A Definite No

What a meaningless phrase it is to most students— "full-time NZUSA President."

Well it means something significant to all students—money and ideas—significant, surely?

The money comes with the "full-time" part.

Now we have never gone along with those idealistic gentlemen who loudly proclaim "students should not be paid for doing student work."

The same gentlemen then find that no students want to do the menial but profit-making tasks they have in mind, and go out and hire a non-student to do it.

They haven't been paid to be student politicians—yet.

But NZUSA wants to change this. Right this coming year, if they have their way, at a cost of, say, 1/- per student per year (or about £1000 salary p.a.).

It has been explicitly understood by NZUSA personnel this year that they are out on trial. They are trying to rescue a fine idea from its dreadful reality.

You may remember, back about April, we were pounding the pavements toward Parliament to beg for more money.

NZUSA used to do that. However, lately they've been more worried about working up a lather for the rights of Angolan natives and international student politics and collecting funds for African scholarships which turn out to be something else.

We, too, can and do get indignant about many things in this world. But in common with most students we would plead that we've looked in our own yard first.

NZUSA may have been short of cash. It may have been short of staff. Its policy may have been changed under the present regime.

But we refuse to believe that anything would be solved, created, or improved, by taking some graduate student and promoting him to be paid head of NZUSA.

There is a place for NZUSA—to represent us here first and overseas second, to co-ordinate us, to inform us, to promote the student in the community.

To this aim we will concede effort and money, as much as can be justified and a little more to make sure. But to this we will not concede the myth of a paid Great White Father of us all—H.B.R.