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Phaedra Chin (she/her) - Te Arawa, Te Aupōuri Savannah Cowan (she/her) - Ngāpuhi, Ngāruahine, Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Kauwhata Kō ngā tahu ā ō tapuwai inanahi, hei tauira mō āpōpō. The footsteps laid down by our ancestors create the paving stones upon which we stand today. This whakataukī prompts us to look back on the achievements and legacy of Ngā Rangahautira and the way our history continues to inspire Māori law students. As Ngā Rangahautira celebrates its 40th anniversary

Ciara-June Edwards (she/her) - Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Porou Since the day I was born, my mum and dad have been my best friends—obviously. They have loved me, supported me, and believed in me through every chapter of my life, from Tauranga to Rarotonga, to London, and all the way back around the world again. They raised my siblings and me with everything we could have ever needed, but more importantly, they gave us everything they never had. They pushed

Ox Matiu - Ngāpuhi Being takatāpui at Te Herenga Waka feels lonely. We are spread across different disciplines, different research, different whānau. Perhaps this is the institutional design: to keep us separate so we don’t organize too readily. I hadn’t realized this loneliness I felt until I attended my first postgrad class: a Māori-majority cohort and, most importantly, four other tauira takatāpui. There’s an old English proverb that you cannot lose something you never had

A collaboration of Matauranga and Science, could it mean a new future or a replaying of the past? Rebekah Tolhopf (she/her) - Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Te Whakatōhea Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei’ Seek the treasure you value most dearly; if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain’ A classroom not made for us. A teacher praising the ways of the coloniser while standing on land whose stories they do not know. For generations, the c

Tommy Niha (he/him) - Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara Mai i Te Kore ki Te Pō, mai i Te Pō ki Te Ao, mai i te pōuri ki te māramatanga, ka puta ko Tāne, ka puta ko Hineahuone, ka puta ko te ira tāngata, ka mauri ora ai tātou. Kei aku nui, kei aku rahi, kei aku whakataparahi ki te rangi tēnei e mihi atu nei. Ko Tommy Niha tōku ingoa, he uri tēnei nō ngā marae maha ō Te Tai Tokerau, hoinō, ko ōku iho pūmanawa ko Ngāti Hine, Ngati Whātua ki Kaipara, Te Parawhau me Ngāpuhi anō hok

Maddy Roberts (she/her) - Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa Ariana Roberts (she/her) - Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou For many psychology students, studying psychology means thinking about the communities we belong to and the people we hope to support one day. Māori and Pasifika continue to be disproportionately represented in adverse mental health outcomes while remaining just a small proportion of psychology students and registered psychologists. We, as the Māori an

Ashton de Vos, Oscar Lawrence The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series is all about skateboarding. It’s about dropping in, grinding on rails, not giving a f**k. It serves as a love letter to skater culture. So, why, in later installments, do you play as the guy from Jackass riding a bull? The Golden Years Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, developed by Neversoft Entertainment, released in 1999 on the PS1, N64, and Sega Dreamcast. It met raving reviews, and a Metacritic score of 92. Tony Hawk

An autopsy of design in VUWSA campaigns Reuben Smith Once again, it’s that time of year. It’s the time of vaguely recognisable faces plastering the university noticeboards. It’s the time of randomly discovering an acquaintance of yours has a passing interest in student equity. It’s the time of having your desperate study session interrupted by a flurry of hub-based speeches. It is the time of the VUWSA elections. This annual tradition has always deeply interested me. For

Kaleb Evans-Lao When I think about the new AI data centre planned for Makarewa, I think about how I would have responded ten years ago to the idea that a revolutionary new technology was being built in our own backyard—one that promised to completely change our way of life for the better. I would have been excited. I’ve always had this notion that new technology automatically meant progress, change, and better living standards. But in recent years, that optimism has waned. An

White Supremacy in Academia: The Killing of Jason Arday CW: Racism, Self Harm Orlando Bright On 24 July, the first of a staggering 249 newspaper articles were written about Professor Jason Arday, surrounding accusations of plagiarism. On 14 August, just three weeks later, he was found dead in his home. This was not significant because he was an academic at a top ranked university, nor because he was autistic or young, but because he was Black. Jason’s death tells a story.

Achim Hanne This may be obvious, but the role of an MP is fundamentally different to a typical job. You work weird hours, commute across the country, and risk losing your job every three years. Even if you make it through selection and become a party’s candidate, your employer is not some manager or company, but the voters that put you there—many of whom may look no further than the party logo beside your name. For that reason, MPs’ work histories rarely receive much attentio

Achim Hanne If you have paid any attention to international media over the past few weeks, one British by-election may have caught your eye. Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right Reform UK Party and MP for Clacton since 2024, resigned his seat amid parliamentary scrutiny of his finances including an investigation into an undeclared £5 million ($11.54 million NZD) gift. He immediately announced that he would stand again in the resulting by-election, casting the contest as a ch

Emma Bradfield Picture this: it’s a busy Saturday evening shift at a Wellington restaurant. There’s glassware to polish, drinks to run, and orders to take—but I am standing in front of a customer who has been staring at the beer list for the better part of two minutes. Finally, he turns to me and says, ‘Do you have anything that isn’t this Wellington shit?’ People working in hospitality have been dealing with this sort of thing since the dawn of time. The serving wenches in

Freddy Jarman I heard my friend doesn’t want to vote in this election. It's fine—he goes to Massey. Still, it astounded me. I can’t imagine looking at everything that has happened over the past three years and deciding that abstaining is the best course of action. But he got me thinking about why somebody might not want to vote. The political world can feel exhausting to look at, let alone invest time in. This political indifference is present in so many people I talk to no

Jake Ellis Physical media is dying. I, for one, cannot wait to purchase a temporary licence for everything I ever buy. I look forward to the day Paramount Pictures and the ghouls who run it crack open my brain and rip Transformers One from my mind because they decided it wasn’t worth running on Paramount Plus, my FAVORITE streaming service. Sony just announced that, come January 2028, they will cease making physical discs for new games released on PlayStation. This comes righ

Naomi Waxman When I talk to my friends about their relationship with music, a lot of them give a similar answer—music truly makes them feel. Whether that feeling is enlightened, tragic, nostalgic, or best described by another suitably dramatic adjective, really depends on the person. Personally, I strongly associate music with experiences that I’ve had. When I listen to those songs now, I either feel nostalgic and think back on how much fun I had, or, quite frankly, never wan

Or, why the fuck is everyone born in the ‘90s calling themselves unc? Author: Ox - Ngāpuhi Let’s roll that back a little. I was an avid reader and miniature academic as a child. I was seen as weird and different for this, but books could never judge me by my cover—and I promised to never do the same to them. Year after year, my shelves filled with new titles and new adventures. I had the highest grades in English from primary all the way to high-school graduation. Roote

Zara Lyne My mother and I have long observed that, wherever I go, I seem to be ‘the youngest person in the room.’ This began as a literal expression, suggesting that I was perhaps the only child at a movie screening full of elderly people. But, as I grew older, it took on a more figurative meaning: the spaces I choose to occupy are generally not shared by those alike to myself. I used to be quite embarrassed by this as a child, as most little kids are when they feel singled

Tom Graham Talk About Wine. It is a well-documented, if maligned, tradition—perhaps as old as academia itself—for students to get on the piss. That’s not going away, no matter what the news or your parents’ friends might be telling you. Generation Z isn’t so into Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Napa Cab, and that’s not a bad thing; there’s a whole world of brilliant quality, sustainable practice, and funky fun to be had down here in the under, for some very decent prices. Like it or