Exec. Financially Befuddled

The financial policy of the new Executive appears to have no consistent basis.

At the first meeting on June 27, it was asked to consider a proposal by Cultural Affairs Officer Murray Rowlands on a series of lectures about New Zealand politics, art and literature. These would be held approximately each fortnight in the Little Theatre. Rowlands suggested certain well-known and respected people be asked to participate. He included in his list of possibles, Professor Pocock of Canterbury and M. H. Holcroft, editor of the Listener.

Ex-Treasurer Harris (now Sports Officer) dragged in a red herring when he maintained that the last Executive had a financial policy which implied that all such ventures be self supporting. Rowlands objected to charging admission to lectures and suggested the Association should cover any expenses involved in bringing outside lecturers to Wellington.

It is hard to understand why the new Executive allowed themselves to be dominated by the policy of their predecessors. If they considered a particular case deserved support they should not have concerned themselves with what had been done before.

Later in the evening, they agreed to pay the losses incurred by the Science Faculty Ball despite the fact that this function had nothing to do with the Students Association. It had made its losses before asking for assistance. Last year's financial policy (which had been successfully invoked previously) was against this.

It was argued that the Science Faculty Ball deserved support because it "fostered good relations between staff and students '. But this support is hardly consistent with the rejection on financial grounds of a plan to invite outside speakers to Victoria.

We hope the Executive will show more attention to principal if similar questions arise in the future.

D.P.W.