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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 7, No. 8. August 9, 1944

No-Man's Land

page 2

No-Man's Land

Dear Sir,—We were heartened by seeing the publicity given to the World Student Relief Campaign in the last issue or Salient, For quite it time we have been observing the attitude of the Students towards constructive activities, of which this is an excellent example, and towards those of quite another type altogether.

It seems that most of the energetic students expend their energy in wild Extrav. orgies instead or more worthwhile activities. Perhaps this is due to the lack of publicity given to more creditable student effort. How many students, for instance, know of the periodic Church Rally of the Harrier Club? We are not suggesting that the attendance at this function should be marked with the zest that characterises Extrav Reunions, but a little more enthusiasm along those lines might be a good thing.

And what about the I.S.S. and the S.C.M.? Last year the attention of the students was never drawn to these organisations. Judging from the last issue of Salient the latter have acquired a new lease of life and we heartily approve.

Then again, think of the impression the general public has of us—I doubt if anyone is unaware of the opinion many Wellingtonians have about students from Victoria. Our reputation may not be entirely undeserved, but on the other hand, it is unfair that we should all be labelled Reds, wine-bibbers, etc.

This state of affairs is due solely to the fact that one section of the Varsity community seems to make considerably more noise than any other. We would like to see this remedied.

Could not more emphasis be laid on our Free Medical Scheme; the parcels we send to students overseas and our World Student Relief Campaign? Too much publicity is given to one side of our life. For example, note the headlines given to the Capping Ball sequence and the relatively small amount given to a constructive effort such as the Free Medical Scheme.

It is not that we deplore those other activities; we only wish to see other sides of Varsity life equally presented to the public eye.

—Yours truly.

Gog and Magog.

To answer your points briefly on our "new lease of life," we wish to state that it has been our policy to have representative and worthwhile front page news. The I.S.S. is such an example. This year two front pages dealt with vacation, work and its problems, one on Extrav. (which netted £550 for Patriotic Funds), a main article on the Capping Ball sequel, an issue on Exec, elections, and one on the A.G.M. and first exec, meeting, the last on I.S.S.—all, we consider, interesting and worthwhile subjects. Last year we had front page "boosts" for text books for A.E.W.S., I.S.S. (two), health scheme, work day for patriotic funds, and soldiers' news. We have consistently published I.S.S. and S.C.M. news as they affect a number of students, also extrav. reunion was covered in a couple of inches which contained a notice about lost property and a well-earned presentation to the producer. We feel that the writers of this letter had perhaps failed to acquaint themselves with the facts.

—Ed.