Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 27, No. 12. 1964.

Students In Society

page 7

Students In Society

"Students in Society", the theme of this series of articles written by the presidents of students' associations throughout the country, is a subject which should be of interest and relevance to all. Each President was asked to give his opinion of students in society in relation to his particular university. In this issue, Otago and Lincoln comment.

Murray Brennan, Otago University Ex-President:

There is often much criticism from within and without that students form a society within a society. This is in effect, both true and false at Otago University.

Naturally, like any other section of the community who have in common age, type of work, intelligence and place of work, the students at the University of Otago do form a definite entity, and it is this entity that is presented to the public or society as a whole.

Generally, society accepts students as a group characterised solely by group activities such as capping, procession, capping concert tournament and sporting teams. It would seem unfortunate that even in a city the size of Dunedin, where "Town and Gown" rapport is so developed, the individual actions and activities of students within society should be so little appreciated. Yet most individuals in a city so orientated to a university would find it difficult to pinpoint some field of activity that does not in some way bring them into contact with the university, or is not influenced by university personnel.

That is to say unbeknown to many, students participate widely in society, retaining at the same time their group affiliations (often being identified by this affiliation) and yet still retain their own inherent individuality. These associations or, more correctly, these assimilations, can be seen in each and every field from vacation labour to choral societies. However by virtue of their academic interests, they can be seen particularly in cultural societies, and briefly (in terms of time) on the sporting fields.

As illustrative proof that this is so and is of benefit to society, we need only consider the large number of university trained personnel (no longer students) who have come to take their place in non-university communities as teachers, administrators and participators.

But not all is active participation. There are numerous other situations that students could and should be interested in—political, moral, religious, economic, cultural, physical—the field is unending. These are all fields to which the student can contribute.

A great deal has been written about student apathy, and no doubt a strong case can be made for greater and more active participation by students in extracurricular activities. But before recommending any specific activity, a sound appraisal should be made of what the student can be expected to give and, secondly, what he can expect to receive from participation. The latter is probably best answered in terms of contribution to student education, as opposed to the narrow specialisation of his academic course.

What the student can offer is a great deal—physically, his time, culturally, his academic appreciation, mentally, his intelligence.

The student in society is often such that society knows him not away from group student activity. By this I mean that the present student, who is often ready to assert his own ideas of dogmatic conformism within his University peer group, is unwilling or unable to assert and support these ideas as an individual in contact with general society. In this respect, I expect sociologists would say he is no different from any other member of any other closed group. That this may or may not be, is not my concern. Rather is it my concern that, despite a university education, he or she is unwilling to try. By all claims of the student himself he can readily implant his ideas on any other group. I assume that, as students who believe this is possible, we are notoriously unwilling to put ourselves to the test.

Perhaps the old familiar cry of "There is no time" is here apparent. I dismiss this, superciliously for some, by using the axiom that where there is interest time can be found. To anticipate the next reply, I must say that there must be interest, for I feel that only by using these extra-curricular testing grounds can we aid ourselves to ensure an education rather than a technical training. (This may be more apparent if I say that the writer is a member of one of the specialist schools of the University of Otago.)

In finally extending this argument or can I call it a plea, can we look for this participation, this assertion, even at inter-faculty level.

Can we say, therefore, in summary, that the student can obtain a great deal more by offering himself more fully to society. The domain of influence of the student is surely great, but, oh, how constricted the student makes this domain.

J. W. Henderson, Lincoln College Ex-President:

The Present Role of a university student is to acquire a professional qualification to get himself a job. However, this is not the sole ideal for which a student should strive.

Up to half the benefits of university education should be the development of a critical and well-rounded outlook. Some students undoubtedly achieve this dual role, but unfortunately the majority either fail to recognise that mere accumulation of fact is insufficient or never find time to develop a wide field of interests.

The Ideal student should not only acquire his degree but should question all the current attitudes towards politics, morals, religion, art, history, science, and so on. He should be a nonconformist on principle, for this is the one opportunity he has in life to think out his position towards life.

However, in practice most student values centre around alcohol, sex and sport. There is very little tolerance towards students whose opinions deviate widely from that of others and there is considerable pressure towards uniformity. For instance, at Lincoln ten beards were visible on the campus at the beginning of the term, but this had been reduced to two after four weeks.

Lincoln is a 76 per cent residential college, and this does have the advantage of gaining a higher level of student participation in student affairs than elsewhere. Capping activities, student concerts dances and sport all get full support at the beginning of the year at least. Experience in running student organisations is invaluable to those entering executive jobs later on in life.

The New Zealand University Students' Association (NZUSA) exists to co-ordinate student activities and interests. It plays an important role in matters of education, sports, societies, student welfare and matters of overall concern to students (e.g. nuclear testing).

NZUSA should not concern itself with matters of general political, religious, economic and sociological nature which contain many intricacies. By all means the individual groups directly associated with and familiar with the issue in question should comment, but not NZUSA.

The failing of students to genuinely seek knowledge and to query attitudes and opinions on assorted topics is not confined to any one campus. Some features of the Lincoln College campus bring a different set of circumstances to bear on the students than exists at other universities. With 50 per cent of students following a diploma course rather than a degree there tends to be a greater emphasis on practical aspects of the science of agriculture than is true of other science faculties. A mono-faculty campus cannot help but affect the nature of the students.

With the large residential facilities available a great potential exists for the integration of ideas, but this is largely lost in one faculty. A multifaculty campus cannot hope to achieve this without separate residential halls containing elements of assorted faculties.

Size is another factor peculiar to Lincoln. With only 470 students on a mono-faculty campus the group pressure for conformity is very great. It is true that numbers will gradually increase, but only a sweeping change could result in a multi-faculty campus. The relative isolation of the campus by the 13 miles from Christchurch and the main University of Canterbury campus is not a desirable feature for the full development of the students.

With the University of Canterbury shifting to its new site, there seems little prospect of another faculty being established on this campus. If that were possible a considerable number of our disadvantages would be solved.

An alternative system is to develop the concept of a junior college on the Lincoln campus for all first and second-year students of Canterbury University. The students at this critical stage of their course would have the added advantage of large residential facilities and all of the present problems peculiar to the existing Lincoln campus could be solved.

Abstinence is no answer to the problem of alcoholism, just as nobody driving on the roads is no answer to the problem of road accidents.

Doctor Mirams