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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 9. 1966.

Spontaneous move by students on crossing

Spontaneous move by students on crossing

On Tuesday, about four hundred students "stood - in" on the Kelburn Parade-Salamanca Road intersection in a forty-minute protest.

Their action culminated ten years of student pressure for safety measures at this corner.

Just two weeks ago a student, Miss Barbara Fehl, was knocked down by a car and suffered a broken leg at this intersection.

On Monday of this week a new illegal crossing was painted in, but it disappeared the same morning under the tar-brush of a city council employee.

This employee told a passing student that the crossing was "better painted in than many official ones."

On Tuesday Forum collapsed as students surged forth spontaneously.

Long-time crossing proponent Mike Hirschfeld—who had last April called for a sit-in—found himself challenged by another Forum speaker to take part in an immediate protest.

Apathetic students stared blankly.

Mike agreed—a few others followed—then a half a dozen students yelled "let's go" and several hundred students strode down the drive to the intersection.

Within minutes the intersection was blocked to traffic. In an effort to avoid breaking the law, students moved backwards and forwards across the road.

Forum controller Dave Shand (who had followed mutely behind the protesters carrying the soap-box) endeavoured to keep the protest orderly.

President Arrives

President John McGrath and vice-president Ian McKinnon shortly appeared and demanded knowledge of the organisers and their intentions.

They suggested that drivers held up be told the reasons for the demonstration and then let through. Some agreed and co-operated — others, more militant, shouted no.

The police didn't arrive until nearly twenty minutes after the demonstrations started.

Apparently the Salient reporter who contacted the news media didn't bother to advise the Traffic Department of the protest.

Initially the police stayed in their cars surveying the scene. More arrived and then they attempted to guide cars through the milling students.

"You can't park there, fat guts," yelled one student to a cop who parked his car on the wrong side of the road. At this time there were four police cars and one traffic car present.

McGrath made a plea for students to make way for a taxi bearing people going to a funeral. This was responded to favourably and immediately.

No Arrest

On the arrival of the cops some radicals yelled out "arrest McGrath" but this did not achieve the arrest of the president of the students' association by the police.

Shortly before 2 o'clock McGrath called on students to leave.

He said the point had been made. Other students supported his plea and the students gradually dispersed.

More militant students called for a new protest in two weeks' time.

Some Results

Meanwhile students' association moves towards a solution seemed to be producing some results.

The Kelburn Progressive Association, which has supported the student call for action on the corner, has re-iterated its support, and other community bodies are studying the matter.

Chances that finance may be available for an overbridge are understood to have improved slightly, although the erection of such a bridge would be a long way off yet.

Proposals for the erection of warning signs have been made to the City Council. Mr. McGrath told Salient that he is optimistic that these will be erected shortly.

• Exec members and police confer.

Exec members and police confer.

Incidents

One Woman rang the students' association to say that her car had been scratched by demonstrators. She refused offers of compensation, saying that she was not complaining.

A Driver of a van tried to get through the demonstration by wielding a spanner outside his window. Demonstrators surrounded his van, took his spanner from, him, and rocked his van hard for a short while before letting him through.

Police were uniformly co-operative and good-humoured. In the only incident, a young policeman who tried to "get tough" was told to desist by a superior.

Press And Police cars contributed to the jam by parking on the middle of the roadway.