In what would prove to be their last chance to greet the voting public before lockdown, OUSA’s candidates for the 2022 Exec took the stage last week to share their plans for the coming year. All of the forums were held in the Main Common Room.
The Presidential race was uncontested from day
A bureaucratic nightmare of 32,211 words
Nobody set the minimum page count of the Exec’s second quarterly reports of 2021 at seven pages, but they chose to write that much, anyway. We read through all of them to let you know who’s doing what. Points were given exclusively for brevity, because that’s the only thing we can appreciate at this point in the year. It’s not that this stuff isn’t important, it’s just long and filled with acronyms. Haha words go brrrr.
1. Melissa Lama, President of the University of Otago Pacific Islands Students’ Association (UOPISA), 2,004 words. Vibe: Rise and grind
Sign Up Club fails to enact memes, succeeds at being an ally (maybe)
Sign Up Club’s 30 April OUSA SGM ended not with a bang, but a fizzle. The only motion to pass was an increase in pay for ex-officio positions at OUSA.
This raised the pay for the Te Roopū Māori Tumuaki Karamea Pēwhairangi and Pasifika Students Association’s President Melissa Lama, both of which were in attendance and both of which applauded the unanimous vote. Melissa Lama, head of OUPISA, said that she was “beyond grateful that we had so many allies at the SGM”, and that she was “especially grateful to the Sign Up Club for putting this motion forward.”
“Not as well attended as Gallipoli” says Critic’s resident American
Around 500 people of all ages attended OUSA’s ANZAC Day service, the first to be held on campus since 2019.
Held in conjunction with Te Roopū Māori and the University, the service was held in the Main Common Room, but attendee numbers meant the crowd ended up overflowing out into the foyer. Welcoming those in attendance to the service, OUSA President Michaela Waite-Harvey said: “After the events of last year, we especially value the opportunity to congregate together to remember those who fought, and to value peace.”
As an OUSA service, the experiences of Uni students and staff held a special place. Pacific Island Students Association President Melissa Lama read “A Toast to Absent Friends,” performed at the 1919 Capping Show as a tribute to the 500 students and staff who served in World War I. The Otago University Rugby Football Club read their roll of honour, sharing details of each member kil
Wow good thing we don’t have another one of those for a while … oh wait
The Exec were able to validate their Covid-related constitutional breaches and raise their own pay at the SGM last Wednesday. The SGM met quorum, with over 100 students showing up.
The Exec’s pay rise generated discussion, because the OUSA President’s pay was set to go up by $8000 annually, while ex-officio members such as the Tumuaki of Te Roopu Māori (TRM), and the President of University of Otago Pacific Island Students Association (UOPISA) would only see a pay increase of $250 a year.
Cam, a Pasifika student, questioned why the increase in pay was lower for the ex-officio positions (i.e. the President of UOPISA and Tumuaki of TRM). “They run their own associations and provide their own culture support,” he said. “We should show respect and cultural appreciation for that.”