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Capping 5 Lectures 0

Saddest thing about Capping was its success. A record charity collection and an incident-free procesh also meant a lecture-free day for many students.

Staff who faced nearly empty lecture-halls were often bitter in their comments. Going back only two years, they remembered that lectures, yes and even terms exams, took place on Friday.

Then, last year, lectures were removed from Friday specifically to avoid conflict with student Capping activities.

This year, students had no Cappicade to sell, moved charity and procesh to Thursday, and then went home.

On the face of it, exploiting staff goodwill. At least, that's what some staff said.

In fact, there's another side. Charity was moved to Thursday to get that long-demanded full day collection, and Procesh moved with it. Oddly enough, procesh seems to stimulate charity donations!

Also, as has been pointed out by past Procesh controllers, Friday is the busiest day of the week for trucking firms, on Thursday there would be a better response (and there was).

Some effort was made, too, to explain to the University Administration the reason for the change. Too little and too late.

Students' friends on the staff are understandably hurt.

Students' enemies (there are some) have a new weapon in their well-worn arsenal of argument.

We owe an apology, and an explanation. But these alone are not sufficient in a situation which should never have arisen.

We have a duty to see that this breakdown in communication does not happen again.

—H.B.R.