward, Connor Jaine, Connor McErlich and Robbie Day are a proudly independent act making waves around the world. Their self-produced garage recordings have been a breath of fresh air to music fans and critics alike, earning them regular appearances at the pointy-end of the independent music charts.

MAKO ROAD

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FROM 4PM, MUSEUM RESERVE

The International Food Fest is your opportunity to experience tastes from around the world all in your back garden! This is a great way to mingle with the wider Dunedin community and enjoy some incredible food from an array of clubs that we have on campus.

Come bring your flat down as an excuse to not make dinner, or grab the whole family to enjoy a lovely night out.

Mako Road are flying high with the release of their latest single, ‘Helicopter’. Accompanied by a music video that captures the spirit of their epic live set at their recent sold-out show at Auckland’s Powerstation, the single is a huge step forward for the Christchurch four-piece, who have fast become one of the most exciting bands to come out of New Zealand in recent times.

NEW TENANCY LAW AND HOW IT APPLIES TO STUDENTS: Basically, new tenancy law is coming into play in a few different phases over the course of 2021. We’ve broken down the bits that are relevant for students, to try and make it as understandable as possible.

Phase 1 - New laws that already apply from 12 August 2020 • Rent can only be increased every 12 months

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Landlords must consider all requests to assign the tenancy and cannot unreasonably decline.

Phase 2 - New laws that will apply from 11 February 2021 • Landlords can only give notice to end a periodic (month-to-month, not fixed term) tenancy for specific reasons in the Residential Tenancies Act. They also have to give you more notice.

• Tenants can make minor alterations to properties with the landlord’s permission. The landlord can’t refuse the changes if they meet the criteria in the Residential Tenancies Act. • Rental bidding is not allowed.

• Tenants can request fibre broadband. The landlord can’t refuse if it won’t cost them anything (some exemptions apply).

• The Tenancy Tribunal can suppress people’s details to protect their privacy.

• New enforcement measures are available to MBIE. • Tenancy Tribunal can hear cases and make awards up to $100,000.

• New record keeping requirements for landlords including providing a written tenancy agreement.

Phase 3 - New laws that will apply from 11 August 2021 • Tenants experiencing family violence will be able to give two day’s notice to withdraw from a tenancy with appropriate documentation.

• Landlord can give 14 days notice to end the tenancy if the police have laid a charge against the tenant for assaulting the landlord, the owner, their family, or the landlords agent.

Phase 2 - New laws that will apply for tenancy agreements which start after 11 February 2021 • Fixed-term tenancies automatically become periodic (renewing month to month) at the end of the fixed term unless the tenant gives notice to end the tenancy, or agree with the landlord to end it. The landlord can only end the tenancy for one of the specified reasons.

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For more information talk to OUSA Student Support or visit tenancy. govt.nz From 1 July 2021 all private landlords must comply with the healthy homes standards within 90 days of a new or renewed tenancy.

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Insulation: ceiling R3.3, underfloor R1.3 (this should have been in place from July 2019).

Fixed heat source in the main living room that meets the required standard e.g. a working heatpump.

Extractor fans in kitchen and bathroom, opening windows in kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedrooms.

Effective drainage.

Ground moisture barrier in enclosed sub-floor area.

No unreasonable gaps or holes.

TICKETS & INFO AT OTAGOORI.CO.NZ SAT

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UNION HALL SAT 8PM – 1AM/SUN 7PM – 12PM NETSKY

UNION HALL, 8PM – 1AM ORI KICK ON’S: KANINE MELT, ROTHMAN REDS

PORIS, AZIFM

LUCY, JAY-EYE

REFLECT REACTION

Netsky (Boris Daenen) began cultivating his eclectic musicality by taking up drumming when he was five. By age 17, he had begun posting original material online and DJ-ing around Belgium. He adopted the moniker Netsky, the name of a computer virus that deleted all his project files for his first single.

Within a year he made history as the youngest recipient of the Flemish Culture Award for Music. He is best known for his standout performances at Coachella, Glastonbury, Tomorrowland, Pukkelpop. His latest album, Palmtrees & Powerlines, simultaneously introduces his infectious brand of pop and showcases his rule-bending ingenuity as a creator of club tracks.

Supported by some of the biggest and most influential names in Drum and Bass, the young Londoner known as Kanine is living up to his potential and developing into a headline act with a long career ahead of him.

He recently picked up the Best Newcomer Award at the Drum And Bass Arena Awards.

Followed by selling out his debut Australia, New Zealand and UK tours, his sound is evolving all the time as he moves towards being one of the more versatile artists in the 175 BPM range.

KANINE

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STARTER’S BAR, 3PM – 8PM DUSTY SUNDAY: MARLIN’S DREAMING JUNO IS, COLLEKT HOUSE GROUP

Seeking inspiration from a dank eerie flat in Dunedin, Marlin’s Dreaming erupted onto the local scene in late 2017 with their debut album, Lizard Tears. The national and international success of the tasty indie-pop EP helped them escape the flat in favour of the road, with consecutive sold-out tours in NZ.

MARLIN’S DREAMING

Marlin’s Dreaming’s sound has only grown since then. Their 2018 EP Talk On/Commic adopted a darker aesthetic. The band released their latest album, Quotidian, during lockdown.

Musically, it was a shift into more serious songwriting, which garnered wide-ranging critical praise from mastheads like NME, American Songwriter, Brooklyn Vegan, and Atwood Magazine.

Melt was formed in the way any good act from Dunedin should be formed: copious amounts of alcohol and bad decisions. They are a producer-DJ duo, best known for their ability to make DnB so smooth that even your mum will enjoy it.

MELT

They have supported heavyweights such as Delta Heavy, S.P.Y., and Danny Byrd. Melt kicked off their 2020 shows at the first Soundsplash festival in Timaru, followed by closing the OUSA Toga Party at Forsyth Bar Stadium. In the break between lockdowns Melt headlined their first show in Auckland, which sold out before doors opened. With plenty more music and shows to come, these boys are definitely a duo to watch.

The Night’s Watch I shadowed a Campus Watch team for a night and it was wild

By Erin Gourley

“We’re not expecting a big night,” Pete from Campus Watch tells me, making a bold prediction that turns out to be way off the mark. We’re standing on the corner of Albany Street and Forth Street, watching a procession of drunken students in Highlanders jumpsuits leaving the stadium. “Usually people go off home after the rugby and not much happens.” Pete is wrong; my night will end with the police clearing Leith Street because two people, including a police officer, have been bottled. As it turns out, Campus Watch are not always right.

But after trying to keep up with their walking pace, I have a lot of respect: their job is exhausting.

The night begins at the Proctor’s Office, a place I’ve never been before. The foyer is reminiscent of a police station. I am buzzed in through a side door. I walk up some stairs and find Steve, an ex-cop and the leader of the team I will be joining, sitting alone in the break room. He is surprised to see me (I was apparently meant to stay downstairs until someone came up with me) but is friendly anyway.

Campus Watch is big. Steve tells me that it has doubled in size since it started eleven years ago. There are five teams of eight people, named after the phonetic alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. Steve is the leader of Team Charlie and has worked for Campus Watch for nine years.

We have a Team Charlie safety briefing at 8.45pm, which involves having a chat about where to go for the night. Dave, one of the team members, is away so there’s a bit of pressure (he’s “allegedly fallen off a ladder again”). There’s a list of parties on, and the Traffic Light Party is a hot topic. Campus Watch haven’t figured out where it is at this point, but they’ve heard it will be big.

“Other than that we’ll just look after people and do what we do,” Steve says.

I am intoxicated with the power of the hi-vis/ torch combo.

All of the team want to be assigned to the safety car, because walking around the streets of North Dunedin is cold and boring. Pete and Annabel lose out.

They’re going to have to walk around with us.

We head downstairs and get to see the mysterious CCTV control room, but only after signing confidentiality agreements. All I will say is that there are a lot of cameras and the images are very high definition. Campus Watch need the Proctor’s approval before showing anyone the footage. When the Dundas Street Dairy was robbed, they couldn’t show the police the footage until the next day. “Even if the police ask, you can’t show it to them.”

One team member, Michael, stays in the control room for the night. He will radio us if he sees anything on the CCTV that we need to check out as well as taking calls.

Annabel hands us high-vis vests and pocket-sized torches, and the shift begins. We exit via an inconspicuous door in St Dave’s – one that I’ve always thought was a cleaning cupboard – and set off into the night with Team

“It’s prevention – standing on corners, standing by parties, shining torches, and saying ‘Stop that!’ rather than trying to get involved in things.”

Charlie. I feel official. A bus of high school boys wave at us. Students give us nods of respect. I am intoxicated with the power of the hi-vis/torch combo.

But other than that, I’m stone cold sober. And drunk people are truly hell when you’re sober.

Team Charlie, unlike me, are good at dealing with drunk people. Annabel and Pete stop to play beer pong with a flat of guys on Hyde Street. Annabel is jovial and chatty, and has an aunt-who-makes-supportive-posts-on-your-Facebook-wall vibe. Pete is chill and seems like a student. He’s also massive; he almost walks into the top of a bus stop as we walk around. At least five people greet him by name throughout the night.

We loop down to the stadium, which is totally dead by this point. I ask what we’re looking out for. “Anything that seems a bit off, people who look out of place,” Annabel tells me. Whenever we see people standing by themselves, she asks them how they’re going. Often they ignore us or just grunt in acknowledgement, but no matter what, Annabel says “Just let us know if you need anything”.

There’s a party at The Lodge on Union Street. We stand across the road and check it out. “Seems like a good vibe,” Pete comments. A lot of Campus Watch duties involve standing around. Steve reckons that “just being seen” does a lot of their Code of Conduct enforcement work for them. “It’s prevention – standing on corners, standing by parties, shining torches, and saying ‘Stop that!’ rather than trying to get involved in things.”

Pete gets a radio message; someone needs a walk-home from Cumby. We walk over to the hall, and find a group of girls waiting in the foyer. Charlotte’s friends are going to town, but she wants to go home to her flat on Castle Street. She’s an exchange student from California. Her friend fixes me with an intensely drunk stare and asks us for directions to Starters.

We walk Charlotte home. Her friends have kicked over some glass bottles outside Cumby, and Annabel gives such a disappointed “Oh come on, girls” when she sees this that I start to wonder if I should pick up the glass. Charlotte is impressed that Campus Watch exists. “It’s cool, I don’t think my campus back home has this.”

A smiling, Gloriavale-type girl from Student Life offers us a snag at the start of Castle Street. We get to skip the queue. “Knuckles, Campus Watch,” yells a guy in a Yankees t-shirt before fist bumping all of us. “You guys are legends.”

Throughout the night, about eight people come up to us and express their love for Campus Watch.

We’re starting to walk another girl home to George Street when Pete gets a message on the radio. Immediately, he turns and legs it towards Leith Street.

At about the same time, a police car with sirens screams past. An ambulance follows about two minutes later. We reach The Castle and there’s a guy in handcuffs. His friends are outraged.

The police don’t really tell Campus Watch what happened, but we know that there’s a policeman being driven to hospital who will need stitches in his leg.

There’s a lot of confusion, and apparently there was a foot chase at the end of Leith Street. Annabel thinks someone has stabbed a cop; Pete is pretty sure it was just a bottle, and that it was thrown up in the air before it made contact.

I talk to some people yelling at the police. Their friend, who hasn’t bottled anyone, is in handcuffs for obstruction of justice. He wouldn’t get out of the way when a cop asked him to. “He was trying to stop us from doing our lawful duty,” a policeman explains to a concerned friend. “But he didn’t even do anything!” they insist.

Garry, the leader of Team Delta (who have an overlapping Campus Watch shift), is looking after a girl with a bleeding head. A bottle has hit her, too. The hair around her face is streaked with blood. We sit on the kerb with her and her friend while we wait for the ambulance to arrive. She’s sobbing and keeps touching her head in disbelief.

Noise control arrives for the third time and the music stops. The party lights, rays of red and blue and green, seem out of place without an accompanying throb of drum and bass. The DJ, in what could be classed as a pretty bad decision, starts chanting, “F*** the cops”. The chant goes for about four repeats before fading out as the police swarm the flat. Partygoers are pushed onto the street and disperse in a haze of alcohol.

There are now thirteen policemen on Leith Street. They form a line and walk towards the students, moving the crowd towards the Dundas Bridge end of the street. Anyone who walks past the line-up will be arrested for obstruction, they tell us. A girl called Sammy tells me that her flat is just on the other side of the line. She’s not allowed to walk back to it. A lot of the people on the street claim to be in the same situation, but the cops won’t have a bar of it. “We are going to clear the street, if you’re here you’re going.” The policeman points at the paddy wagon as he says that. It’s a clear threat of arrest. So people start to move on, pushed off the street by a line-up of police and a few Campus Watch staff.

It takes a long time to get everyone off the street. A guy pees into a hedge, unaware of what’s happening until Annabel asks him to move on. “But whyyy?” he asks. And then it’s over. The street behind us is drained of all life, apart from the students who have only just made their way around the block to get back to their flats. On the deserted street, about ten metres in front of a full line-up of uniformed police, two freshers are intensely making out.

Things are quiet. The cops drive away. “Time for a cup of tea?” Annabel asks.

We nod.

We return to St Dave’s and visit Michael in the control room before heading up for some hot drinks. He is frustrated by the volume of unnecessary requests for the safety car. A lot of people ask for a ride validly, but it makes the job difficult when some people use it as a taxi. It can be hard to figure out whether people actually need help or not. “We might take you to Maccas, but we won’t drive you to town. It’s about getting home safely, it’s not a taxi service.”

It’s 1.30am. I am so tired, despite the numerous coffees since 8pm. We’ve walked about 10km. My legs are sore. I think I’m getting a cold. Campus Watch still have over five hours to go. Their ten-hour shift will finish up at 7am. As I write this, wrapped in a blanket with a glass of rosé, I’m thinking of you Campus Watch, doing a job that is most people’s worst nightmare.

HOW TO GET YOUR DRUGS TESTED FOR O-WEEK: In 2019, OUSA introduced a free anonymous drug testing service in conjunction with KnowYourStuffNZ. People bring their drugs to a tent where the volunteers perform tests to determine what’s in the pills, crystals, or liquids. Drug testing allows people to know whether they have the type of drug they intended to buy, or a potentially dangerous substitute instead.

“It’s all very well for people to say ‘Just don’t take drugs, just don’t take them,’ but that doesn’t work,” said OUSA’s CEO Debbie Downs. “The next best thing we can do is educate and put harm prevention strategies in place.”

The service is run by KnowYourStuffNZ, a community drug testing organisation, in conjunction with the New Zealand Drug Foundation.

The OUSA testing service will return on the Friday of Flo-Week (19 February), as well as the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of O-Week 2021 (25-27 February). You can get your drugs checked from 12-6pm in theOtago Room - Ground Floor, OUSA Clubs & Societies.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: 1. Rock up to the Otago Room, on the ground floor of the OUSA Clubs and Societies building, across from the Central Library. It’s a secluded place, so you don’t need to worry about people seeing you.

2. You will enter a private area with a trained KnowYourStuffNZ volunteer. You don’t have to provide your name or any details about yourself. The whole process is completely anonymous.

3. You provide a tiny portion of your substance for testing. There are two kinds of testing: reagent and spectrometer. For reagent testing you place your sample on a plate and the KnowYourStuffNZ volunteer applies different chemicals to it to see if you have been sold something different to what you thought. Spectrometer testing is even more accurate - your sample is placed on a machine that tells you exactly what the substance is.

4. After your substance has been tested, you have the option to destroy your substance safely or leave. If you decide that you want to take the substance, the KnowYourStuffNZ staff member will also provide you with information on how to do that in the safest way possible.

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MUSEUM RESERVE The ORI bread and butter is back for 2021! Hosted at the Museum Reserve (opposite the Link), Tent City is the perfect opportunity to find out what Otago can offer. Tent City is up and running for three days so make sure you head on down to check everything out. There’s heaps of freebies and chances to win so don’t miss it.

Check out the OUSA Backyard stall to for the chance to win a prize that’ll sort out your flat backyard for the next few years.

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MUSEUM RESERVE Back for two nights this year, Throwback Theatre is here!

Spend the Tuesday and Wednesday night of ORI relaxed out on the Museum Reserve with our Throwback Theatre outdoor movie. There will be free popcorn, beanbags and rugs to keep you full, warm and comfy. You guys get to pick the movies for both nights so keep an eye out for your choices soon.

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SMITHELLS GYM Last year, the Drop For Good initiative was created alongside Sustainability at Otago so students could get rid of items that they didn’t need anymore, and saved them from going into the skips.

Over three days and 100 volunteer hours, we collected several thousand items, saving them from landfill. This included a massive range of clothing, furniture and household goods.

Now you have the chance to get your hands on things we’ve collected with the Drop For Good Sale. This creates a circular system, to create as little waste as possible.

Bring your reusable bags to the Drop for Good sale. Everything will be under $20, available via EFTPOS only. The sale will be open from 10am – 3pm.