Salient sedate

Sirs,—Salient's sedate appearance on campus has now been accepted by most students. Once every two weeks it takes a 30-minute life. In an insect-like action it moves from the Salient box to the Caf table and then into the rubbish bin. During this short life students glean new facts which form the basis of the next two weeks' anecdotes around the campus.

Already the whole atmosphere on campus places too high a value on the role of learning of facts without stressing the need for even a minimum of thought. If Salient were run by the administration and staff its acquiescence to bourgeois respectability would be tolerable. However, when its role could be that of a stimulant, students should not accept the very inadequate substitute.

Though in the last few years Salient has been in capable hands and has developed an efficient and honest reporting system, not enough thought has been given to its basic purpose. What is needed is a force which will stand up and expound ideas and opinions on the issues which face us in our material and our ethical surroundings.

Far greater emphasis should be put on comment, which will not merely be regurgitated, but which will cause people to question conventional beliefs, discuss among themselves and think problems through to an independent conclusion.

I would recommend to both Editors and Students that they have a look at "Lot's Wife" and other Australian Student Newspapers. What do we students want from our educational system, what developments are mooted in legal reform—the problems and future of our society should be considered. If at a university this process of individual thought is not fostered then it will never flourish in a society, and if the mass media neglect the fostering of this thought then society is betrayed.