Panel Backs Hall For Students’ Home

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30145, 31 May 1963, Page 2

Panel Backs Hall For Students’ Home

A university women’s panel which discussed the\ merits of various types of student accommodation on Wednesday was generally in agreement that living in a hall of residence had most points in its favour; it

allowed that in some i or living in a flat had

instances private board advantages.

The public affairs committee of the Canterbury branch of the Federation of University Women is making a study of the conditions under which university students live, and last evening’s panel discussion was a preliminary to the study of the subject. With Mirs J. J. Saunders as chairman, the panel was: Mr G. Shouksmith (warden of Rolleston House), Dr. J. Soons (warden of Connon Hall), Mrs G. P. Blackburne (boarding bursar), Miss Jenny Cutter (women’s vice-presi-

dent of the University of Canterbury Students’ Association) , Mr Simon Martin (men’s vice-president). The panel was asked to discuss whether students would: get more work done; lead a more sober and ordered existence; get a greater measure of guidance and supervision than if living at home; be more comfortable, better fed and clean; and would get best value for money, if they lived in private lodgings, in a flat with other students, or in a hall of residence. Study Incentive Both Mr Martin and Miss Cutler agreed that working with other students often proved an incentive to study. Miss Cutler said that although, in a well-run flat, conditions for study and general living were good, she felt that some students living on their own did not feed themselves properly. A certain amount of time was also taken up with domestic chores and housekeeping. Regular hours in hall of residences made a routine of study easier, said Mr Martin. Also, the knowledge that a certain amount of supervision was being exercised over

their sons and daughters was a reassurance to many parents. In the right type of private home, a student might Haye maximum time for studying, and good board, said Mrs Blackburne. But sometimes people did not understand the amount of study a student had to do; or a young family might make conditions unsuitable.

Students might need guidance and supervision, but not the same kind as they would get at home, Mr Shouksmiiih

sand. He asked: “Don't you want them to adventure into, and experiment with life?” Life In Group White a good private home might offer them best conditions, there were other values of living in halls of residence. “What they can get out of living in a group is as valuable as what is learnt in the classroom. Membership of a group smaller than the university at large was a fine asset.” In a hall of residence, students were in a position to “experiment with life" but parents knew that they were under guidance, said Dr Soons. A hall of residence could be a background against which they could experiment, but always with the help of an older student or warden nearby it necessary. Two other topics discussed by the panel were:— “Who should be in charge of discipline in a students’ residence? The warden; a committee of students; a mixture of both?; “Could the rule followed in some other countries that j students under 21 may only live in licensed or approved lodgings be applied with advantage to the Universityi of Canterbury?” ■