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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 17, No. 20. October 8, 1953

University and Public

University and Public

As Vice-Chancellor of the University of New Zealand, Dr. Currie holds an important and responsible position. But he is also carrying out another very important task—that of bringing the Universities closer to the public. This is an aspect of Dr. Currie's work for which all students should be thankful, especially those who are entering jobs in the near future. They can be sure indeed that if their welcome is at all cordial it is in large part due to Dr. Currie's willingness to speak to as many of the organisations that request his services as he possibly can.

In this the last issue of "Salient" for the year, we have chosen to repeat a talk which Dr. Currie recently delivered to an organisation of professional men at Wellington. The subject was "What the University Tries to Do." We suggest that this is a topic which all students, especially those undergraduates who are completing their at studies this year, might examine with care, for the purpose of discovering how much this college has succeeded in carrying out the objectives which Dr. Currie outlined in his speech.

The Public Pays

First and foremost, said Dr. Currie, the University has an obligation to see that the money which the taxpayers contribute towards its upkeep is spent wisely and carefully. Society gives this money in order "that able young men can learn the complex skills and professions of modern life. Fees alone would never be sufficient to pay for the upkeep of a well-equipped University. Indeed it was pointed out that 80 per cent, of the University income came from public moneys Therefore, in the first place, it was a case of what the people, the taxpayers, expected for their money, said Dr. Currie: "They need doctors, teachers, engineers and unfortunately—lawyers."

In a country like New Zealand, the levels of intellectual capacity are much the same as in other countries and our Universities are capable by any standards of producing the stalled craftsmen of modern society, though it was admitted that the facilities for higher research in arts and science were understandbaly not as good as overseas.

It followed, then, said Dr. Currie, that the University had a duty to the public to take only the beat of those who offered themselves for enrolment, and these were to be discovered by whatever system was thought to be the most effective. However, the speaker left the question of matriculation v. examination open, and did not discuss it further.

The Higher Standards—Truth

Dr. Currie made it clear that the University had other functions to skilled mechanics of professional perform, beside turning out the skilled mechanics of professional society. Intellectual training was good, but a course had to be steered between liberal chaos and obscurantism. The element of scepticism is necessary—to question everything that is presented to you, for this is the means by which truth is gained and the essence of scholarship, its primary objective, is to get at truth.

The University must train the mind towards questioning, and yet seek to restrain the students from the chaos of too great a liberalism. The public knows that students lash out at any aspect of society they think to be unfair, but Dr. Currie pointed out that in his opinion the Universities are the best bulwarks of democracy. He quoted the saying, "If a student is a Socialist before the age of twenty-one, then he has no heart. If he is a still a Socialist after twenty-eight, then he has no head." The University must inculcate the critical faculty and teach the student to set aside prejudices in his search for truth and evaluation of knowledge. But Dr. Currie warned his listeners that scientists, though perhaps brilliant in their own field, were only as knowledgeable as other men outside their laboratory. Hence, their opinions on subjects not necessarily connected with their own research should not be accepted uncritically.

Teaching and Research

Dr. Currie believed that the seeking of new knowledge and the transmitting of that already known should be carried on side by side. It was a central duty of the University to produce a staff which could Infuse in a whole range of students that divine spark of scholarship which is for more fundamental and far more important than the mere presentation of facts. He considered that it was a high and difficult duty to make a right selection from the many qualified applicants who presented themselves for vacant positions. It was his policy to appoint as lecturers men who were above all good scholars and then If possible good teachers also. Dr. Currie admitted that even though some men wore bad lecturers their scholarship often enabled them to meet their more advanced students on the common ground of scientific research and imbue in them a freshness in their approach to learning.

Humility

The purpose of study in the humanities and the sciences, said Dr. Currie, was not to turn out types but Individuals with good and humble minds. Humility as such did not directly come from a university but if a search for truth is carried out sincerely, humility will emerge.

—D.D.