Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 3. 1966.
New forum safeguards approved
New forum safeguards approved
Executive Reporter
Forum controller, Tony Ashenden, plans to "constitutionalise" forum.
At a recent executive meeting Ashenden announced he intended drawing up a constitution and to incorporate forum.
This, he explained, was necessary to prevent any takeover by a small group and to ensure its continued existence.
After hearing Mr. Ashenden, executive decided that only stall and students be permitted to speak at forum.
Executive also on Mr. Ashenden's recommendation passed a motion excluding all representatives of the news media (including Salient) from attending forum.
The motions passed were, he said, only a stop-gap measure until his constitutional motions come through.
The forum controller conceives forum as a place where members of the university can air their views without fearing possible misinterpretation by the news media.
Asked to comment on the exclusion of Salient, editor Hugh Rennie said "I quite agree with Mr. Ashenden's point of view."
He said forum's free speech should be restricted as little as possible—and said he believed the exclusion of the press actually promoted this aim.