Student ‘Fringe Dwellers’

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30531, 28 August 1964, Page 11

Student ‘Fringe Dwellers’

(Special Crspdt. N.Z.P.A.) SYDNEY, Aug. 27. University students in private lodgings away from university hostels often became vulnerable to the temptations of drink, pep pills and, in extreme cases, drug peddlers, the conference of Australian Universities was told this week. The student counsellor of the University of Melbourne, Mr R. R. Priestly, said the temptations of liquor and drugs were largely attribut-

able to the social isolation in which the students lived. “This often affects their studies and their ability to look after and feed themselves adequately. The outcome is a group of ‘fringe dwellers.’ Because of such things as undernourishment, minor ailments, weariness, boredom and home-sickness, these students lose their capacity to respond in an active way to the challenges of undergraduate life,” he said. Mr Priestly said the term “lodgings” covered a wide range of accommodation from full board with private families to single rooms and flats. In Melbourne most student lodgings fell far short of the desired standards. Many were ill-lit and dingy, and had inadequate power outlets so that rooms became dangerously festooned with k

electrical leads. “All in all, the picture is of a student cooped up in his cosy cell, floral wall to wall carpet on the floor, trying to study against the landlady’s television set blaring through the wall. He tries to isolate himself effectively from the rest of the household, who have little understanding of his needs, and is a mile away from the nearest student lodger and more from the university.” Mr Priestly and other speakers called for the provision of further student accommodation by university in or near campuses. The long-term plan, he said, was for university communities to be grouped around the universities. Student housing should be considered as part of the general development of the university, he said.