www.ausa.auckland.ac.nz
Media Release - 10 April 2008 - For Immediate Use
Students reject crude characterisations
Students reject the negative characterisations placed upon them by a recent real estate website ‘survey’.
An online poll involving less than 230 users was conducted in April, and found that students were deemed the
second-worse neighbours to have, ranking only above squatters.
“We have serious questions about the methodology and validity of this survey. An online survey with such a small sample
size can hardly be expected to give valid results,” says AUSA President David Do.
“One cant just generalise across a whole group of people based on a few bad apples. Some students are very good tenants.
Given the recent reaction to Peter Brown’s generalisations about Asian immigrants, we find this unfortunate,” says David
Do.
Many students have to borrow to live and subsist on low incomes. AUSA believes that if students were properly supported
though a living allowance, students would not have to resort to substandard housing just to make ends meet.
“AUSA has been commemorating student debt hitting $10 billion today. Given that many are having to balance full time
study with long hours, can they be blamed for not having any time or energy left at the end of the day for part time
housework?”
AUSA also notes that students are certainly not the only group in society who may ignore household chores, have “long
lie-ins”, or play monotonous electronic music. Students are also known to slam doors, have arguments, or even play a
musical instrument.
ENDS