Recently the organisers of the infamous 'Undie 500' decided to take their event to a location other than Dunedin.

On hearing this news, both police and the Dunedin City Council expressed relief. So did the University through Vice Chancellor Sir David Skegg. Without a doubt, the event has caused massive headaches, particularly over the last five years as what was previously an incident free event became hijacked by a troublesome minority. This troublesome minority included students but (as court records indicate) the vast bulk of the troublemakers were non-students who hitched along for the ride. This is the case as I remember reading after last year's Undie 500 disorder that the occupations of those arrested included at least one out-of-town high school student, labourers and truck drivers, etc.

However, it is all Otago students who have suffered from the resulting backlash against the Undie. The University has imposed a strict and more far reaching Code of Conduct (known by the unfortunate acronym CoC) upon the student body. While I believe that any tertiary institution has the right to develop guidelines for staff and student conduct within campus boundaries, the Otago code really infringes on the civil and human rights of students in that it seeks to punish students under the broad guise of 'bringing the University into disrepute' if they commit criminal offences off campus. No other tertiary institution, to my knowledge, has done this within New Zealand.

Therefore, students (even mature, returning ones like me) have the potential to be punished twice, once by the courts and then by the University if they break the law. The institution can potentially impose heavy fines, suspend or expel any student found guilty of off campus criminal activities. In my view and that of other opponents of the Otago CoC, this penalises students twice over. If anything, students should be punished only once for off campus criminal activity through the courts as, after all, students are held to be responsible adults and not children.

Recently the Otago student news magazine Critic highlighted the hypocrisy of local elders and the mainstream media (mainly the Otago Daily Times) when commenting on the conduct of a minority of Masters Games athletes. The recent Masters Games (held bi-annually in Dunedin) was headquartered on the Otago University campus. During most games nights, this served as an entertainment hub and what reportedly went on within the environs of the University Union would be news if it happened to be students doing it and not so-called respectable oldies. Instances of drunken men urinating against walls, people getting busy behind bushes (with littered condoms providing key evidence) and other instances of drunken behaviour were all commented upon by the student news magazine.

Yes, you might be thinking, 'Well, the Masters Games athletes didn't riot, did they?' True. But all the other reported instances of bad behaviour often attributed to students were not covered by the ODT in their blow-by-blow friendly coverage of the Masters. After all, the local media wouldn't want to piss off the organisers of what is a multi-million dollar moneyspinner for the Dunedin economy.

That's why the double standards have to stop. Yes, while it is unfortunate that a previously good event like the Undie 500 now has to find a new home, I feel that if any students break the law they should be punished but any reporting about scarfie misdameanours should be put in context. The University might want to look at the way it is applying the CoC too. While two court rulings have gone against the Otago University Students Association (OUSA) who have undertaken a valiant fight against the CoC, the battle should continue to scrap the most potentially infringing parts of it. While the Uni might be crowing about a decrease in student disorder in Dunedin due to the University's introduction of their quasi-police force, the so-called "Campus Watch" they might also want to look at other contributing factors like better event organisation this year.

But what if the question were asked as to whether the Masters Game should be transferred out of Dunedin due to the naughtiness of a minority of attending athletes? I would dare say that the reaction would be keep the event here!

So, let's stop the hypocrisy and get some basic truths right about student behaviour!