Students Flare up

Pavement Beer Swill

With those headlines the Australian Truth (Adelaide Edition) passed sentence on the National Union of Australian University Students (N.U.A.U.S.) Congress held at Largs Bay, Adelaide in January, 1952.

The charges were that about 15 students (men and women) were seen drinking on the verandah of the local hotel, the girls in gaily coloured frocks drinking from pints, after which with "whoops of joy" they jumped into their "jallopies" to return to more "bacchanalian orgies" at the camp. After this glowing front page account it is no wonder that the Congress was more noted for its social than its intellectual functions.

New Zealand Universities were well represented there being about twenty of us from all the Universities the majority being Canty students.

This camp was under canvas and about 350 students attended. Sleeping quarters were rather cramped with often six in a tent but other conditions were good: plenty of showers, a large laundry, ironing room and Mess Hut. The beach was five minutes walk away and the water, warm to us New Zealanders, was cold for those from Brisbane. Beach bonfires were popular nearly every night and we ended with a large barbecue on the last night—or morning.

Dances were held nightly in the Mess hut, a rather difficult proceeding since the floor was concrete. They were popular in spite of this which is more than can be said of the serious side. For the first two nights we had music by the champion Dixieland Jazz band of Australia.

Lectures and discussions were poorly attended—many people slept in. Sessions which were expected to be good were not improved by a bad microphone and kitchen noises. Outstanding example of this was the overseas forum. Students from Greece, Arabia, Malaya and New Zealand spoke for ten minutes each on the conditions in their own countries. Unfortunately on acount of language and microphone trouble only the New Zealander was heard. Roger Smith of Canty made an excellent speech, thoroughly convincing everybody that we had a good education system and marvellous scenery although they remained doubtful about Social Security and earthquakes.

The most lively discussions were those at the end of the Congress, the business sessions. These sessions were strongly reminiscent of Viv.: 'Reds' on one side and the rest on the other—every issue ending in a political one even if it did not start as one. Voting on a resolution to oppose conscription caused such chaos that four counts were insufficient—finally there had to be a division which settled the matter: 93 against conscription and 92 for it. By the time this session was held and the vote taken many students had left camp.

Up to 11 p.m. every evening some entertainment was provided and on three or four evenings films, including Metropolis, The Blue Angel, Film and Reality and several Australian pictures. On the last Saturday the much talked about Revue was staged. The tone of this revue was surprisingly high, perhaps noticeable by we Victorians after past Extravs. The Ballets and the sketches were amusing but the star of the show was a Bulgarian student who played the guitar and sang, stole the show and was recalled several times.

Tours were organised along the beaches, through the [unclear: Barosa] Valley and Seppett's vineyard, along the Torrens by tug, through Holden's factory and Phillip's. One had to pay for each tour but the free wine samples were a compensation.

From our point of view the Australian students could not have been Kinder and more tolerant for as it always turned out in conversation we thought New Zealand was a country worth living in—even if a little sleepy.