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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 14, No. 11. September 6, 1951

Very Little Sleep

Very Little Sleep

The Congress programme is arranged approximately as follows:—Afternoons are all left free, for sleep, informed discussions, athletic and social activities of various kinds, or mere loafing. Formal sessions are limited to morning and evening. The average address lasts about an hour; the gathering then divides into groups to chew over the substance of the talk and frame questions to hurl at the speaker; then, everybody re-assembled again, the questions are duly put and the whole topic generally discussed. The range of subject treated is exceptionally wide—the arts, the sciences, the University, national and international affairs, religion, are all represented, and all by the most competent speakers available in the country, both within and outside the university. Moreover, guest speakers and visitors are selected as much for their more general qualities of approachability and inclination to mix with students as for special expertneas in particular subjects. A professor in khaki shorts and sunburn is virtually indistinguishable from the crowd of students who are baffling him with awkward questions. The mingling of staff and students in something approaching a perfect ratio is a novel experience for us in N.Z.U.; it is perhaps the most fruitful of all aspects of Congress. At least it foreshadows a happier state of affairs in our university, which, with luck, our grandchildren may enjoy.

But for all the keen mental activity, recreation is far from being neglected. Afternoons provide an opportunity for the numerous fishermen; cod compete with one another in impaling themselves on baited hooks, and the occasional barracuda provides excitement. There may be a group reading poetry, or an informal session on some topic not otherwise covered by the programme. For the insane there are plenty of 2000-foot hills rising on three sides of the Cove; for the merely vigorous there is a variety of games, organised and otherwise—archery, table-tennis, deck-tennis, volley-ball. Equipment, and also an experienced Recreation Officer, are provided through the good offices of the Internal Affairs Department.