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As New Zealanders watch in amazement and pass comment on the Incredible activities of Senator McCarthy, there is a tendency to forget that many Americans are aware of the dangers of his methods, and are active in the struggle to preserve civil liberties. Henry Steele Commager is a well-known American historian whose works of scholarship are studied in this college. We reprint here his review of "But We Were Born Free" by Elmer Davis, which, even in this edited form, sketches the background to today's events and outstandingly interprets the current American scene. The situation in New Zealand is similar in many respects.
Courage and common sense are the distinguishing characteristics of Elmer Davis, and of this fine book of essays which remind us that . . . We Were Born Free. We are assailed day after day by loud-mouthed super-patriots and dozens of organisations that arrogate to themselves responsibility for preserving the Constitution and the "American way of life."
What is the cause of this ferment of fear, this near hysteria? What explains The upsurge of panic, of irrationalism, of hatred? It is after all a sobering fact that this disease should spread so widely at a time when we might have expected immunity from such infections. For how does it happen that so many Americans are consumed with fear at a time when our rich and powerful country is fresh from the greatest victory that it or any other modern nation has known? How does it happen that so many of us harbour the deepest misgivings about our allies and associates Just at a time when we stand at the head of the greatest and most successful alliance in history? How does it happen that we are tempted to withdraw into our own shell—tempted to weaken even our ability to conduct a foreign policy at adjust at a time when we have been thrust into the centre of world power and have taken on responsibilities that we cannot possibly evade or avoid? How does it happen that we are consumed with fear of the intellectuals at a time when the proportion of our college-bred population is larger than ever before, larger than comparable groups in Britain, or Scandinavia or Switzerland, nations (happily immune from our suspicions and dissension?
There are paradoxes here, and it is not easy to resolve them. If it is difficult to find extenuating circumstances, it is not difficult to find at least partial explanations. First, we must remember, we are suffering from over-rapid growth. We have taken on what seems like too much: we have been asked to bear burdens not greater than we can bear, but greater, so many of us think, than we should be asked to bear.
It took the English a century to learn to act as a world power; Germany, France, Russia, Italy and Spain never learned. Suddenly we found ourselves thrust on to the very centre of the world stage implacably required to take on chief responsibility for war, then for peace, then for arming the West. This was asking more than had been asked of any other people in so short a time. It is no wonder that many Americans, even upright and virtuous Americans, reacted convulsively to these demands.
The hatemonger's of our day speak in voices that are strident and raucous; what they say has a peculiar ugliness because most of them are well groomed, respectable and self-satisfied members of our society. The upsurge of hatred and fear in our own day differs in this marked way from similar outbreaks in other days—that it comes from the upper-rather than from the lower-income groups. It is not, now, the oppressed workers, the down-trodden farmers, the starving intellectuals who are joined in desperate revolt. Quite the contrary. It is the well-padded, the well-heeled, the respectable, who spearhead the present movement for suppression and persecution; It is the middle-class reactionaries who are the revolutionists.
Not only is there a reversal of social and intellectual backgrounds, but of argument as well. For the paradox of middle-class revolution extends to philosophy and to the very language that is employed. Almost everything has been turned inside out and upside down. Now it is unconstitutional to invoke the Constitution: now it is un-American to emulate the example of Founding Fathers like Jefferson or Franklin. Now it is not the function of colleges to disturb the minds of the young, but to put them to sleep. Now it is not the function of the churches to agitate moral issues.
The readiness of so many editors, churchmen and educators to tolerate McCarthyism raises this question. We have had rabble-rousers before, men who appealed to the mob spirit and the lynching instinct, but never before have such men operated on the highest level, so to speak . . . How after all explain the wide following or at least tolerance, that the Senators from Wisconsin and Indiana and Nevada command? How explain our failure to reject reasoning that is so clearly spurious, to repudiate policies and programmers so clearly designed to poison our society?
To say that an attack on civil liberties does not matter if it is not successful amounts to saying that attempted rape is no crime if the girl is lucky enough to fight off her assailant.
The press has a heavy responsibility in all this. It is not so much that the press has failed as that it has allowed itself to be confused; it is not so much a failure in morality as a failure in selectivity. For in one sense journalism is the victim of its own standards of honesty and objectivity. How many of those who read on page one that Fort Monmouth is (so a Senator alleges) riddled with spics and traitors read the next day on the editorial page that it is not so?
But the difficulty, it must be admitted, is deeper than this.
What is under way is a corruption of the critical process, a corruption almost of the reasoning process. Why, after all, have the Canadians, the British, the Scandinavians—all of them sharing whatever danger we are exposed to—why have they somehow escaped the wave of fear and suspicion that threatens to inundate us? Why has the process gone so far here? The responsibility for this situation is widespread and far from clear. Advertisers have much to answer for—-they have taught us over the years to disregard the meaning of words. Educators have a heavy responsibility—they have failed to train the critical faculties. Politicians have a heavy responsibility—they have distracted our attention from the genuine to the meretricious. And we are witnessing, too, one or those consequences of democracy which Tocqueville described over a century ago. In a democracy, he pointed out the pressure for conformity must always be much stronger than in an aristocratic society, for here differences of appearance, of interest, of ideas all look like challenges to the accepted standards of the multitude. And in a democracy, too, the average man, the half-educated man, will not hesitate to arrogate to himself the function of critic and arbiter.
Mr. Davis has no pat solutions to our problems. The ultimate solutions, he knows, are to be found within us. They are moral and intellectual, not mechanical. And again and again he returns to what is the great theme of the book—courage. "Don't let them scare you," he writes. And yet even as he writes the words, he known that they are not wholly adequate. For "they" can hurt you. Especially they can hurt the young, the man or woman just starting in life with responsibilities of family, with a career still to make. What a to be done to protect these people and to fight their battles?
Mr. Davis concludes on this note: It is one of the grandeurs of old age that the old—at least those who are reasonably secure—need no longer fear misfortune. They are beyond and above the hopes and fears and passions that assail the young. They can afford to be brave, they can afford to speak their own minds, they can afford to take risks. It is indeed the peculiar responsibility of those who have security the security of age, the security of family and position, the security of wealth—that they take risks. This is one of those elementary considerations which too few of those who enjoy security keep in mind.
With the publication of the last issue of this periodical, Mr. D. F. Donovan, Editor from the beginning of this year, resigned due to pressure of work. Editorial policy remains for the most part unaltered—readers will discorn the major departures. To Mr. Donovan and to past editors I express my thanks for training me to exercise my faculties, Mr. Donovan remains as Business Manager.
Since every human being has the right to fulfill his vocation for the full development of his personality, the Universities must, in principle, be open without discrimination to all persons having an intellectual vocation and the capacities necessary for its fulfillment. In various countries, there exist racial, political and religious discrimination, in New Zealand, possibly the most favoured of countries, financial difficulties constitute the one obstacle to University studies, bearing in mind the above limitations. This is especially so in the case of one whose course of study demands full-time attendance at a University.
The University of New Zealand is supported financially by the State. The State depends upon the Universities to provide trained technicians to operate and plan its essential services. It is thus in the State's interests to encourage students to attend university full-time. Though it has often been said that the granting of bursaries by the State is a purely arbitrary matter, surely in the existing set-up the granting of those bursaries, designed to remove barriers of class, race and creed, becomes more than a benevolent act—becomes a creed?
In
The University should admit all who can rightly claim to be admitted, while it should not facilitate access for everyone without imposing stricter entrance standards than those at present in force, as regards the student's intellectual ability. Bursaries should not be awarded without discrimination: they should exist primarily for those worthy of them and in need of the financial aid they give.
It is well agreed at this stage that the system of accrediting for University entrance should be abolished. The arguments against it are legion, with the Universities already hopelessly overcrowded, the excessive number of entrants under this scheme who fail during their first year, and who are unqualified to undertake a university course, mean thousands of pounds wasted each year, and means generally a major lowering of the entrance standard, to the detriment of true scholars in "pass classes". We hope that the College Council will recommend to Senate that this scheme be abolished as from next year, as it is evident that it has not fulfilled the purpose for which it was intended.
The time has come when the techniques of lecturing in Psychology One warrant an airing. As a student who has paid £5/5/- for a set of lectures on this subject I feel the money has been wasted. Only too frequently the lecture periods are curtailed without warning and without reason. Whilst this is a welcome relief from unutterable boredom, it is not satisfactory. It is inconvenient, to say the least, to present one's self at Varsity at 6 p.m. for a one-hour lecture to find that the lecturer does not feel like lecturing. Frequently lecturing periods are shortened from 50 minutes to something nearer 20. and then the class disbanded. If those concerned think that five hours a week is necessary, well and good but apparently the lecturer in his infinite wisdom knows better, for lecture hours per week are more often four hours than five.
If the Psychology Department does not need five hours a week lecture time let the necessary number of lectures be cancelled. The two hours Practical Psychology are simply a farce, almost always occupying less than the stipulated two hours.
It is time that something approaching organisational ability was shown by those directing Psychology One affairs.
Ex-students of V.U.C. filled most of the official posts on Resident Exec, of N.Z.U.S.A. at the Easter A.G.M. elections. Mr. M. J. O'Brien, immediate past president, was elected a vice-president. Mr. D. Dalgety was also elected a vice-president, as was Miss Andrey Cook, who is also secretary again this year. Mr. K. Phillips is sports officer again this year. Other officers elected were Mr. E. Ireland to the post of president and Mr. P. S. Standard (again travel and exchange officer) to the post of treasurer.
Canterbury proposed a student representative on the University Senate, a proposal which the Senate had already turned down once, apparently on the grounds that such a person was not at all necessary. Canterbury's idea, which was more or less put into effect, was that each Students' Association should press for a Senate, representative at a College Council level (with uniform arguments) while the N.Z.U.S.A. should keep plugging at the Senate level.
The attitude of "let's be kind to someone" without proper consideration of how to go about it was too prevalent in New Zealand, according to the A.U.C. delegation at the N.Z.U.S.A. Council meeting.
The delegate was commenting on the action arising from the reports of the delegates to the Fourth International Student Conference, that the association give such assistance as it may be able to give to the students of Uganda, the Gold Coast, Malaya and India. Were he one of the students mentioned, the delegate thought, that having read such a motion he would be very disappointed were the aid not to be forthcoming in the near future. The motion was finally carried with the addition that the executive take immediate steps to find how best to implement it.
• • •
The whole question of N.Z.U.S.A. participation in international affairs was reviewed. It was agreed that the association continue to support Cosec, though it was most necessary that all problems in this field should be approached with caution.
• • •
The efficiency of the New Zealand W.U.S. was called in question when C.U.C. moved that the association support the work of the W.U.S., especially relief activities, and encourage the formation of committees in the colleges that have not already got them. C.U.C. pointed out that there was now considerable apathy in New Zealand about relief work which W.U.S. could do much to correct and that these clubs were also of great value to university life.
Both A.U.C. and M.A.C. however, wanted further information on the constitution of the organisation both in New Zealand and overseas, and the annual reports and balance sheets. An amendment that the matter lie on the table until August was then lost on the chairman's casting vote, and the original motion was carried.
• • •
How can colleges expect to investigate the general state and size of Tournament when they have sent down no remit on the matter and haven't even bothered to read the previous reports on this matter?" rebuked the chairman of N.Z.U.S.A. at the Easter A.G.M. "Colleges apparently don't make any use of their N.Z.U.S.A. files." Later, the C.U.C. delegation considered "deplorable" Auckland's ignorance that two attempts to reorganise W.U.S. in their own centre had failed in recent years, and again urged that colleges should get background for their items on the agenda.
We observe that Weir House tariff has again risen, to £3/17/6 per week. O to be back in the Good old days (
It appears that Weir House and Helen Lowry Hall (hostel for T.T.C. women) are combining to give Victoria the biggest and best ball since the B. and S. Ball last August. It is a major move to give Victoria that traditional social life which is a heritage of all Universities. The absence of facilities is deplorable, but when the new Student Union Building is created this century (we hope) this will be overcome and V.U.C. will have scope for a real corporate life (for the full-timers at least).
At the end of the month the V.U.C. French Club Will be making their annual visit to Wanganui this year to present the three plays which they produced in Wellington. This event is one which is eagerly looked forward to by French students in the "River City." and last year an audience of over. 400 attend the performance.
An important feature of this and other French Club activities is the close liaison between students and staff which greatly increases the harmony to be found both in and out of the lecture-room.
—See Page 4 for details
Weir's re-union weekend, marking her coming-of-age, has come and gone. In response to the hundreds of notices which were sent out, Old Residents from both the Mainland and the Other Island congregated in Wellington to once again shake hands with the old faces at the Smoke Concert. To your reporter's not always crystal-clear memory the weekend went something like this:—
There was a sound of revery by night . . . Weir Ball. Preceded for many by a dinner at the Grand, at which the gastronomic capacity of many present residents was only too well revealed—only time saved the proprietors, who must have served some hundreds of normal dinners—the Weir Ball on Friday evening was a magnificent start to the weekend. Soft lights . . . sweet music from the Garth Young Orchestra as it wandered tunefully from bar to bar . . . beautiful girls wearing dazzling dresses which kept everyone but themselves warm . . . will its like be seen again?
We Downcast Held: Saturday morning saw the Past v. Present Football match. The Old Timers re-union committee had touchingly requested the present young and virile residents to take it easy with the old fellows. This crafty piece of Gamesmanship—an opening gambit in the best Weir tradition—was we claim, a decisive factor in the defeat by sixteen Old Residents (including All Black Bill Clark, who also acted as referee) of our fifteen by 14-8. Carefully timed cries of "on the ball" by Old Boys on the sideline had the desired effect on shattered present residents on the field, whose one earnest wish was to forget The Ball.
Drinking Horn: The Old Residents claim that the fact that they won the football and lost the drinking horn 12-man teams event that afternoon by l0-8secs is proof of the decadence of Weir youth, needs no comment. We can't think of one anyway. It is sufficient to say that our Captain led his team on to a glorious victory, unmarried by the unsightly dribbling of others whom we could name. For the many other ices-gifted past and present residents the afternoon was indeed a pleasant one.
Saturday night's gathering saw the R.S.A. Hall comfortably filled by past and present residents. Some very lively toasts and replies occupied the first section of the evening, our genial Chairman being H. R. C. Wild. Esq., one of the first residents to enter the House when it opened in
As the evening proceeded groups were formed and re-formed and many skeletons of the past were joyously dragged from their cupboards for temporary introduction to those who had not met them before. Delightful melodies and stirring hakes which wafted from a group on the stage were conducted by Our Pres who used the piano as his podium. The company, mindful of further events on the morrow, dispersed quietly shortly after midnight.
Afternoon Tea at Weir: On Sunday afternoon a gleaming and spotless Weir was open to inspection by Old Residents and members of the Management Committee and tea was provided in the dining room. The Matron, Mrs., Keddell is to be thanked for her enthusiastic help with this function.
Weir On Parade: On the Sunday night the 2tst Celebration Variety Concert was held in the "Little Theatre" before a full house. Contrary to expectations the audience stayed to the end.
Much work had gone into the preparation of this concert, and credit must go among many others to producer actor, authors D. B. (Lager) Wilson and "Little Albert" Corbett. A well-organised and often tuneful chorus of some 20-odd, singing some really good original lyrics, provided the basis of a Variety show which provided us with a colorful finish to an entirely memorable weekend.
It is pleasing to note that the Association was able to make a donation of 11 guineas to the Harry Squires Memorial Home from contributions received at the Concert.
Footnote: We have to report that the Weir XV. lacking one or two of its star players had a solid match last week with the Massey College second XV at Palmerstone North and lost by 8 points to 3. We hope to see this match, the first of its kind as an annual event.
The food provided for students at the Federal University of Agriculture—which is situated 31 miles from Rio de Janeiro and is consequently conducted on a hostel basis—had for years been a cause of complaints. Though the University has managed its own farms, gardens, and cattle breeding there was no end to the students' complaints about bad or spoilt food. Protest strikes began with the Rector even calling for the police once, who attacked the students with truncheons. Then there came a day when quite surprisingly Marshal Dutrn, ex-President of the Republic, turned up and sat down together with the students for dinner. Obviously he convinced himself that the complaints were Justified for after a long struggle, in the course of which the authorities by all possible means tried to defend their right to the management of the food commissariat, the student body at long last was granted the management of the student restaurant. The anniversary of this taking over of the responsibility by the students recently was celebrated with a great feast, for since that time there had been no reason to complain. The students are now themselves enthusiastically cultivating a plot of land the yields of which they deliver to the kitchen. Incidentally, they have proved that the notion still widely prevalent in South America, that students could not be trusted with administrative responsibilities of their own is unjustified. (Special report.)
A letter from St. Thomas to Brother John "Oft How To Study."
"Brother John, most dear to me in Christ: since you have asked me how we should let about to acquire the treasure of knowledge, this is my advice to you concerning it: namely, that you should choose to enter, not straightaway into the ocean, but way of the little streams; for difficult things ought to be reached by way of easy ones.
The following, therefore, is my advice to you concerning your way of living:
I urge you to hesitate before speaking and to hesitate before entering the common room;
Hold fest to the cleanness of your conscience;
Do not cease from devoting time to prayer;
Love your cell by mating constant use of it, if you want to be admitted into the wine cellar;
Show yourself to be lovable to everybody, or at least try to do so; but be very familiar with nobody, for too much familiarity breeds contempt and introduces factors which retard study:
Also, do not in any way get yourself involved in the doings or sayings of outsiders: Avoid aimless meanderings above all things;
Do not fail to follow in the footsteps of the saints and of sound men;
Do not heed by
Whoma thing is said, but ratherWhatis said you should commit to your memory;What you read, set about to understand, verifying what is doubtful;
Strive to put whatsoever you can in the cupboard of your mind, as though you were wanting to fill a vessel to the brim;
"Seek not the things that are too high for thee."
Follow in the footsteps of that blessed Dominic, who, while he yet had life for his fellow-traveler, brought forth and produced foliage blossom fruit—fruit both serviceable and astonishing—in the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts.
If you shall have followed these steps, you will attain to whatsoever you have in mind. Fare you well.
(Inserted by the Catholic Students Guild.)
The Classical Society is a small group of devotees which meets regularly on Tuesday nights to regale itself with treats from the antiquities. Almost traditional is a reading of one of Aristophanes" sparkling comedies. The play on Wednesday 21 was "The Knights" and the cast was star-studded. Rarely have so many academic notables combine! to produce such a humorous evening, Rarely outside lectures have students seen their teachers become the butt of laughter and ridicule.
Before an audience unfortunately depleted by the A.G.M., Messrs. Laurie, Gray, Carney, Hutchings and Qulnn assisted by Miss Stcfania Manterys (as a dumbe showe) and a colossal chorus of five, led by Peter Dronke, performed wonders on the Ogden Nashish translation to really deserve the tardy but nonetheless sincere applause which the small audience accorded their esoteric capers.
The star of the show was undoubtedly the well-known exThcsplan. Patrick Hutchings whose "the storm of elocution is rising here within my breast" was matched by a variety of gestures and intonations surely unforeseen by the buskined players of classical times. To Hutchings physical virtuosity. Mr. Quino added a bewildering range of dialect his major success being an Atto-Irish dialect previously unknown to philologists. Peter Dronke haphazardly waving a riding crop, was accompanied by various barely recognizable personages dressed as jockeys; they were (of course?) the knights.
An unusual innovation at a College dramatic performance was the accompaniment from original Greek music by the College Early Instrumentalists. This music was a success and well worth listening to; a recital of period music could quite well be very well received. The reading was produced by Mr. David Simmers who is to be congratulated upon the galaxy of talent so happily directed.
Lincoin and Maasey showed what ignorant hicks they are by refusing to support the publication of songs of such a high cultural standard as "Beer, beer, we're bccrlng again; send someone out for the gin" when the publication of a new University song book was being discussed at N.Z.U.S.A. Council meeting. In short they took no interest at all in the matter, while Otago's delegates said they had sufficient numbers of the old edition on hand and did not want to spend money on another. Finally, at the insistence of Canterbury, that college was authorised to fire ahead with the new edition and other colleges would report back as to how many copies they wanted
In accordance with a decision made at a recent Exec, meeting, work has commenced on the enclosing in of the stage in the Lower Gym. This extension, which will cost about £35 is really necessary as it will be used as the Records room during the forthcoming Winter Tournament and will then become a committee room to be used for Files, etc.
* The Story of I.U.S.
* Article on Univ Reform
Most people in the University are rather interested in the relationship apartment of Education, which is somewhat different in this country from the situation found elsewhere in the British Commonwealth. In New Zealand moneys are found for the University through Vote Education and the Minister of Education is named in the University Act. For reasons which can be found in the historical development of the University from
Before considering the future shape of the University, I would like to spend a few minutes on a consideration of a problem which is exercising the minds of many people in New Zealand today: do we allow too many students into the University and so increase unduly the costs to the taxpayer? There are many approaches to this problem and one of them is naturally to ask whether our Entrance standard is as high as it should be. It is now roughly comparable with the entrance standard to universities in other parts of the Commonwealth, though not so high as that required in certain ancient universities in England and except in one or two professional courses we do accept all comers, whereas many universities in the Commonwealth restrict their entry, even although the applicants may have passed the Entrance examination. It may be desirable to raise our standard of Entrance further and close attention is being given to this problem at the present moment by the University.
Looked at from another point of view it is interesting to note that the proportion of genuine full-time students in our University relative to the general population is rather lower than it is in the universities in Scotland or in most States of Australia or in Canada. Moreover, we spend less on each genuine full-time student than is spent in Great Britain or Canada. When we include part-time students, however, we have a somewhat higher proportion of our young people at the University than in England, Scotland or Australia, although not so high as in Canada. A recent survey of some half million young people in the United States discloses that of those who were judged fit by intelligence tests to attend universities, only 40 per cent, did in fact study at the universities and only 20 per cent, graduated. Considering that about one in each 75 persons in the United States is attending a place of higher learning at any time compared with one in 200 in New Zealand, we would not appear to be training too many here.
Another question is whether we think a university should restrict its activities to training the numbers of young people needed for professional work to serve the nation both in peace and war, or whether it should serve the demands of higher education for those who seek it and can prove their ability to benefit from it? It is the last interpretation which we seem to place on this aspect of things in New Zealand and indeed, in most Commonwealth countries. There is no simple approach to nor simple answer to the question of how many should be admitted to the privilege of university education: it is a question of economics as well as philosophy and social attitude. It is certainly true that the quality and character of a community can be judged in great measure by the quality of its universities.
What is the outlook for the future of the University of New Zealand? At present there is a steady devolution of responsibility for all academic matters to the Colleges. At the same time the centre is being strengthened through the Grants Committee and other Committees to make the University a more effective instrument for handling finance and for other matters that can be most efficiently handled centrally. The problem is to distinguish between those needs that should be delegated wholly to the Colleges and those which must remain central for the sake of effectiveness in the interests of the whole organisation. It is possible that the Colleges may soon be given the title "University" without necessarily granting degrees, just as the University of Otago is able to do at the present moment. If the Colleges wish this stop to be taken. It might be useful to increase their individual standing, and the next great stop would no doubt be towards the final recognition of the Constituent Colleges as separate university. If that final step becomes desirable for better teaching and better research, and if it is wanted by the country as a whole, it will certainly come. At that stage there would still remain the problem of efficiently handling many matters which are of necessity common to all of them and require some central focus.
Looking into the future, one would hope to see those new autonomous universities continuing to grow in stature and in wisdom as they are doing now as University Colleges.
Curious Cove, venue of the annual X.Z.U.S.A. Congress, certainly takes a thrashing. Last year the dining hall and some of the sleeping huts were damaged by fire. Now the gale force winds which were raging in Queen Charlotte Sound recently have done further damage, principally to the recreation hut. Mr. Manning, proprietor of the camp, stated that the damage would be repaired in time for next Congress, which will be held from
This is the first of a series of articles by a man named George. His name will become as familiar to Varsity students, we think, as his trade-mark—a double back-fire from open pipes. George, as a society, has many bright and interesting achievements to his credit, and while this series will necessarily be of a somewhat technical nature, there are a few incidents which may, we hope, enthrall the general reader also.
Note the first: It is a well known fact that women drivers are a menace on the road. Though there could be no argument about this, we relate here a little episode, slight in itself but which is worthy to be added to the immense body of literature on the subject. On Sunday, seventh of February, George, in a moment of weakness decided to teach Gebrgma how to drive, with lamentable results. Georgina immediately attempts to drive in the approved fashion (i.e., 50 m.p.h. in built-up areas. 90 m.p.h. outside of them). Unfortunately, she forgot that at sharp corners it is usually necessary to slow down from those speeds at least five miles an hour. When asked to remove her foot with all possible haste from the accelerator, she asked, in a voice as naive as one could wish for (at normal times): "But where is the accelerator?" This was too much. The two Georges who were travelling with her passed out into merciful oblivion and the car overturned. A passing taxi immediately rang for the lire brigade, the ambulance, the police and the dope-squad, but alas, when these arrived the birds had flown, us the saying goes.
It was only a matter of turning the car on to the plane for which the manufacturers designed it for the most efficient use, and driving off. Needless to say, Georgina did not drive!
N.Z.U. Winter Tournament—
August 15th—19th.
Here
A Commission of Enquiry has recently been set up "to investigate and report on the practicability and financial implications of providing separate training facilities for non-Europeans at Universities."
We, the undersigned, wish to express our alarm at the exclusion from these terms of reference of what must surely be regarded as the fundamental underlying questions. These questions are: Can it be shown that "special training facilities" are in fact necessary, more especially at those universities which traditionally do not practice academic segregation? Is there any need to interfere with the existing rights and freedoms of such universities? And, finally, is there any advantage to be gained, either educationally or in the field of race relations, through imposing academic "apartheid" in all South African universities?
Four different systems operate in South Africa at present. First, there is the University of Potchefstroom, whose Charter permits it to admit European students only. Secondly, the Universities of Stellenbosch. Pretoria and the Orange Free State, though not restricted by their Charters, in practice, do not admit nonEuropeans. Rhodes is in like position, but does admit non-Europcan post-graduate students. The University College of Fort Hare, affiliated to Rhodes gives preference to nonEuropean students. Thirdly, there is the University of Natal, which conducts separate classes for Europeans and non-Europeans. Fourthly, there are the open universities of the Witwatersrand and Cape Town, which, with certain exceptions due to practical considerations, admit non-Europeans on the same criteria as Europeans.
The practice followed by the open universities has not given rise to friction or internal tension. On the contrary, successive generations of students have enthusiastically affirmed the wisdom and correctness of opening the University to non-European students, while similar resolutions have been passed by the University Council and staff. It is significant that the students of Rhodes and the Convocation of Natal voted by overwhelming majorities against academic segregation.
In a country like South Africa, where race attitudes and prejudices vary so greatly, it is understandable that the tradition and practice of different Universities should reflect those variations. This is in fact, the present position. Students are therefore able, within certain geographical limits, to make their own choice of the type of university environment which they prefer. The Prime Minister, however, considers the mixing of races in certain universities, "a crying anomaly," and the unmistakable implication of the Government's proposed action is that it intends without the assistance of the Commission, to deny students the right to exercise their own choice and to interfere with the traditional right of universities to order their own affairs within the limits of their own Charter in order to impose an artificial and stultifying uniformity.
It is because the true aims of a university can only be promoted in a free intellectual environment that the inviolability of this freedom is of such paramount importance. The functions of a university are not only to impart method and fact and to prepare students for a profession, but to create a body of men and women who share a sense of civilised values. It must encourage the fearless pursuit of truth and knowledge and teach students to think for themselves. To fulfill these aims it must be free to attract the most able students from every racial group, to welcome independence of outlook and to promote the fruitful interaction of mind upon mind. We consider that, within South Africa, the open universities of the Witwatersrand and of Cape Town approach nearest to this conception of a University. We record our deep conviction that it would be a tragedy for the future of this country if the Government, compelled these now open universities to depart from their established practice.
One of the chief justifications advanced for abolishing the open system is that it tends to social mixing. Precisely what is meant by "social mixing" is not quite clear. The present position at the open universities is that all students attend the same classes (except in the clinical training of medical students), use the same facilities and can participate in student government and student cultural activities. Non-Europeans do not take part with Europeans in dances and sports activities. What the opponents of the opposing system have in mind is that it leads to miscegenation. We believe that this fear is mistaken. Experience both in South Africa and in the U.S.A. has shown that racial intermixture takes place predominantly at the lowest educational and social levels. The problem has not, in fact, arisen at the open universities. To wreck a fruitful experiment for fear of such imaginary dangers is both arbitrary and fanatical.
The very fact of the existence of the two open universities has enhanced South Africa's reputation overseas. But it has meant more than that in South Africa itself. It has made possible contacts between students outside of lecture halls and laboratory classes—an essential part of university education.
It is these contacts which promote the transmission of Western standards and values to all students. European. African. Asiatic and colored. It has given concrete expression to the desire for goodwill between Europeans and non-Europeans. It has led to greater tolerance and understanding for it is only by meeting together that people of different groups can come to understand and respect one another.
The isolation of non-European from European students will inevitably increase group prejudice and engender a heightened nationalism in the segregated universities. This process is already manifest in South Africa.
To destroy the open system and replace it with complete segregation or even the Natal system of internal segregation would be to destroy one of the last bastions of tolerance and enlightenment in South Africa and to drive bitterness and despair deeper into the heart and mind of the non-European.
When the powerful German Luftwaffe began its merciless onslaught of Britain soon after the start of the Second World War, a small band of R.A.F. pilots, knowing full well that they might be outnumbered by as many as five to one, flew their aircraft into the skies to meet the enemy. That these pilots held, then mastered and finally conquered such a strong opponent speaks volumes for their character and courage. More important still, their Herculean efforts ensured our way of life.
A large proportion of those pilots who served in the early days with R.A.F. Fighter Command were university students. In peace they had Joined a Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron which was usually identified with their university. When war was declared, university squadrons were mobilised almost immediately. Students who had trained as pilots in the balmy days of peace became part of Britain's first line of defense.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is perpetuating the spirit of those university students, for it now has its own university pilot training scheme. The first products of this scheme. 13 students (8 full-time, 5 part-time) from New Zealand's universities, were recently awarded their flying badges after a course occupying vacation breaks over two years.
Needless to say, the purpose of this article is to explain and to interest students in this scheme. The proper use of modern aircraft and their equipment requires a high standard of intelligence, and the university should be among the best, if not the best, source of supply for the pilots and officers the nation needs.
Professor H. J. Hopkins, Professor of Civil Engineering at Canterbury University College, who presented "wings" to the 13 students, made some pertinent comment when he told the successful students how they could play their part as pilots and officers of the R.N.Z.A.F. "The Air Force relies on team work which requires good leadership and good discipline," he said. "In this respect I believe the university man can play an important part. At the university you have learned lo exercise your minds; in the Air Force you have learned to discipline them. Cheerful obedience of orders can only be attained by unquestioning acceptance of them. This in turn demands that those issuing the orders should make sure that they are reasonable and sound. You have therefore the qualities of mind which will make you good officers, and it is as officers as well as pilots that you graduate today."
Each year university students are chosen from the ranks of those undergoing compulsory military training—normally students are chosen from the January intake or from students who have already completed this training. Once accepted for the university scheme students are commissioned as acting pilot officers, For the first two short-term breaks after selection students are occupied mainly with ground subjects. The next stage occupies the 12 weeks of the first long vacation when flying training begins in earnest. Each trainee does up to 85 hours' flying in this stage. In the short vacations flying training (up to 20 hours) is continued with territorial squadrons. The final stage is a flying training course of 12 weeks in the second long vacation after the commencement of training. Each student does about 85 hours flying in this period. Except for the initial stage, all training is carried out at Wigram.
On completion of his training, a student is confirmed in the rank of pilot officer and is posted to one of the four territorial fighter squadrons which are located in the four main centers of New Zealand. Because the training of a pilot is so expensive, priority for this scheme is naturally given to students who, after completion of their course, intend to live in one of the four main centers.
Briefly that is what the course entails. But what did the successful students think of it". The writer interviewed six of them before the graduation ceremony and in the following paragraphs has tried to give a reasonable crystallisation of their views.
On the credit side the students were unanimous that the course was a good one. Of the six interview not one had a complaint about the syllabus. Amenities, living quarters and opportunities for sport and recreation came in for some enthusiastic support. Most agreed that the course did nothing to interfere with their university work. Perhaps Professor Hopkins summed up the feelings of the students when he told them: "The Air Force has given you something for which you may have looked in vain from the university. You have lived together, you have felt the community of spirit of men striving towards a common goal, and you have partaken of its inevitable comradeship."
Pay was the major complaint of the students. "Take-home" pay, depending on age, is between £11 and £12 a fortnight. This might at first sight appear to be meagre payment; but when one considers the standard of living quarters and daily rations, the fact_ that many thousands of pounds are spent to train a pilot while he himself gets paid when training the "take-home" is by no means niggardly. But one can sympathies with them to a degree. During vacations their friends have worked in factories, on the wharves or in other Jobs and on return to university doubtless quote £16 or £17 as their reward for a week's work. On the other hand the university student who becomes an R.N.Z.A.K. pilot has flown about 200 hours while training for his "wings" and once graduated, he continues to serve with a territorial squadron at a much higher wage rate. In other words he has gained a most useful qualification.
There were some other minor complaints: but I'm sure that the students will put them in their proper perspective in years to come. In case the reader may think that I am looking at the scheme through biased eyes, I would suggest that he seeks the views of a student who has completed the course. For the record book here are the names of the first pilots to graduate under this scheme from V.U.C.: P. B. Ward law and R. A. N. Manthel.
University students also have their own navigator training scheme. Like the pilot scheme, students are selected from the January C.M.T. intake and training is carried out at vacation periods over two years. This scheme would especially suit students who, after graduation, intend to live in the Auckland district. They would be trained for service in No. 6 (Maritime) Squadron which, equipped with Sunderland flying-boats, is based at Hobsonville some 20 miles from Auckland city. Incidentally, this squadron is thought to be the only territorial flying-boat squadron in the world. Navigators are subject to the same conditions of service as pilots.
In peace the R.N.Z.A.F. is striving to become an efficient nucleus on which a wartime force could be readily trained and expanded. Because, for economic reasons, the peace-time R.N.Z.A.F. cannot be a large force, much of its support is consent rated on the territorial squadrons which would be mobilised soon after the outbreak of a war The R.N.Z.A.F. wants only the best pilots and navigators for these squadrons; it is confident that a large proportion of New Zealand university students like those from the English universities in the Second World War, would be among "the few" if and when the occasion arises.
The fact that Guthrie Wilson, New Zealand's most successful contemporary novelist, is a graduate of Vic, and the controversy regarding his place in this country's literary scene, makes his latest novel one of particular interest to us. I confidently expect that it will resolve the doubts entertained by some New Zealand critics, who felt that with "Brave Company" the author had exhausted his inventive capacity. This manifestation of insular inferiority (a malady to which New Zealanders are notoriously prone) caused them to seize on the traces of self-consciousness evident in the second novel, "Julian Ware", as support of their contention—while ignoring the outstanding qualities it possessed.
It should now be evident that "Julian Ware" represented a transitional singe in the author's development from an extremely gifted observer of vivid and moving personal experience to a polished writer of tense and exciting fiction. With the "Feared and the Fearless." the transformation is all but complete. Here is the gemus of characterisation which was the hallmark of "Brave Company." and with it is a powerfully controlled and developed plot.
The novel is dominated by a magnificently drawn character, Captain Markham Falkner who is the leader of a small guerrilla unit fighting the Fascist! in the mountains of Italy during the last war. Feared equally by the Italian peasants, who called him II Brutto (Scarface), the Fscisti and the men of his own unit, he conducts the campaign with emotionless brutality and seeming indestructibility. His almost legendary stature attracts an American girl. Maria Cresswell who becomes his mistress, but she is soon repelled by his killings and seeks to get away from him before it is too late. Max Stuart. Brutto's second in command, contrives her escape and endeavors to protect her when Brutto follows them. . .
In outline the book seems cheap and melodramatic, but the subtlety and perception with which the author portrays his characters, the graphic and unbearably tense description of the battle scenes and the pursuit, together with touches of grim humour and piquant observation, make Mr. Wilson's latest novel a memorable and exciting piece of writing which should greatly enhance his already considerable reputation.
Before Dante, having passed through all the sphere of his "Paradise", through all the hierarchies of saints and angels, could approach the Beatific Vision itself, he turned, with Saint the joy in the eyes of all the other saints", with these words:
Virgin mother, daughter of your son. Lowly yet raised higher than every other creature. Established end of the eternal plan, It was through you alone that human nature Was to ennobled that its own Creator Did not disdain to be made in its making.
If the Incarnation is the turning point of history, the one event that can allow the promise, "I said, You are Godi", to be fulfilled, that point it itself determined by the life of her "in whose womb that Love was kindled:
That the duel birth was announced even to her by an Angel, does not diminish her, but rather shows that with her and through her we also can attain the Angels' being. That is why we can address her, like the penitent ones in Goathe's "Faust":
she who "stood in tears by the cross while her son was hanging." (Stebat Mater) That is how she appeared to Holder in, under the shadow of his madness:
To Word worth, she is the perfection of womanhood, the Madonna of the Immaculate Conception:
Already four hundred years earlier a medieval English poet had written:
Earlier again, the Provencal poet Amaul Daniel had seen in the Virgin Mary the suprahuman cremplar of "amor courteous":
Perhaps those poets, however, have come closest to the Madonna, who have seen that her being is characterised completely by her giving birth to God the Son, she being likewise born of Him. Francois Villon, the last and greatest of the Vegenten, expresses this in the Ballade that he made for his mother, "Pour Prier Nostre Dame." In weaving his own name into his lines, he is recognising another incarnation—one that takes place within himself, to that he in turn can participate in the incarnation outside himself:
This, finally, is the theme stated in the perfection and simplicity of John of the cross fragment, his copla:
In October of 1950, the National Unions of Students' of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, issued a joint invitation to an International Student Conference, to be held in Stockholm from December 17 to 21 of that year.
This Conference was initiated following recognition of the fact that repeated attempts to persuade the I.U.S. (International Union of Students), to cease its partisan political activities had failed and that I.U.S. did not leave as an instrument for the promotion of practical student activities.
Twenty-one national unions assembled at Stockholm and determined a programme of activities for operation at the International level. A statement of principles as a basis of their co-operation was adopted, and they strengthened the structure for the implementation of their programme of activities by establishing the co-ordinating secretariat of the National Unions of students a permanent administrative agency whose task was to ensure the implementation of the decisions of the annual International Student Conferences. The meeting also determined a wide international programme of activities for the following year.
The National Unions assembled at Edinburgh expressed regret that events beyond their control had prevented the, realisation of a world student community of all countries, and stated their willingness to review their arrangements in the light of any changes in the International student situation. They expressed the belief that "by participating in a practical co-operation . . . (based upon the principles of co-operation, printed elsewhere in this issue) National Unions of Students can help to create friendship and understanding among students in all countries."
The Co-ordinating Secretariat (orCosecas It has come to be called) was established as the permanent executive agency of the International Student Conferences. It has no policy-making powers and it is instructed to administer only those duties allotted to it by the conference, to act in accordance with other conference decisions and resolutions, and to submit a report on its activities to the annual meeting. The Secretariat is responsible throughout the year directly to a Supervision Committee whose duty it is to supervise and control its operation and to appoint administrative secretary and
The Supervision Committee, also has no policy-making powers and is responsible to the International Student Conference. It is composed of nine National Unions elected annually by the Conference, and no National Union can be a member of the Committee for more than two consecutive years.
Activities of the Secretariat:—
To co-operate with the National Unions of Students in the implementation of projects assigned to them by the International Student Conference.
To act as an international student research centre for the collection and distribution of material concerning matters of student interest, including negotiations with U.N.E.S.C.O., World University Service. World Assembly of Youth and other international student and student-serving organisations.
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Thursday, July 29
To serve as a permanent international centre of information, especially through publication of a monthly "information bulletin" concerning the activities of the National Unions of Students, and the "Student Mirror."
The operations of the Co-ordinating Secretariat are financed principally by contributions from National Unions of students. Insofar as it will assist the operation of projects laid down by the Conferences, the Secretariat also may seek and use funds from other sources, provided that such moneys are given in support of the principles of co-operation adopted by the International Student Conferences.
The Fourth International Student Conference was held in January of this year at Istanbul. Turkey, N.Z.U.S.A. (the New Zealand University Students' Association) Resident Executive in Wellington appointed Messrs. M. J. O'Brien and J. D. Dalgety as delegates to the Conference. The question of affiliation to Cosec was raised at the Easter Council meeting of N.Z.U.S.A. and the resulting position is that N.Z.U.S.A. is now affiliated to Cosec and is disaffiliated from the International Union of Students, as is the Australian National Union. N.U.A.U.S. Both Australia and New Zealand had delegated status at this conference.
(A companion article on the I.U.S. will appear in the next issue.
N.Z.U.S.A.'s reason for disaffiliating from I.U.S. some years ago was that that organisation had and was at that time (and still is) pursuing the aims of International Communism rather than the aims expressed in its constitution.
The Fifth International Student Conference will be held in
Meanwhile, the National Unions of Students affiliated with Cosec which have accepted "delegated responsibilities" in various areas of student interest will carry these projects to their conclusion in the belief that "by participating in a practical cooperation based on the principles:—
National Unions of Students can help to create friendship and understanding among students of all countries."
Expressing the desire of the National Unions of Students of the different countries for mutual understanding and friendly collaboration, this Conference Reaffirms the following principles, first adopted at the Edinburgh Conference and reaffirmed at the Copenhagen Conference, and the basis for that co-operation.
On the basis of the principles stated at the Edinburgh Conference, the conference Recognises that the National Unions of Students represented at this Conference, in adhering to these principles, regret that events for which they are not responsible, have prevented the full realisation of a world student community. They declare their Intention to work for such a community based on these principles and state their willingness to review their own arrangements in the event of changes in the International student situation and of Indications that other National Unions as defined by the Copenhagen Conference are willing to enter into full co-operation.
This Conference nevertheless Recognises that, because of the varying economic, social and political circumstances in the different parts of the world, the content of student problems concerning university education, student needs, student cultural activities, student sports and student health, etc., differs greatly, and Recognises further, therefore, that International Student Conferences may discuss the Important and complex problems which confront students who are in less fortunate social, political and economic circumstances than the students who first formulated the principles of co-operation, subject always to the following conditions:
Regretfully, Resident Executive of N.Z.U.S.A. has had to, cancel its air charter plane scheme to Australia as only 32 of the required 50 persons applied. N.U.A.U.S. had at least 66 potential trippers.
Wake Up Otago ! ! !
This year promises to be one of the most important in the history of the hockey club with tournament in Wellington, and the prospect of having an Australian University team participating in tournament.
It is only on two previous occasions that events of similar importance have taken place. The first was the tour of Fiji in
In the present season the club has eighty-eight registered players playing in five teams. Grades in which these teams play range from senior A to third. Although no particular team is enjoying outstanding success at this stage in the season, all teams are showing improvement as the season progresses and on occasions upsetting leading teams. The third grade team is in the best position, running second in their grade, while the second seconds, were able to beat the leaders in their grade, namely, Training College. The third grade team is led by Tom
Keith HuddlestonAlistair McLean and Phil TaylorLaurie Gatfield
During the season we have taken the opportunity of travelling to other centres and also having visitors from other parts of New Zealand. One of our most successful ventures was the Five-a-side tournament at Masterton on Queen's birthday. For the first time in living memory Victoria had the largest number of teams entered in this tournament. While no team was absolutely successful all agreed that the day was a most outstanding social event.
Other games played were:—
Unfortunately a disastrous occurrence during the social function following the Massey game, waS the loss (irreparable) of the drinking shield for the first time in many seasons. It is doubtful whether the inclusion of George Willam, a former Massey player, in any of the day's operations was a wise move for not only did he seriously Impair Victoria's chances of winning the game by playing for the opposition, in a green jersey, but he also obstructed Vic's chances in the drinking contest by his tardy swallow.
Having an Australian team in tournament has raised interest to a new height and as a result competition for places in our tournament team is great. Most members of the senior team will be available, the only two members who are no longer students are the goal-keeper "Tyke" Mansfleld and "Spank" Hughes, left inside.
Trials for the tournament team will be held in order to field the best possible team.
Likely aspirants for the goal-keeping position are Frank Little a previous tournament representative and Murray Humphries Who has recently donned the pads. Geoff, Whittaker custodian of the third grade may even be favoured.
Both the present full-backs are playing well and if available will be included in the team. They are Bruce Bornholdt and Dave Fitzgerald. Potential candidates for these positions are Phil Taylor, an N.Z.U. rep. last year. Rob. McArthur a Wellington colts representative, and Peter Hannah.
Bob Calkin the "horror from Wanganui" is an extremely capable player who will almost certainly fill the centre half position. His "stlckwork and keen sense of anticipation assures the team of a sound player in this position. The wing halves are not so easily picked and will be chosen from Keith Beresford, Neville Compton and George Oaks. Possibly a younger player may be chosen.
In the forward department the right wing Brian Rickard has shown continual improvement and by tournament time should be on top form. At right inside Graeme Coates, if not too ancient and decrepit may till this position. At centre forward Laurie Gatfield an extremely versatile player who has played equally well at full-back, centre half and centre forward will almost certainly be seen. "Chick" Hambly will probably fill either the left inside or left wing position. Competition for the vacant berth will be shared by promising players in the lower grades. Such players as Don Mathleson, George Wickham, Keith Huddleaton. Nigel Leaming, Ellison are candidates for any of the forward positions.
Because of the great importance of tournament this year, Victoria having the unique task of entertaining the visiting Australia team, an appeal is made to all club members to assist actively and to support the committee with arrangements for billeting and entertainment. Here are a few social functions taking place during this important week.
On the afternoon the Australians arrive in Wellington, a welcoming afternoon tea will be held in the lower gym. to which all club members are invited. During tournament week the visitors will be joining in with the normal social functions associated with this event. Special hockey festivities will be the hockey dinner on Wednesday. August 18, and a "show" on Saturday night, August 21. No doubt club members will avail themselves of the opportunity to participate in these "off-the-field" activities.
At such a memorable time in the history of the club it is most unfortunate that our club will be without the help and guidance of our recently deceased patron and foundation member, Mr. G. Dixon, whose unfailing enthusiasm has helped the club through many a difficult period.
Is it any wonder students hesitate to attend Exec. meetings. At the last A.G.M., various ardent speakers spent approximately 30 minutes debating whether to omit all the clauses of a proposed motion or not. This would leave, we found, a statement providing for the appointment of a committee—with undefined numbers and powers. Margaret Munro objected, but was declared out of order by the chairman.
How nice to have such clearheaded thinkers on Exec!
The A grade team has performed very well this season. The results so far are:—
With two more matches to play against Onslow and Technical, the team should finish up third or possibly second in the interclub competition. The first three matches were lost mainly because of the failure of Alan Robinson and Dave Marple to win certain vital doubles games which they were expected to win? However, they soon regained the form of
Meeting of those interested in Winter Tournament work with concessions available will be held in Room evening of 7 p.m.
The singles performances of all four players in the team have been much as expected. There have been no spectacular successes, although there have been occasional spectacular losses. Tony Darrock, Alan Robinson and Dave. Marple have shown, by their interclub performances that they are well within the top ten in Wellington. Rex Davis has not been so successful in his singles. He has played brilliantly for short periods however, and has shown that he is capable of taking a set from any player in Wellington. Rex and Tony Darrock make a strong doubles combination and have had several very good wins.
Meeting of "Salient" staff and other interested in "Salient" room, Upper Gym. on Wednesday evening, 21 July, of & p.m.
Supper Will be Served
A number of players from the Table Tennis Club have been playing in Tournaments this season. In the Hutt Valley championships Tony Darrock won the Mixed Doubles and reached the quarterfinals of the Men's Singles where Dave Marple beat him. Dave later took a set off J. S. Crosby in the semifinals. Alan Robinson defeated K. Pomton. one of the top players in the Hutt Valley, but was beaten in five sets by R. Sandllands. top man in the Hutt Valley. Elizabeth Lesser, one of our top girls, reached the semifinals of the Ladies' Bracelet.
In the Wanganui Championships held at the end of study week, our players achieved great success. Alan Robinson won the Men's Singles in a field which contained almost all the top players in Wellington, excluding the first three. Alan played the best table tennis anyone has ever seem him play. In the quarterfinals he defeated his clubmate Tony Darrock and in the final he defeated Lander of P. & T. 21-19 in the fifth set. Tony Darrock avenged his singles defeat when, partnered by Lander, he defeated Alan partnered by Sim of P. & T. in the final of the Men's Doubles. Tony also reached the final of the Mixed Doubles.
We regret that owing to pressure on space, the Socialist Club article has been held over until nest issue. Contributors please note that reports of Club activity eicooding 300 words in length cannot in future be published unless on arrangement has been mode before the issue goes to press