—Editorial—

I do not wish to apologise for the new format of Salient. The change has been due to a number of causes, the most important of which are the high cost of paper and the printing, lack of advertising revenue, and a loss on past operations that has been accumulating for three or four years. Due to these we have been compelled to economise for the time being.

Salient will appear at approximately fortnightly intervals in issues of ten pages or more. The "or more" indicating a limitation depending on the energies of Salient staff, due to the fact that all cutting of stencils and cyclostyling is to be carried out by the latter. It will be no easy task as each issue will entail the handling of some 4,000 sheets of foolscap. In view of this, offers of assistance for stencil cutting, cyclo-styling, or from artists with a capacity to draw on [unclear: stencil] would be greatly appreciated.

The policy of Salient will be to provide an open forum for discussion and criticism. There will necessarily be emphasis on articles of a more serious and literary nature, as news is inclined to date after fortnightly periods. Reports of routine college affairs will be cut to a minimum. The sole qualification for any article is its readableness; any well-expressed opinion will be published.

It is hoped that Salient this year will not be without its controversies. Particularly in these critical times there is an even more urgent need to preserve the liberty to know, to speak, and to criticise, for these are the liberties that are anathema, to dictators, and are the first to wither in the heat of war. A university can no longer call itself such if it fails to allow even in the face of a hostile public, these fundamental freedoms. To disallow criticism is to stifle criticism, and this is the first step towards fascism.

Finally I want to state emphatically that Salient is not the opinion of Victoria University College, it is merely the op-inions of those who are considerate enough to write for it occas-ionally. Each article will bear the initials of its author, so that Salient will be, as it always has been, a medium through which students can give free expression to their opinions and that is all.