The Bottom?

—As a spectator at the Easter Tournament, I had the opportunity to observe many of the sports and also had the doubtful honour of hearing the presenter of trophies say, "And the wooden spoon is again won by Victoria."

Why should Vic. always be at the bottom of everything? This is not true for all sports, but it is so near that the difference doesn't matter.

I think that the borer that will no doubt feed one day on our wooden spoon are already feasting amply on our student organisations. Have you looked at the notice boards lately? How many freshly drawn illustrated posters have we got—precious few. In their place our clubs lake the easy way out and use a typewritten poster. How uninspiring to freshers coming into a new life. Slightly above this level is the illustrated poster drawn to get cracking.

I commence by deploring the state of Vic's sporting showing at Tournament and have devoted most of my space to criticising the notice board.

Vic. is not a small university—it should be able to produce the equivalent number of competitors, yet everywhere I went I saw the same thing—a small group who were up to standard and the remainder well below. I believe that if all the students who compete in Wellington in sports joined our clubs then our standing would increase immeasurably. And how are we going to persuade all our students to compete for us? By showing them that our clubs have something to offer and that we have a lively, well organised group.

Club secretaries, yours is a responsibility far beyond the normal conception of your position. It is in your hands whether Vic. makes up its leeway or whether we drift for another year in the doldrums.

We cannot hope to recover in one year, but at least we can be in a position to look back and say: 1958 was the turning point.