Moriarty Mad

Cappicades Worth £1000 Amiss; and Confusion

News Editor

Said Mr. Michael Moriarty, President of the Victoria University Students' Association: "Some hundreds of Cappicades are regularly lost during the hectic period of distribution in Capping Week, and these hundreds occasionally swell to a few thousand.

"Although a few thousand may well have been lost in the course of events, so many thousands are unaccounted for this time, that the Finance committee is most dissatisfied."

Held responsible for the gap in the records, is Mr. Alistair Robb, Cappicade business manager. For months, the Finance committee of the students' association have been investigating the Cappicade accounts kept by Mr. Robb and Mr. L. Cornford, distribution manager. One member of the committee described them as "shambolic." When they were eventually cleared up, the large deficit became obvious.

When questioned, Robb announced a month ago, that at some time in November he had disposed of the unsold Cappicades in a rubbish tip. This was not only a break from standard procedure, but amounted almost to negligence. Said Moriarty: "Robb had no right to dispose of the surplus Cappicades without the full knowledge of the Finance committee. Usually, unsold copies are kept and are sold later to schools in the Wellington district and to incoming freshers." Moriarty said further that had Robb first had them counted and assessed by the committee, all would have been well.

The association executive told Salient that Robb would appear before them on the recommendation of the Finance Committee. This paper will be there to report on proceedings.

This has not been the first trouble concerning the organisation of the 1962 issue of Cappicade. In October of last year, it was already admitted by Robb that 200 copies were missing. "But that," said Moriarty, "was peanuts compared to the new trouble." It seems evident that the organisation of distribution went completely out of hand. As was printed in Salient (Oct. 1st, 1962), considerable confusion arose when some students deducted their commission whilst others failed to do so. One of the record books was mislaid, and the remainder were in a poor condition. Only fifty people volunteered to act as sellers, and it does appear that mistakes arose because Robb had too little assistance with distribution. As a result, he spent too much time selling, not enough organising.

At the time that this became evident, Cornford, Distribution Manager, stated that "the Salient article was completely incorrect." However, Cornford's statement seems to have been contradicted by the accounts, which have revealed the serious loss, now before the consideration of the Finance committee.