Gryphon 1957 - Adm.monash.edu.au

haps, you say, spa ce travel is now areal ity and the population has dispersedto other celestial bod ies , thus re lievingthe crowded conditions on earth. Thensurely great space ports would loom upwhere the gigantic liners (needed totransport these people) could berth.But no ; up untiI now we have seen nomen. Wait. Is not that the tramp offeet? Yes , somebody is approaching andsome strange fo rce tells us that this isone of the people of Australia in 2000AD. The person rounds a tree andcomes into s ight. No , it can't be . Butit is: yes, a Cove Man . . .?J. Darn, SA• Co-Education in SchoolsBy co-ed uca tion in schools, I pre sume the question refers to schoolsthat teach students between the ages when they (eave primary school andwhen they attend university .First let us consider the problem fromthe natural point of view, namely thatmen and women work side by s ide in thisage. They go to primary school together,they go to university together; why thenthis unnatural separation during thesecondary yeors of school ing ?When faced with th is question thosewho d isagree with co- education usuallylamely say that boys and g irls are taughtdifferent th ing s, or that girls maturequicker than boys during th is period. Butlet us consider the q ues t ion in anotherlight; do students themselves wont coeducationor nor?Surely this is a factor of pr ime importance,but one thot receives ve rylittle, if any consideration . Far too manyadults dismiss the op inions of thosedirectly concerned, calling them children'sideos and therefore of little consequence.Then they proceed with theirpet theories obout co-education beingthe cause of the ove r-fam iIiarity of theyo ung, say that the country would become" Iike America" with all its sordidcri me so They tend to forget, however,that the incidents they read of in thepapers are those that are unusual andnot really representative of the wholecommunity.Those people, however, who are decidedly for co-ed uca tion, argue that co ­education helps to remove shyness ofpeople in their deal ings with the oppositesex, helps them to see the other sex'spoint of view and thus promotes a happyand harmonious relationship betweenmale and female. Another questionoften brought up is the effect on thebehaviour of students that co-educationhas. Some argue that in a co-ed uca ti ona lsituation students would behove betterand show more interest in school life , inan attempt to create a good imp ression.Others say that the students tend to" show off ," by exh ibiting insubordination and insolence. But the type who isattracted to people of th is calibre willusually meet them in other, perhapsmore unsavoury cond it ions. and thereforethe a rgument falls down.From the above evidence it should beclear that students should have the opportunityto take either type of education,but should be given advice whenmoking the decision and reminded thatthe subject should not be t reated lightlyor flippantly.J. DORN, SA• THREE GOOD BOOKSAlthough we may read many booksIn a lifetime, we occasionally comeacross one wh ich we feel "hits home"more than the others. Three such booksore named below. The first could bedescribed as the fir st history book everwritten." He rod otus" is a very fasc inating , intriguing and info rma ti ve book. It isinteresting because it prov ides a firsthandknowledge of ancient Greece andher ne ighbouring countries, for theauthor himself lived in those times.39