My thoughts on this one. I saw the same sort of march when I was at university. A lot of people, mostly women, marched at dusk through Albert Park, adjacent to Auckland University. *shrug* Fine. They can if they want.

What made it ironic is that, around the same time, a female student was attacked one night in a poorly lit part of the campus. This was an alarming event, and naturally a lot of people suggested that something should be done. Like improving the lighting in some of the more rundown areas. Then someone had the horrifying idea that there could be a community police officer stationed somewhere on campus, to provide a bit of a presence and do the paperwork for all the theft and vandalism and other stuff that you get at a large university.

The student protests provoked by this suggestion were unbelievable. Way more popular than the ones supporting our right to walk around in the evening without getting whacked on the head with a brick. A POLICEMAN on the hallowed grounds of Auckland University? THE MAN trampling on the rights of all us radical free-thinking little dweebs? Why, it was a sure sign of the government's FEAR of the hotbed of political unrest that is tertiary education.

Speaking as someone who quite happily walked through Albert Park at night for many years, without anything more adverse happening to me than stepping in dog do, I can only be grateful to the women who marched for my protection. No doubt the evildoers lurking behind every tree were thinking as I passed, "Right, let's get her! No, wait, what if two years from now some women holding candles march through here and Reclaim the Night? Uh oh. I guess I shall go home and read Bible verses to my bedridden old grandmother instead."

I also note, just as a matter of interest, that there is still no community policeman at Auckland University. There is no improved lighting either. There are still student protests, however.

Brunnen-"the nasty cynical person"G