BOARD WANTED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26379, 6 February 1947, Page 6

BOARD WANTED

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ANNUAL QUEST BEGINS LITTLE ACCOMMODATION OFFERING Only a few weeks remain before the university year begins, and already students requiring accommodation in Dunedin are commencing the annual search for lodgings, furnished rooms, or flats. Their task is likely to be even more difficult this year than it was 12 months ago when a record number of students was enrolled at the University of Otago. The only consolation for them is that while the accommodation position throughout New Zealand has been steadily deteriorating in the past few years the search is considerably more difficult in northern centres than it is in Dunedin. One reason for the poorer outlook for student accommodation in Dunedin is that several old-established boarding houses which have catered for students in past years have closed down. The Rev.. H. W. Turner, who is registrar of lodgings for the University Council, told an Otago Daily Times reporter yesterday that he had been informed that four places which in the past had accommodated a total of 30 students had ceased to take boarders. Only a few places taking two or three students each were starting so that the position had deteriorated from last year. Accommodation at hostels would be much the same as last year, Mr Turner stated, although a few more students would be taken this year at Carrington Hall where new huts had been erected. Hostel Extensions Proposals have been” considered for extensions to hostels in Dunedin, but no additional accommodation will be available for some time to come. Plans were considered for additions to Selwyn College but a permit for the new building was refused. Proposals to carry out extensions to Arana Hall .have also been held up, and the new centennial buildings planned for Knox College will not be ready for some years to come. Littlebourne House will again house 18 students, including six married couples, this year.

Mr Turner stated that flats were proving more difficult than ever to obtain. He had between 30 and 40 married ex-servicemen students waiting for flats, apart altogether from other applications. In some cases, both husband and wife *had been in the services, some for over six years. The only improvement in the situation was that Stuart House had been converted into flats that would 1 accommodate six married students. It appeared that married students Would always figure among university enrolments and would have to be considered. This tendency was noticeable in overseas universities as well as in New Zealand for the scope of university teaching was widening. More Serious in North

While the problem of finding accommodation for students was a serious one in Dunedin, it was probably more acute in the three northern university centres, Mr Turner stated. In fact, far more 'had been done in this city to overcome the shortage of accommodation than in any of the northern cities. Virtually nothing had been done in Christchurch and the problem had not been tackled in Wellington to any extent. A war hostel at Woburn, Lower Hutt, was affording accommodation for a few students but it was a considerable distance from the University. In Auckland the position was even more serious, Mr Turner, said. Auckland University College had the highest enrolment of students in New Zealand and it had little in the way of hostels for them. A former nurses’ home of the United States Army at Avondale had . been taken over to house 54 students and at the Training College 100 male students had been accommodated in. army huts ; in the grounds. The hostels providing accommodation for students in Dunedin were filling a great need, Mr Turner stated. They had been established on a permanent basis and were performing, an excellent service. While flats and lodgings were difficult to obtain in Dunedin, the situation was not nearly so serious as in the north. That, did not mean, he added, that there was not a great need for the public to offer whatever possible in the way of accommodation for students. The University was an important asset to the city and should be assisted. The provision of board for visiting students was a problem which the public could help to solve. A similar position exists with regard to Training College students who are finding it extremely difficult to find full board on the salary they receive. A large number of women students still require board and it. is felt that the only avenues offering are m 1 private homes where their difficult plight is realised and where there is a willingness to assist.