Pilot issue This is the first edition of Gamut. It is a new and exciting concept for Brisbane- the first multi-campus newspaper. 11,300 copies of this pflot edition are being distributed at the Umversity of Queens- ^ QM9nsUnd'$ MufthCsmpus WWA/y NfmtMQet land, QIT, Griffith University, the Kelvin Grove CoUege of Advanced Education and lnt*wrM<''K4i^^-tr*fiomt! ».rf J/ Mi' Darling Dovms Institute of Advanced Education. Gamut wiU be appearing every Thursday. NegoUations arc being finalised with student unions to produce Gamut on a regular basis. AUS Editorial Collective Students seem to be upset about faction fights at AUS council. And there are even Students from all campuses will help to produce Gamut; a collective will meet charges of AUS seeing itself as a mini worid govemment. AUS can be effective in weekly to decide editorial policy. Communication students may get course credit for worid affairs-it has been effective in promoting the rights of oppressed peoples vrtiting news and features, and for doing layout and artwork. apart from students, eg the East Timorese and South African Blacks. Students have There will be three full-time staff: Mark Wolff, Ross Peake and Radha Rouse. traditionally been activists in that worid beyond their ivory towers and there is no We vwU work out of offices in the Students Union building at the Umversity of reason why they shouldn't be. It is only when natural and healthy conflict turns to Queensland. physical violence and intimidation as perpetrated by the Maoists and some right-- The student unions will fund Gamut on a proportional basis, according to the wnngere at 1977 annual coundl that we have to reassess where we, as a union, are number of copies required. heading, and how we are getting there. Our editorial policy will be non-doctrinaire. We will support oppressed and The Maoists arc known for their thuggery, and as a minority in AUS it is unfor­ minority groups, and give them more coverage than the established press is prepared to tunate that the monopoly press represents their actions as those of AUS as a whole. give. It is significant tliat the majority of delegates al Council passed a motion condemn­ ing violence in tiic student and workers movements. Highlighting student issues The actions of the right wing lobby in taking a distorted version of the threats The paper will concentrate on educational and student oriented issues. made against them by Maoists to the ever-eager monopoly press can only be seen as an Since Gamut will be Queensland's first weekly multi-campus newspaper, it will pro­ attack on AUS itself. They are the same people who in 1976 have put forward vide an excellent opportunity of following issues in depth. phony "reform" measures to AUS structure, which would effectively cripple the A multi-campus newspaper is logical and desirable. By combining resources and national union. energies, it will be possible to regulariy produce a newspaper which will keep Brisbane Similariy the statement attributed to one Maoist delegate following allegations of tertiary students informed. their thuggery that "if we aren't cleared of this we'll break the union" indicates It will enable groups to organise cross-campus meetings and co-ordinate times for that some left groups too take the continuation of AUS lightly. Obviously AUS should meetings and forums. not continue "at all costs," ie if its poHcies are stupid and ineffective-but to attempt The newspaper will need a lot of people who arc prepared to write stories, do lay­ to destroy a union because your group has been maligned demonstrates the worst of out, and generdly help. Come up to the office and see us soon, or ring on 371 1611. sectarianism. Free classified ads Obviously in an organisation as large as AUS there are going to be differences of Since Gamut is funded by students, it will provide free classified ads for all students opinion-the only way of resolving these differences democratically is to discuss them and student groups. Also we will list your group'? meeting or activities for free, ifyou on the council floor and then vole on them. Non-aligned students hear all sides ofthe let us know-what's happening. argument and vote to accept one side or their own proposals. Remember classified ads and notes on meetings have to be in by noon each Friday. DEFAMATION LAWS The student union link The fiasco of Queensland's defamation laws restricts meaningful comment on the A student newspaper is the main link between the students and their union. Every Cedar Bay committal proceedmgs by Gamut; and the uncertainty and conservat­ edition of Gamut will have one or two pages of union news and activities, exclusive to ism of many other editors leads them to publish only straight "news" coverage ofthe each campus. Any officer of the union will be able to contribute material, and space evidence. will be allocated so that everyone who wants to write can have regular space. Every student is free to write a letter to the paper on any topic. Gamut believes that the coverage ofthe proceeding? has been continually distorted. For a start, let your imion and us know what you think of student unions combin­ For instance, the evidence of one policeman was reported in a radio bulletin, but not ing to put out a multi-campus newspaper. until the last sentence was it revealed that the magistrate had pronounced the evidence We hope you will be as enthusiastic as many people already are, that you will as unreliable. support the concept, and that you will contribute in some vray towards the success Press reports liave been loaded with innuendo: one daily paper wrote that "a of Gamut. hippie" appearing in court wore a clean shirt and shorts. Once the defendants are committed to the Supreme Court for trial, assuming this occurs, there can be no further comment on the case. The raid on Cedar Bay and subsequent publicity brought out the use of the infamous stop writ, TDT received one for its report. It is well documented that only a handful of the hundreds of defamation writs issued each year in (Queensland are even brought up for court action. Journalists can tell of many cases where any media reporting or discussion of a topic has been silenced by a simple writ. Last yezr Semper Floreat received its first ever writ. This concemed an article alleg­ ing Premier Bjelke-Petersen's indirect shareholding in a construction company. The company took the unintended inference that the Premier's interest was responsible for it being granted State Govemment contracts. This was iiot the point, but simply that after the writ was served,5e/wper could not write anything on the topic phwoc Theiaws relating to defamation and libel have been long regarded as inadequate. Gamut has been toid that if the media proprietors waged a concerted campaign in the name of public information and interest, they could have had the laws amended. Hovrever it was suggested to Gamut that it was in the interests of the conservative press establishment not to have the degree of freedom that exists in America, and that a niaMt allowed a Watergate to be investigated and reported. There lies a vicious d:ck-Gamut can not comment on that allegation, due to the uncertainty of the law. $10 is all you'll pay The recent working paper on defamation laws should be studied by all interested That's every Tuesday, Wednesday and people, especially those working in the media. Thursday evenings for a 3 course It calls for uniform laws throughout Austraiia, and the abolition ofthe stop vmt by making all writ;: returnable within a short time. meal, booze ind. all the champers The present differences in defamation law throughout Australia discourage pub­ you can drinic .a«d an outrageous lishers from nationwide circulation of certain material. The Sunshine State would be new show ($12.80 Friday and Sat­ first tb restrict discussion. urday). See how Susan and Harry Dear Editors, .There's a vicious story around helped Charies discover himself. carnpus that life is easier for Hilarious! A zany spoof on a now ^<HA % poofters in 1977 than it was in 1972. After all, we've talked to time situation. our friends; we've talked to med, psych, and sociology students. Even-the new police commis­ sioner did a course in sex-roles with a couple of us. Our life has to be easier, hasn't it? It doesn't seem any. easier to me. For it seems that during the holidays police may have infiltrated, at least one of the known po.ofter meeting places on campus with the intention of catching us performing crimi­ nal acts, no doiibt. So if you think it's easy . being a poofter in-1977 just try thinking of yourself as a criminal The cover on this issue and see what happens to your CNR. CAXTON ST RESERVATIONS was designed by Tim head. & PETRIE TCt PHONE 3<i0555 Uw and Mark Wolff Brian Day ••;':• •-;::•.:•••: \v-'-;: •.-*•.•» • ^ ^ :, ews STILL NO JOB FOR HOMOSEXUAL By Radha Rouse Greg Weir, a homosexual activist and trainee teacher graduate , lias been refused employment by the Department of Education. Weir has a contract with the PubUc Service Boaid which states that upon completion of studies and registration as a teacher he shaU be admitted to the Public Service of Queensland and appointed as a teacher. He graduated from Kelvin Grove tliis year with credits, and he beUeves there is no other reason for not giving him a job otiier than the fact that he is a homosexual and a spokesperson for the Kelvin Grove Homosexual and Lesbian Group.