Our Image

Sir—I could hardly believe my ears when I tuned in to "Saturday Miscellany" once at the end of July. The president of the Student Teachers" Association, Victoria University, was expounding his views on student behaviour, doing more damage to the student image in five minutes than our best politicians could manage in half an hour. With wide-eyed innocence he allowed the interviewer to coax from him words to the effect that most students who joined demonstrations were there simply to have a good time, that they have just bought a duffle coat and are trying frantically to grow a beard in order to accord with the image because it is the "thing to do" and that students like to hide behind the collective identity, each thinks he won't be the one to get caught for irresponsible behaviour and so the ones at the back start the pushing and disorder in demonstrations.

I realise that such comments do wonders for the personal image of the speaker, and that he at least will now have rubbed out all traces of the nasty smear "student" by promising that he proposes to be a respectable citizen, in spite of what the others do. But can't these clean-cut students disassociate themselves from the rest without condemning their behaviour in best goody-goody style? I'm sure that Parliament on a certain wet, cold Wednesday was the last place to enjoy oneself, and after all the origns of the duffle coat and construction workers parka fashions were their economical prices, tailored to fit the bursaries which Mr. McKinnon seems to think are alireadv too high. Maybe loyalty is old fashioned, but surely no student should push his own image by feeding the public a scruffy picture of the restl