Did Harls jump on her media bandwagon over a wine or two after she watched Sunday TVNZ’s exposé on binge drinking at Dunedin (10 May).
The programme aired at 7:00 p.m. yesterday. The deadline for ODT’s Monday edition is 4:00 p.m. Sunday.
So did the Otago vice-chancellor see the programme before writing her opinion piece?
Well, not unless the ODT editor worked some sort of marvel of factory production.
Evidently, Harls conspired with the local newspaper to get her illuminatory thoughts in print today, of ALL DAYS. Chess as the television hoedown-showdown hits her university and the city council.
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There is no doubt the footage was disturbing and there is no excuse for the kind of behaviour that was captured in those images. –Hayne
### ODT Online Mon, 11 May 2015
Alcohol law change overdue
By Harlene Hayne
OPINION The Sunday programme last night once again put the spotlight on the University of Otago for alcohol related harm. This time the focus was on the trouble that is caused by some rambunctious, messy and noisy students and other young people in North Dunedin and other parts of the community.
Read more
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Dunedin is not alone.

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 09:44, May 4 2015
Editorial: Student binging leaves a bad taste
Source: Dominion Post
OPINION Wellington is more of a student town than it used to be – thousands of tertiary students, attending various institutions, live here. They are a welcome economic boost for the city, and they also add to the life of the place: someone, for instance, has to fill up the city’s famously rich concentration of cafes and bars. By and large, Wellington has not had the trouble with students that some other cities have faced.
Most notoriously, Dunedin’s orientation weeks have often been drunken frenzies of flaming couches and showdowns with police. Wellington’s student body would be more happy with a “massive, street-wide wine and cheese evening”, one Otago wit quipped in 2012 after a particularly riotous Dunedin episode.
So it’s somewhat jarring to discover that, already this year, Victoria University has imposed total alcohol bans at four of its halls of residence after, in the case of the most recent one, excessive drinking, property damage and “overall unacceptable behaviour”. (Some bans have since been lifted).
That’s more than over-indulgence; it’s ugly, anti-social drinking that no-one needs as any kind of life highlight. There is a fine line to be walked here. Tertiary study is often associated with drinking, and some of that is just life – a product of young people leaving home, making decisions for themselves, and revelling in new freedoms. There is no point in being complete wowsers about this, any more than there is in adopting a puritan approach to drinking in New Zealand more generally. Alcohol can be a pleasure, an aide to camaraderie and relaxation. Yet, just as plainly, drinking can be dangerous and miserable – especially among the young. Consuming vast torrents of booze might seem like a game to beginners, but in fact it is hugely risky behaviour – for those who partake, for those who have some responsibility for them, and indeed for anyone they come into contact with.
Read more
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█ For more, enter the terms *university*, *harlene*, *alcohol*, *publicity*, *hyde*, *party*, *octagon mud*, *student*, or *blaikie* in the search box at right.
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
*Image: otago.ac.nz – Harlene Hayne (tweaked y whatifdunedin)
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