University Women To Meet In City

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28794, 15 January 1959, Page 2

University Women To Meet In City

About 80 delegates and observers from many parts of New Zealand and two from I Australia will - attend the eleventh triennial conference of the New Zealand Federation of University Women, to be held at Helen Connon Hall next week. This number may be increased, as the Dominion secretary (Mrs P. D. Shea) is still taking registrations for observers. The conference will be opened by the'Mayor of Christchurch (Mr George Manning) next Wednesday evening. It will close on January 27. The New Zealand federation is affiliated to the International Federation of University Women, which has a membership of 185,000 in 49 countries. It was founded in London in 1919 by a group of university women from Britain, Canada and the United States to promote understanding and friendship between university women of the world, irrespective of race, religion or political opinions. The aims of the founders were to further Interests of university women and to develop between their countries sympathy and mutual helpfulness. Conference Theme

The theme of next week’s conference will be South America. “We felt that South America is becoming increasingly important to New Zealand—as South-east Asia has,” said the Dominion president of the federation (Mrs W. Grant) last evening. “There is little authentic information available on South America and at first we had the utmost difficulty in getting material or books

about it written in English.- But after casting out nets very widely, we have obtained sufficient information for our present needs.”

Each branch of the New Zealand federation has been studying one South American country and at the conference all papers on the subject will be dealt with in forums. Remits for Discussion Remits to be discussed include a request to the Senate of the University of New Zealand for adequate hostel accommodation in the development of the university. Another asks for a more flexible grading system to be granted to married women teachers who have returned to the profession after raising families. The federation should press for service on juries to be compulsory for women as for men, another remit says. Provision for the recognition of

infanticide as a statutory crime in the Crimes Bill is also sought in a remit. This remit is the outcome of discussions on the Crimes Bill by public affairs committees of branches in the federation during the last year.

urauciies m uie xcucmuuu ummg the last year. Entertainment During the conference most of the delegates will live at Helen Connon Hall Dr. Mary Harding, as president of the Canterbury branch, has arranged for the hostess at Helen Connon Hall to be Mrs M. Muir. Dr. Elizabeth Flint has been appointed transport officer. Members of the Canterbury branch will hold a cocktail party on the evening of January 24 to entertain delegates and observers. On January 25 they will take the visitors for a bus drive and afternoon tea at Sumner. In the evening a buffet tea will be held at the home of Miss I. F. Milnes. The Dominion executive's entertainments include a reception on January 21 and a bus trip to Tai Tapu, through Gabbies' Pass to the Takahe for supper on January 26.