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Salient. Victoria University of Wellington Student's Newspaper. Volume 31, Number 4. March 26 1968
Exec. members report
Exec. members report
Accomodation Officer
1. Minimum Flatting Requirements
Are students aware that there are city council by-laws laying down minimum standards for "family units" (flats), and boarding houses These include such minimum standards as "hot running water piped to the sink and bath"; and "living room a minimum of 150 square feet. with healing facilities to be provided."
If these facilities are not provided. students can demand them from landlords without a rent increase.
If landlords are obstinate or unwilling students should contact the city council (building department) who will arrange for an inspection of the flat and take necessary action.
If students are interested in perusing the city by-laws at greater length cyclostyled summaries are available at the Students' Association Office.
2. Little Green Cards
It is urgently required that all students who used the Victoria accommodation service this year inform the accommodation oflicer, Mrs. Brown, of the nature, whereabouts, and desirability of the particular accomodation into which they have settled themselves.
This is not a security plot or a capping stunt, but merely to help Mrs. Brown assess student demands and needs more accurately. Return of the little green card with which students using this service were distributed with would be the most desirable method of communicating, but any other method of communication-telegram. pigeon or Christmas card—would be gratefully received.
3. Sub-Committees
In the view of the usual enthusiastic student response to the invitation for sub-committee membership. I cannot but conclude that the lack of executive responses to student opinion in this University is in many ways a phenomenon caused by students themselves. House committee chairwoman received one application — international affairs about half a dozen, myself only one. Are students unaware that any student can join a sub-committee and that these form "a direct channel of access to the executive itself."
International Affairs Officer
A notice appeared in the Exec. Workroom the other day: "Salient invites you to contribute short articles ... The names of officers declining to accept this invitation may be published."
Invitation!
As President of the Atheist Society. Bill Logan should know better than anyone else that he is not God and Salient heaven.
This attitude, that exec, is a self-penpetuating oligarchy not interested in student opinion, is fairly common. Ironically enough it is perpetuated more by the group of a hundred or so who virtually run everything in the Association, than by the less activist elements. Even Owen Gager, who should know better than most, perpetuates this attitude.
Superficially the student body is riddled by cliques. Rather than a form of in-bred snobbery, the clique interested in Association politics, at least. included more or less everybody who is sufficiently interested in the Association to take part in its politics.
Exec, members are well aware that they have a responsibility outside this group, and certainly do not need the scarcely veiled threats of Hill Logan to use column space in Salient to discuss aspects of Association affairs.
Much of the problem is probably caused by the retaliation of members of such groups as the Student Action Committee on Caf Prices, who get little sympathy from E:.ec. members when they jump off with half-baked ideas.
Their knowledge of catering is even more tenuous than their figures. One of their aims is "to make Executive more responsive to student opinion"—We have to pay just as much for the muck as anybody else, but have to operate through the channels set up by the University Council and the Student Union Management Committee to deal with such matters. Members of groups more like this would achieve more if they devoted their efforts to practical organisation than to cafe boycotts destined to fail from the start.
The same applies to everyone else. Don't sit back and negatively criticize. Join the clubs and sub-committees and) do something.