Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 37, No. 6. April 10, 1974
Exec. Excitement
Exec. Excitement
Black Budget
The Students Association's budget for 1974 to be presented it the AGM will feature cutbacks in several areas of spending. The drop in the student roll has caused a corresponding drop in income. This will result in cuts to donations, cultural activities and sports activities.
Inflation has caused increases in a number of levies such as New Zealand Students Arts Council. This cost has not been passed on to Studass fees which at $25.50 are quite high enough already.
Clubs such as the cricket club, which receive more in grants than their members pay in fees, have a bleak future unless some quick work is done to stack the AGM.
Apathetic students who don't care how their money is spent are responsible for this situation No doubt they will once again vote with their arses.
Yippies Resurrected
Among the other affiliation applications considered by Tuesday's Executive meeting was one from the Loyal Dionysians.
This group seems to have been sucked in in the ravings of Melbourne University's wizard. This character is paid by the University of Melbourne Council to run a Department of Levity to divert student attention from real issues to having a fun-time as the pampered darlings of the bourgeoisie.
The usual scenario is the wizard turning up at a demo and throwing flour bombs. Instead of horrified bureaucrats calling the police they laugh and quietly retreat as the wizard diverts attention to his witty, inane and up-a-blind-alley ideology.
The Loyal Dionysians claimed to unaware of this aspect of the wizard's activities and promised to engaged in metaphysical opposition and debate with him.
Don Carson suggested that a debate be organised between Clarke Titman and the Wizard on the subject of the New Zealand flag.
Young Nats Are Back
A group of reactionary ginger-groupies have formed a clique which styles itself the National Party Club. Ardent Maoist Wilson moved that this group be affiliated and then proceeded to lecture them on how to obtain Studass grants. Current rumours have it that the Young Nats want to move out of cocktails and into politics—real bore eh what. Only member of the Executive to question the wisdom of affiliation was Don Carson who asked why the old National Party Club had not continued with I its demands for workers Soviets in New Zealand.
Zionism forum
A very lively debate between Zionists and Socialists marked the second Socialist Forum for 1974. Over 50 people were present to hear John Weiss, a local Zionist, outline the historical and religious roots of Zionism and how, looking at the historical treatment of the Jewish people, he saw the need for a Zionist Israel.
George Fyson of the Socialist Action League, explained the role of Zionism as a watch-dog for imperialism in the Middle-East and how the separate Zionist state had been set up for just this purpose. He explained that the answer to anti-semitism and to the fate of the Jewish people in Palestine was an allegiance between the Jewish and Arab masses against capitalism—in other words against the Zionist state of Israel—and that this is what the Palestinian Liberation Movement put forward.
The next topic to be discussed at a Socialist Forum will be the development and aims of the Pensioners Association with the president of the association, Mr McComish, speaking. This forum will be held on April 19 at 8.15 pm in the tennis pavilion in Salamanca Road.
—Peter Bradley