President

During the May holidays two important events took place which will directly affect students, that is, the International Students' Congress and May Council. It is interesting to compare the two, for though they have slightly different functions, they dealt with essentially the same problems - student involvement.

The International Students' Congress was attended mostly by Malaysian students and participants from Polynesia, Africa and New Zealand. The congresses are always highly enjoyable with an atmosphere of closeness and unity that is not often experienced in other student gatherings.

The strength and unity of the Congress was a product of an intense programme of social, sporting and cultural gatherings and political discussion. It is with an increased understanding, not only of ourselves and one another, but also of the society outside that unity really can be won.

But the Congress, like Council, had to work out a strategy for involving other overseas students who did not attend the Congress in this year's campaigns.

This year's May Council has been dubbed "the Council of compromise"; most constituents realised that unity was crucial if NZUSA was to combat the three withdrawl motions. Thus the important changes to the structure and voting procedures were voted on unanimously. Though the Council presented the strongest and most united front for some time, it still did not effectively tackle the problem of student involvement.

Delegates to the Education Commission threw out the idea of yet another bursaries march in the second or third term, but did not replace this form of student involvement wi with any other. It seems to me that not only NZUSA but all the local constituent Associations and student bodies, such as NOSAC, are going to have to look very closely at new ways of involving their students.

This often means confronting political issues rather than avoiding them for fear of alienating students. It also means a more novel form of student involvement, for example, spontaneous marches and pickets. Finally, it will mean taking up issues that are of direct relevance to students.

Lindy Cassidy