By Anna Burns-Francis
It is the start of another academic year at Otago University, and once again students are drawing criticism for their booze-fuelled orientation antics.
But this year, badly-behaved students could get the shock of their lives with a personal phone call from the university's most powerful person - the vice-chancellor.
An average orientation night out for students can involve anything from fireworks being thrown and furniture burned to multiple arrests, but for Dunedin's mayor Dave Cull, it is time to put a stop to the debauchery.
“Why is it we think that it’s normal or acceptable to sit in the middle of a public road and piss up? It wouldn’t be in many other places,” says Mr Cull.
Poor behaviour at orientation events does seem to be on the decrease but it is not enough for Mr Cull – he wants a total liquor ban put in place across the city’s student quarters.
Not surprisingly, his idea has failed to get the support of the students.
“Those sort of parties are still going to go ahead, by the sheer number of people at the parties. You just can’t close that sort of thing down. All this will do, in my view, is stop you going down to the park with your mates and having a beer or a barbeque,” says Logan Edgar.
The proposal has received a lukewarm reception from Otago University, too which says excessive alcohol consumption is unlikely to be solved by a liquor ban.
For the meantime, the university vice-chancellor prefers a more “hands on” approach – calling arrested student to talk to them about their behaviour.
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