Cafe Disgusts Patron

Sir,—I am a part-time student who often has to have meals in the Caf. I wonder if Mr. Levenbach ever eats there. If so, he will be interested in what I am about to say. If not. I would like him one day to partake of a meal like the one I recently tried to eat.

I paid 3/10 for 1 tiny glass of pineapple juice, 2 savoury fish cakes, 2 roast potatoes. 1 spoonful silverbeet (or spinach—not sure which), 1 glass of milk.

The fish calces were soft and mushy and anything but savoury. The potatoes, supposedly crisp, were like lead weights, and the silverbeet (or spinach) soggy and lukewarm. The only really nutritious part of the "meal" was the glass of milk, not made by Mr. Levenbach or his assistants.

Now I should like to ask Mr. Levenbach a few questions.

1. Is it really necessary for the servers to put their hands all over the plates when they pick them up? Could they not leave one little hygienic spot to put our dinner on?

2. Is it necessary for them to pick up such items as pies, savoury cakes, etc, with their fingers? Could not serving tongs be provided for them?

3. Why do the servers always look as though they had been scrubbing the floor in their uniforms? They are grubby and sweat stained and never look white. Also, why do we have to have views of great hairy chest through an undone shirt? I am sure that the Caf would make more profit if its proprietor realised that such sights do not encourage a good appetite.

4. If it is not lawful for an ordinary shop to charge more than fivepence for a pint of milk, why should it be lawful for Mr. Levenbach to charge fourpence for half a pint, or for a glass of milk which is not even that big?

In the past Mr. Levenbach has had some hard words to say about the standard of tidiness and cleanliness of students using the Caf. If he would take a little trouble with his own standards, he might find that his patrons would also take some trouble to be neat and tidy with their meals. I am, etc.,

Do Unto Others

Sir,—There is a subtler approach to French nuclear testing in the Pacific than paying a visit to the local French embassy. General de Gaulle is a staunch Roman Catholic and Roman Catholics claim to be Christians. Christians are expected to obey the fundamental edict: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." General de Gaulle, in carrying out his nuclear tests in the Pacific, is obviously going against this great Christian law. We know he would be the first to complain if West Germany or Britain decided to explode a nuclear device in his back-yard.

The Church of Rome has shown in the past that it will excommunicate people who disobey fundamental laws. In this particular case the Holy See must act if it accepts the principles of human behaviour laid down by Christ, and if it considers General de Gaulle's proposed action un-Christian.

Naturally, the Church of Rome will steer clear of this question— as long as the matter is kept in the political arena. But there is no law that says it must remain a political question; indeed, here we have a test of faith and power without precedent in the history of the world. I am, etc.,

No Perks?

Sir— I would like to enquire why it is considered necessary by Exec. to waste about £150 of Student money in giving free trips to Winter Tournament to a favoured few.

Ten lucky people will be flown to Dunedin at Student expense. This compares with Exec's generosity to competitors at the Tournament. They get one quarter of their second-class train fare from Christchurch to Dunedin subsidised by the Students' Association.

It appears to me that these trips are merely a perk to enable the ten people to have an all-expenses-paid holiday.

Ostensibly four of these ten are delegates to the NZUSA Conference. From a study of Salient No. 5 it appears that the only thing that happened at the Summer Conference was that delegates awarded themselves a new tie, the tie presumably being awarded at student expense.

If NZUSA must exist surely all that is necessary is that the presidents of the various students' associations should meet. These presidents should also be prepared to travel to the Tournament in the same way as all competitors.

Two other delegates are supposed to attend meetings of the New Zealand Student Press Council. Although much was made after Easter Tournament of the reform being carried out in this moribund organisation, apparently nothing has been done. It would, therefore, seem that this Press Council has no functions whatsoever and should be abolished completely. If Salient is as desperately hard-up as was claimed at the AGM then the money spent on air fares for these delegates would be far better spent on the actual paper—perhaps in printing a proper Election Issue rather than the extremely roughly cyclostyled sheet put out this year under that name? Two other delegates are to the NZU Sports Council. Their travelling to Tournament may be defensible but why they cannot go by boat and train with the competitors completely escapes me.

The last two delegates are to Arts Festival and there may also be some logic in their attendance, but surely the same travelling arrangements could apply to them as to the members of the plays being put on.

Thus it would seem that the delegates to conferences at the Tournament could be cut from 10 to 5 and the cost to students, even if the full fares are paid out from perhaps £150, if they fly to about £35 if they travel by boat and rail.

Is it really too much to expect that the Students' Association Executive will have the courage to cut out these trips and therefore cut out some of the cushy perks, thereby saving students' money.— I am etc.

Ian Harland.

[To suggest that all NZUSA did at Summer Conference was to award themselves a new tie is at best facetious. Ignorance of what NZUSA does leads this correspondent to suggest erroneously that only the presidents of the students' associations need meet.

Although Mr. Harland has given up some time to help with the running of the Students' Association (as Returning Officer) he must realise that those who spend a considerable amount of time over the year to help students' associations deserve more than 25 per cent paid of their fare to Tournaments.

It should also be remembered that a great deal of time is spent by delegates to Tournament in conference—not just for the gratification of their individual egos.

Finally. Mr. Harland should know the facts before he criticises Salient's cyclostyled election issue. As Returning Officer he might be interested to know that Salient was not consulted to enable the election to fit in with our previously set publication dates and our printer's capacity.

Therefore at the last minute Salient staff had to get copy, type out and cyclostyle the election material. This task should not be taken lightly, as Mr. Harland is prone to do. (Ed.) ]

Bring Back ....

John Birch

Sir,—Just which side is Salient on in the cold war [unclear: anyway] Earlier in the year you treated [unclear: to] a bitter attack on Thailand now in the last issue of your [unclear: ra] we find a collection of half truths, twisted facts and down-right fallacies about the government of South Vietnam. Is it just a coincidence that both states are staunchly anti-communist?

Conceivably life in the happy Peoples' Republics to the [unclear: north] isn't all Mrs. Freda Cook makes it out to be. How [unclear: about] an exposure on North [unclear: Vietnam] just to even things up. Better hurry, if your writer "G.Q's' hopes are fulfilled and Diem [unclear: goes] New Zealand should be enjoying the benefits of the Communist system at first hand in another decade or so.

C. H. Moore.

[Whose side of the cold war are Time and the New York Times on? Their recent articles on South Vietnam make a number of the same points as Salient's correspondent. Mr. Moore, in true John Birch tradition, fails to realise that we have every right to criticize the countries we support. This does not mean we are Communists. Salient will be very willing to print an "exposure" of North Vietnam, Perhaps Mr. Moore will write it for us.—Ed.]

Please Write

Sir,—I have received a request from the following young lady, who is seeking a New Zealand pen-friend and it occurred to us that perhaps one of the students of your college may be interested in writing to her. We should be most grateful if you could print her name, etc., in your magazine.

Details are as follows: Mayumi Yata (Miss) , c/ - Usui Hiroyuki, 3467 Tokiwa-cho. Machida-City, Tokyo, Japan. Age, 19. Hobbies and interests: English literature, cooking, travelling. She would prefer to write to a boy. I am, etc.,

M. Dunnet.

Secretary. Japanese Embassy.