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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 39, Issue 3. 15th March [1976]

Handbook Review — 1976 VUWSA Student Handbook

page 14

Handbook Review

1976 VUWSA Student Handbook

Emerging from the enrolment machine heavily laden with instruction sheets, lists of recommended reading and the expectations of my academic advisor, I wasn't looking forward to that last enrolment ritual, the obstacle course in the coffee-room. But I somehow managed to get myself informed about student welfare, the chaplaincy and the Rembuden Martial Arts Club and arrived home safely to find Handbook 76 among all the guff-sheets and pamphlets.

This year's handbook begins promisingly enough (there isn't one spelling mistake on the contents page), and the freckly - or is it pimply? - superwomen's balloon 'It's time to put things right" seems to indicate that Handbook 76 is going to be straightforward and informative, which is, after all, what one hopes for from such a publication. And to a certain extent it is: it's clearly set out, with good chapter headings and no fancy stuff except for a few not always apt illustrations, and most of the information seems to be correct.

There, however, the praise must end, for there are several faults which deserve mention. Firstly, and most obviously there are frequent and distressing errors; typesetting, spelling and layout, but neither VUWSA nor Ms Sacksen can be responsible for those.

Then, as already mentioned, the illustrations don't always relate to the text, and it's a pity there weren't more photographs (did the Vice Chancellor refuse to be photographed? And what happened to Tony Ward on Page 8?). Some shots of the Union staff, including one of the new caterer, on whom such high hopes are pinned, would have been welcome.

Throughout, with one or two exceptions, the authors of articles are not acknowledged. The small print inside the front cover gives us a list of names to be used, I supposed, for private entertainment in a 'match the author article' game. If we know who wrote what, it would be possible to attack someone specifically for wandering away from the point in particular articles, often in an attempt to encompass wider issues than those in hand. For example, in the notes on welfare services, by far the longest paragraph is devoted to 'General Comments'. Given that the aim of the Handbook must surely be to give straight information to enrolling students, these were somewhat out of place. However worthwhile those comments may be. Salient and S.R.C. are more suitable vehicles for their expression than Handbook.

Similarly, the article on assessment (It was actually about examinations) really went off the rails at the end with a call to revolution and the 'Liberation of Oppressed Nations". Certainly, since a reappraisal of the assessment system is necessary, the article was a welcome one, but the expressions used in it show that the editor has seen fit to overlook those standards which she should be setting and maintaining; standards of unbiased and informative notes on student life and affairs.

That brings one to the question of HART's coverage in Handbook. Not only was there a pamphlet about HART and the South African situation (published by NZUSA) inside the front cover of Handbook 76, but also an article on the subject printed inside. The article was considerably longer than any of those on the university union building, NZSAC and bursaries, all of which are of immediate concern to readers of Handbook, particularly to first-year students. While VUWSA and NZUSA's executives may see HART's activities as an issue which students cannot ignore, it would be well to remember that other issues: bursaries, the way the university works, survival within the system, and cultural and sporting activities are of equal or (dare I say?) greater importance to the individual student.

So, how does Handbook 76 measure up? On balance, pretty well. The complaint always goes out that nobody reads Handbook anyway, but for a work of general interest it more or less does what it should. Handbook 76 should be added to all lists of recommended reading for 1976.