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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 30, No. 14. 1967.

Letters to the editor

page 18

Letters to the editor

Sports article was rubbish

Sirs,—The article by your Sports Editor Russell Fairbrother on the non-selecton of Williment for the All Black tour is just absolute rubbish. To maintain that Williment is the victim of circumstances is correct, but the plain fact is that he is an established match-winner, and the New Zealand public wants their team to win!

The All Blacks have reached the top by hard work and playing their own brand of rugby. The backs have always been efficient and capable of fine play when the opportunity has arisen, so to expect our boys to run the ball from anywhere on the field is asking for trouble for that's what will have to be done. there is no other method for getting points!

I'm not quibbling about McCormack's selection, he deserves to go for he is a very good player in his own right. However, at best he is only a fair goalkicker and to maintain that the All Blacks go away with five established goalkickers (as does R. Fairbrother) is just idiotic.

Who are they... I'd like to know? Kember and Herewini are capable 'club kickers' from 30 yards range... who could the other two be. maybe Meads and Gray? Good heavens, all the 'kickers' in the team couldn't kick the skin off a rice pudding compared with Williment! The plain fact remains that after always condemning other countries for their paucitv of goalkickers N.Z. for the first time in history goes away incapable of match-winning goalkicking.

Williment is a proven player in all departments of the game. Everybody knows his capabilities, so to omit him from the side on the basis of a couple of not-so-good trial games is not only grossly unfair, but sheer rugby suicide. As the English Press stated 'N.Z. has cut off its right arm', and that's it in a nutshell.

Make no mistake about it— the N.Z. public wants our boys to win—and there are going to be a lot of dismayed and angry people around when the 'truth' becomes known. I have no doubt that the games we will lose (and there will be enough of them) will be due entirely to the lack of a goalkicker of the Williment class.

John Mehl.

Oh Woe!

Sirs,—Once again the petty tyrant has struck! This time it was him personally who, casually joking in his customary manner, tore down from the romanesque pillars of our most revered eatinghouse, the sage election axiom of his present charlady Miss Helen Paske.

Oh Woe! what has become of our friendly Student Union, where caretakers are obliged to consult with their overlord before answering the simple bidding of the humble employers.

Oh Woe! When the shrill twittering of fluted pipes to the tune of "crescus bananus" must be stilled for the mandane shatter of dentures in half-eaten plates. After the rising of how few more moons shall we even be unable venture a-tip-toe into the sacred precincts of the Mighty, for fear to waken his mid-morn nap. We have risen before. We shall rise again! For shame! How will the Mighty fall!

John S. Hales.

Lawrence on Macaroni bore

Sirs, —Although I am not a candidate for International Affairs Officer in the forthcoming elections I desire very much to write a short answer to the question whether macaroni should have a standardised bore. I have been very bored by this question for a number of years. I find macaroni one of the most boring things in life. The one thing that has bothered me, however, is that I am not uniformly bored by it. Being somewhat a connoisseur of boredom. I realise that nirvana in the boredom cult cannot be reached until that perfect bordom is attained like the consistency of Singhalese Yoghurts.

Macaroni is nothing like the consistency of Singhalese Yoghurt. Short, fat and soft or long, thin and hard, it is simply not consistent at all. Oh, there was a time when I could take it or leave it. when one plate of macaroni meant pretty much the same as any other. But now, do you know that I sometimes get down on my knees in the middle of the bathtub full of beautiful macaroni and, well, caress

(cont'd P.95)

R. Suffield De Laurent VII.

Education needed

Sirs, —Last night (25/9/67) there was a fire alarm in the R.B. Building. The alarm bell rang for two minutes before anyone in our section of the library even moved and most people waited until they were told to move out. Why, then. did we install a fire alarm?

In the event of any alarm one would expect a rapid, orderly evacuation managed by a trained staff, as you can see in any primary school today. Have we an evacualion plan and have the staff been trained to execute it?

It is plain that we all need education and practice in so far as fire evacuation of buildings is concerned. Even 50 or so notices stating the length of a test alarm and evacuation instructions, placed in prominent positions throughout the building would be better than nothing.

The other point was that after two or three minutes outside in the cold, people moved back into the foyer. A fireman had to shoulder his way through the crowd to reach the stairs.

This will not do!

I know that student apathy has a lot to do with this problem but I think something should be done to help avert another farce like last night.

W.D.R.