Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 41 No. 9. April 24 1978
Salient Notes
Salient Notes
The day started well! The sun actually rose and the harbour was a gentle shade of black, against which Underwood house cast a phallic silhouette, poking through the smog. "It's good to be alive" croaked Simon 'scoop' Wilson. "Ooch aye. It puts me in mind of the good old days" nodded David MacMurray, tripping over his beard, "d'ye ken all those fun times we had on Salient?"
A blast of carbon monoxide thankfully interrupted this reminicing. Luckily before they could start again, Doug 'two fingers are better than ten' Thompson arrived holding five pairs of dirty socks and a collection of underwear, "My mother still hasn't sent me my bloody tape recorder, just more laundry" he complained.
The smell of cordite drifting up from the Lindy Cassidy (of How to Win an Election fame) Square, put the group immediately in mind of Lorraine Robinson, left years back to sow potatoes and reap grenades in the home country.
Before they could start going over all the late Thursday nights they had worked on the "rag", Peter Beach-drove past in his Cadillac, squashing a few workers on the way. Instead of sleazing straight past however, their erstwhile companion stopped and threw one rather disshevelled Lamorna Rogers onto the pavement. "Here maybe you can do something with this well-meaning but misguided woman's rights fanatic. She doesn't seem to realise where a woman's place is., "he cried and drove into the distance, turning Cathy Randall into a mess on the road in the process.
At this insult John Mick Davitt started flexing his thighs preparing to chase the car, but Sally Redman was able to restrain him. She pointed out that Tom Duggan, who had taken up Karate, was one of his bodyguards. The dread name of Dug the thug plunged the group into silence.
It was Margot MacGillivray who stimulated conversations, telling them that Don Wright had come out of hiding. Don had quit the scene in 1978 when he and Helen Aikman had attempted to introduce objective journalism into Salient. The resulting furor had put Don out circulation while Helen quietly joined the Social Credit Party and was last heard of campaigning for Vern Cracknell (making his great political comeback) in Stewart Island.
Although the times were notorious for their laxity of their morals, not all had succumbed. Marie Rodgers was vigorously campaigning for abolition of pornography during the children's hour on television.
But working on Salient had not marked the decline of all the others. Take Leonie Morris, now her underground paper had become such a big business that, that famous protestor on either side of the Tasman Tip, Jonathon 'grizzle' Scott, was camped outside one of her printing shoppes, calling for the invocation of the anti-trust laws.
Or to take another example, James Morgan, was now editing SCRUM, the rugby union daily magazine. In case you you've forgotten, the Rugby Union had moved into the pews business when in the financial fiddle of the decade, Allan Highet had whipped Athletic Park from under their nose, and Michael Hamblyn, chairman of the day had, remembering his experience in student newspapers, bullied the the Union into this lucrative business.
But not all had fared so well. Take John Bailey for example. After his success at the poverty auction he had [ unclear: turn o fessional], but ever since the day [ unclear: h] to auction Bob Jones he and his manager Stephen Benbrook had fallen on hard time times (even though the bidding failed to reach the reserve price) and they were last seen larfing sadly into their meths on the Roxy site, amongst the oak trees.
Alas, as the happy band were thinking back over good times President-for-life Robert Muldoon declared that today was over, and tomorrow would not be for another week. So the old hands faded away waiting for their benevolent leader to call them back into existance. See you next week.
In the Good Old Days Salient was edited by Simon Wilson, when they couldn't avoid it VUWSA published it, and until the Rugby Union bought them out, Wanganui Newspapers, Drews Avenue, Wanganui used to print it.