RHODES SCHOLAR CHOICE

Taranaki Daily News, 1 August 1931, Page 5

RHODES SCHOLAR CHOICE

CONSULTATION OF STUDENTS. TARANAKI MAN4S APPOINTMENT. Mr. H. M. Thomson, New Plymouth, president of the Canterbury College Students’ Association, has been appointed by the College Professorial Board to sit with the selection committee of the board when it considers the claims of Canterbury applicants for the 1932 Rhodes Scholarships. In the past students have urged that too often the claims of the candidate they have recommended have been overlooked by the professors, who have been concerned with scolastic attainments rather than active participation in college life. As official head of the students of his college, Mr. Thomson is the most suitable man for this position, writes a correspondent of the Daily News, and his selection is regarded as a popular one in student circles. Last year the Otago University Professorial Board made a step in th® right direction by co-opting a representative of the Students’ Association. Students now have the privilege of knowing that their views will be put forward officially, and will thus have a. greater chance of receiving recognition. Under the new system the staff will retain full controlj but the students can put forward their side of the question through their representative, who will act - in an advisory capacity. Since the qualifications for Rhodes scholarships are not merely scholastic, the side of a candidate’s character observed by his fellow students should be as important as that known to the members of the staff. Mr. Thomson, who has been at Canterbury College during the last six years, is finishing an engineering course. He has been a member during this time of Rolleston House, the college residential hostel, of which he was president last year. Besides taking a keen interest in all college sporting and social activities, Mr. Thomson has played for the senior A team this season and should gain a “blue.” Another Taranaki student who takes a keen interest in varsity sporting and administrative circles is Mr. John Sargent, B.Sc., Hawera, who is the present secretary of the Students’ Association.