The Nat & Dick Show

It’s a frosty old town; Dunedin is a very frosty old town. There is a culture that exists in this town which seems to allow many of its inhabitants to believe they have the right to act as judge jury and executioner of you simply because you are a student.
This culture is so dominant it has permeated the hallowed halls of our beloved institution. It was not that long ago I was at a meeting where the defacing of polytechnic property came up in the discussion, without a shred of evidence the majority of the attendees concluded that a student had to be responsible. It was not until I pointed out that there was no proof that a student had perpetrated the crime that the meeting entertained the idea that the act of graffiti may have been committed by a person other than a student. Just before I continue with my column, I would like to say if you are the little vandal drawing on the wall… Stop it, now!

So as students what should we do about the student-hating culture? While we are blamed for a lot of things we shouldn’t be, let’s start by telling the small number of our mates who act like dickheads to stop acting like dickheads. Burning couches in the street is never a cool thing do. While I agree that North Dunedin would probably be over-run with crap couches, I don’t believe this justifies risking people lives and destroying our roads. A nice wholesome flat road trip to the dump can be fun, and it is far more likely to please the powers that be. Hell yeah, Road Trip. However, if we continue along our current trajectory we, as a student body, are liable to find our civil liberties eroded. So come on guys lets make sure our good time tonight does not see our freedoms go up in smoke tomorrow.