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Salient. Victoria University of Wellington Student's Newspaper. Volume 31, Number 5. April 2 1968

They Both Want To Be Secretary: Elections

page 13

They Both Want To Be Secretary: Elections

• John Lenart

• John Lenart

Aged 21, John Lenart is a 4th year student doing a B.A., LLB., majoring in English. He has been a member of several clubs from cards to debating, and is at present on the Committees of the Cards Club, Catholic Society and Debating Society; he has also had experience on 3 sub-committees, Education, International Affairs and Public Relations.

Policy

(1) Bursaries—To press for an increase in bursaries. These were last increased in 1965 and if we are to have a reasonable chance for an increase in 1969 a documented case must be prepared now.

(2) Student Representation—To press for an increase in Student representation in University affairs. There are distressing signs that the student body is becoming alienated from the University, and this trend must be reversed. Students have a legitimate place to decide on questions such as language requirements for B.A.'s etc.

(3) Bookshop—If the negotiations between the University and the City Council should fail the Students Association should take direct action on the matter—The idea of a bookshop has been tossed around for 27 years and decisive action must be taken if the situation is to be remedied. At the moment Victoria is the only major University without a bookshop.

Academic salaries—To press for higher salaries. Although students can play only a limited part in Academic salaries they should be concerned as the salary structures in this country tends to lower the standard of lecturers, hence the standard of our degrees. We must ensure that our degrees do not become valueless.

• Paul J. Wedderspoon

• Paul J. Wedderspoon

Paul J. Wedderspoon is 22 years old, a fourth generation New Zealander, a second year law student, and has served in the New Zealand Regular Army. Born in Wellington and educated at Hamilton Boys' High School, he stood in the Palmerston North by-election last year.

Policy

(1) Opposition to executive involvement in outside political organisations;

(2) Vigorous pursuit of government assistance to students experiencing financial hardship;

(3) Investigation into the possibility of reducing the Students' Association fee;

(4) Opposition to injudicious expenditure and exposure of it where necessary to all students;

(5) Emphatic support for New Zealand combatant action in Vietnam to stop Communist aggression on its own breeding ground;

(6) That material matters concerning student welfare take precedence over ideological motions;

(7) That when Executive condemns the Rhodesian Government for hanging murderers it also expresses its sympathy for the relatives.

(8) Insistence on the political impartiality of Salient.

[Salient has never been politicallly impartial. It certainly will not be impartial while I am editor—ed.]

Also nominated were Maxwell Taylor, whose consent had not been obtained, Barrie Saunders, who wishes to withdraw in favour of John Lenart, and Wally Fortesque, who has been excluded on the grounds that he is not a member of the Students' Association. There is some doubt as to his having been human. However, the obituary below was received by the Salient office on Thursday.

Walter Josiah Fortesque died today, a victim of the beaurocracy that he has so long opposed.

All right-thinking conservatives will sadly grieve his lamentable and untimely political, social, and economic demise from the fields of endeavour to higher service.

His "you worship the water I walk on" ideal has moved many of his closest friends to a strong devotional attitude. The zeal with which he has counted the religious vote has not gone amiss in higher academic circles.

His ability to build political castles from the bricks of his ancestral hearth enabled him to financial stability from the wavering support of previous political adventures.

Owing to his ability to compromise the left with the right, and the hard core of support which has been afforded him by his many liberal-leaning flatmates, he has managed to amass a large quantity of information useful to the security of this country.

One who has walked with so many different crusades from so many different points of view, under so many different slogans creating true Marxist synthesis between martial conservatism and the beauty of Machiavellian megalomania, would have been destined to attain the citadels of the Tin Gods.

In the words of the Fathers: "He who rambles in the paths of darkness Not unto him the power, But he who believes in the spirit of tongues Shall attain eternal satisfaction."

Had he been with us to the final test, he would have shown the forcefulness of character, independence of spirit and clearsightedness of vision that would grace any right-thinking reactionary-radical — but Fortesque is dead.