HAVE IDEAS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20291, 28 April 1934, Page 11

HAVE IDEAS.

UNDERGRADUATES REPLY TO PROFESSOR. Not Devoid of Thought. SAY DEBATING CLUB IS KNITTING CIRCLE. Arc -he undergraduates of Canterbury College the “ old men ” of the institution, devoid of signs of thought, and -without any enthusiasm for fresh ideas ? Professor F. Sinclaire said they were, when speaking as chairman at a debate of the College’s Dialectic Society last night. This morning a representative selection of undergraduates replied that they were not, and said it with no uncertain voice. Both in the remarks of Professor Sinclaire and in the replies of the students there was something of the facetious; but underlying it all there was a lot of relevant and interesting comment on the outlook of the student of the present day. Undergraduates spending their Saturday morning at the Students’ Union building were only too pleased to comment on Professor Sinclaire’s statement, which had already aroused considerable discussion. At the request of a reporter, one of their leaders invited a number of undergraduates into one of the common rooms, where a vigorous debate on the question, “ Are undergraduates senile?” was soon in full swing. Knitting-circle Debates. “ Students hold more radical views than members of the staff,” declared one young man. “ Because we don’t rise in the public forum at the dialectic debates, which, by the way, are terribly dull, that does not mean that we are not progressive in thought. The art of public speaking has gone to pot and the debates have become insignificant, in fact, something of a knittingcircle.” “ Anything held in the Little Theatre is damned,” agreed another student, who advanced the view that the progress of the student newspaper, Canta,” was unassailable evidence that there was at least a proportion of the students who had progressive ideas. The paper was thrown open for the expression of students’ ideas and the correspondence columns had drawn contributions from the most unexpected sources. Over Spilt Sugar. Other eager participants in the impromptu discussion were anxious to contribute, and harked back to che College debates, for which they also expressed some contempt. “ The most intelligent discussions in the College take place oyer the spilt sugar in the tea-room,” said one of them. “ A debate is no criterion of intellect and progression of thought,” said another . ‘ When a man speaks in a debate he has got to invest himself with false logic and oratorical pomposity, and, as a rule, he is not speaking from conviction.” Dealing with Professor Sinclaire’s remark about the poor attendance at debates, a student said that last night all the intelligent students were at a College dance, which had attracted them much more than the otner fixtuTe - Another point about attendance at debates was the time factor. Many of the most intellectual students at the College were teaching or working at tne same time as they followed their studies at the university. They had no time for debates. Staff Criticised. “ Sinclaire suggests we are senile, does he ” growled a voice from the corner of the room. “If anyone in this institution is senile it is the staff. YoYx can tell that by the way they do their jobs. They carry on in just the same way as in the glorious days of last century when the College was founded. Look at the way they cling to the old lecture system. The method in wmch Terms’ are awarded is an anachronism, and it is time the whole examination system was scrapped. “ Let me tell you,” added the student wagging an impressive finger and warming to his theme, “ Professor Sinclaire *f T the °nly progressive man we have. Never mind his criticism last night. As *f r as . a section of the student body is concerned it may be well founded. Sinclaire is doing his best for us He is trying to extend the tutorial system, and although he is, as yet, only a voice crying in the wilderness, he is a man who will have to be listened to," Another student took up the thread of the discussion. “ It’s all rot expecting first-years to have ideas about anything,” he protested. “ They come straight from schools where they are not encouraged to have ideas.” A voice: “Not allowed, you mean." Another voice: “Well, who is allowed r Tribute to Mr Lawn. Unperturbed by the interruptions, the speaker added that he thought Mr G. Lawn was another member of the staff with valuable, progressive ideas. He exercised more influence than any other lecturer and had done much for the students. An older student said that the stunei?were greatly misunderstood. The public was apt to judge them from tfieir annual appearance in the streets home business people were actually hostile to them. Yet it could not be gainsaid that students had become more thoughtful and politically and socially aware during the last three or four years. “ Perhaps it is because the depression has found its way into the college, suggested one. “Materialism does have a deep spiritual effect.” Some Feel Hurt. One group of undergraduates took “?*. e to draft a reply to the professor, which real:—

' Vhil f we agree with Professor oinclaire s statement that free speech is a good thing, we cannot help feeling a little hurt in our pride that he should think that we have left our infancy far behind and reached senility—sans teeth, sans everything. If attending the Dia-,e/'tIC.SOCI-ety ’ S meetings is a means of attaining to a complete life, ™ eU r - ' u s Sir T - Perc y Munn has so cryptically put it, ‘ what is com--5l e J? h l i vu % , for A ma y be spiritual death for B. How true. “We are intensely sorry that Professor Sinclaire should have noticed a lack of ideas among his students but we would recommend

that he waits till the procession. There should be ideas there, though one should not believe all that one sees at the procession. “That the teaching staff is hot headed we already know. It IS hardly possible that all the rumOurS we have heard are untrue. What parties! That Professor Sinclaire should see no signs of thought among his students, especially during lectures, is not surprising. “After all. one must sleep sometimes. “We agree, however, that it is cruel that there is no freedom 0f thought among the teaching staff. We would love them to be free to do What they like in the way of dress, for instance. How much more interesting the lectures would be if we all arrived in fancy dress. We could even have a reporter there to chronicle that the whole party returned home tired but happy. "\Vhat jolly places the lecture rooms would be if both students and professors were allowed freedom of expression ! ” The Feminine View. “Obviously," said a woman undergraduate when approached on the subject, “I am not one of the old men of the institution. “Because one doesn't think along Professor Sinclaire’s lines it does not follow that one does not think at all." she continued. “ I agree with the part about freedom of speech, but I do not think Professor Sinclaire should worry. He says what he likes whenever he likes. The professors are a pretty up-to-date set, really." The charge of senility met with a stern and indignant denial. The lastwto be approached was a City man who was an undergraduate himself not so very long ago, and who, though not officially connected with the College, sees something of the students. _ “ They are all right,” he said without a moment’s hesitation. “ The public is too apt to judge them by their procession, which is an outing for them when all is said and done, It is not often that they are accused of having no ideas. Generally they are censured for too advanced ideas. After all, a man is not worth much unless he is a. socialist in his youth and a conservative in his old age." . (Professor Sinclaire’s statements are reported on Page 30 of this issue.)