The claim was made in student magazine Critic in a report on the Otago University Students' Association executive meeting last week and has resulted in a stoush between the magazine and the association on Facebook and a wider discussion on the level of control the university has over the association's activities.
OUSA president Francisco Hernandez, who was at the meeting, rubbished the claim when spoken to by the Otago Daily Times and went on the attack on his Facebook page, calling OUSA-owned Critic ''infotainment''.
''Take anything you read from Critic with a shipping container full of salt,'' he said.
Critic editor Sam McChesney, who wrote the report, stood by his story, saying in reply that Mr Hernandez was attempting to ''fudge the issue''.
''On Friday, I interviewed [vice-chancellor] Harlene Hayne and the message I got is that the uni no longer supports the repealing of [voluntary student membership] VSM, because they've learned that OUSA now has to suck up to the Uni and do whatever they say,'' he said.
Mr Hernandez replied, saying he resented OUSA being called the ''university's bitches''.
''We've worked with the university on issues where we've had mutual alignments such as warmer flats and better buses. We've beat them on issue[s] where we haven't had agreement, such as the liquor ban.''
Mr Hernandez also revealed on Facebook that OUSA had been in ''heavy discussions'' with the university about taking over the Captain Cook Tavern, but the asking price was too high. Earlier this week, when questioned by the ODT, he denied any such discussions had taken place.
The Facebook stoush came after Critic reported the OUSA executive was told the university was against it owning a pub, and had threatened to pull out of funding negotiations if it bought a bar without the university's involvement.
The remarks were made when the executive wrongly believed it was ''in committee'' and discussing a proposed $500,000 fundraising effort to help save the Captain Cook Tavern, the report said. According to OUSA minutes, the fundraising proposal was put on hold until the idea was discussed with Prof Hayne.
The university declined to answer questions on the issue, instead issuing this statement from student services director David Richardson: ''The only comment that the university will be making at this point is to note that it remains committed to working in a spirit of partnership with the OUSA to ensure that services that support students in their academic endeavours can continue to be provided in a sustainable way.''
The introduction of VSM last year means OUSA is reliant on the university for the majority of its income, which comes in the form of a service level agreement.
Mr Hernandez said the ''university has never threatened the OUSA''.
''The story in Critic took the considered expression of risk by a staff member as a statement of fact,'' Mr Hernandez said.
OUSA had no plans to run a bar, but was aware the university was opposed to such a move.
''The university has been clear for some time that it did not support the OUSA owning a licensed premise [sic], but was open to discussion about co-ownership or co-management,'' he said.
OUSA had a ''good relationship'' with the university, but he acknowledged VSM had made things more difficult.
Various student politicians - including former president Logan Edgar - have previously brought up the idea of buying a bar, which could be funded out of the more than $6 million OUSA has in cash on hand.
