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School Supplement

Comment

You and the University

"Critic," the newspaper of the University of Otago, recently ran an article written by a student at a southern high school. The article complained about the lack of liaison between the sixth forms of secondary schools and University. "Most sixth-formers," said the article, "have almost no idea what lies ahead of them at a typical New Zealand University."

If this is so, and Salient believes it is, then there is a good case for as much contact as possible between not only the official University Liaison branch and sixth-formers, but also between the students themselves and prospective freshers.

The purpose of this supplement is not primarily to give facts about any University. Victoria's Liaison Officer does a tremendous amount of work to acquaint secondary schools with the realities of Varsity—courses, clubs, and some of the problems. Between them, the Orientation Handbook and the University Calendar can give the student some idea of where he should start.

But there is a gap. Most of us who are only one or two years out of school know that the fresher takes a long time to find his feet, and we believe this is primarily because he has no idea of where he stands in relation to the rest of the University. Quite probably only we, the undergraduates, are close enough to his problems to be able to give him some guidance.

This supplement is couched mainly in general terms for two reasons: the first is that we want to give the prospective fresher some idea of what he will find at any University; secondly, and more important, we want him to get some idea of the "feel" of the place.

The first and strongest impression of any student is the amount of liberty he has. The virtues of organization and a smart beginning on study are laboured in many places, and there is no reason to go into them here.

But independence implies many things: a greater independence of judgement, of thought and of movement. Again, it is hardly necessary to point out the obvious vices. Superficially a student may appear independent. But academically, he may be just as bound to conventional thought-patterns as he was at school.

It is often said of the debating club that no positive motion before the House at Vic has ever been passed. At the annual Parliamentary Debate, Mr Nordmeyer said he believed the students would vote for the motion that the House had no confidence in the present government simply because it was the government. This is an extreme way of saying that students hold scepticism very dear, and as long as this scepticism remains reasoned, it is probably one of the most valuable attributes of a student.

The essence of it is that every belief, every idea that is put before you in lectures and in conversation should be tested; tested against your knowledge and your beliefs and tested for its logical merit. Don't be afraid of expressing this scepticism to your tutors; most of them are young enough to remember when they thought the same way. Intelligent questioning of any supposedly watertight theory is the basic conflict out of which new ideas are born. Galileo questioned Ptolemy. On a slightly less elevated level, a little research might show you that your tutor's argument about Keats is not quite as watertight as you first thought. Some tutors have a habit of saying outrageous things just to see the response. Be on to this, and don't let them put it across you. But be sure of your facts.

Another thing which hits the fresher as soon as he gets here is the clamour of the clubs, the directives to "Join This" or "Support that." New Zealanders are not really inveterate joiners, at least not in their adolescence. But you are welcome in any club in the University. If it interests you, your enthusiasm will earn you a niche in it pretty quickly. The secret of success in a club is to do a bit of the donkey work. Don't let anybody kid you that you are small cheese: the enthusiasm of freshers is what makes any club tick. Salient this year has been fortunate to have a livewire collection of freshers, who put life into the paper right from the word go. Staffers chased up stories themselves, got interviews with people whose opinion counts not only around Varsity but also all over the country. This issue includes interviews with Mr Nordmeyer and Mr Hanan, obtained because two enthusiastic freshers— both girls—had enough initiative to go after them.

To a large extent, as one of the largest single bodies in the University, you can make next year a success. If you centre as much of your term life as possible around the campus, you will soon find that it is possible to feel part of Varsity, whether in sport or debating, drama or journalism, or just the most fascinating part of University life, the interminable arguments over coffee, when, in a very important way, you begin to become a student.