Your Letters
The author of the best letter in each issue will receive two free breakfasts from G & D's (super breakfast bagels with scrambled eggs and one add-on)
G & D's Ice Cream Cafe, Little Clarendon Street
SUPER BALLS?
Dear Sirs,
I am writing in response to a recent article from Ms. Jen Millers. I am also an American female visitor at Teddy Hall, but unlike Ms. Millers, who could not have been in Oxford much more than three weeks before writing her complaint, I am in the midst of my second term here. I would like to state that, while I understand that it is ill-considered to make jokes unless there is a mutual understanding of good fun, I believe that "the Superbowl incident" should have been addressed on personal terms, not in a public forum. I am writing because I regret that, considering Ms. Millers' tone, her comments might be taken to represent the views of all women or all Americans at Teddy Hall, and this would be a gross mistake.
I have received nothing but a warm and respectful welcome at Teddy Hall, both within the JCR and without. I personally feel that Ms. Millers' complaint was inflammatory and unnecessary. I personally feel that, despite assurances that she tries "not to label people," Ms. Millers sure did a hell of a job in reaffirming the stereotype that Americans have no sense of humour. Yet I emphasise that these are my personal opinions and realise that it would be inappropriate for me to slag off Ms. Millers without making that disclaimer. I would not presume to speak for the rest of my country, no matter how much I know about American football.
Most of the Americans that I have met in Teddy Hall and in Oxford have come to have a good time and compare accents. I am not sure why Ms. Millers has come. But I do wish her the best of luck in carrying around that ten foot pole.
Yours faithfully,
Heather DuBois
St. Edmund Hall
PAY NO MIND
Dear Sirs,
I would simply like to point out that I entirely disapprove of supporting non-fees payers. By non-fees payers, I mean those who refuse to pay out of principle rather than because of financial difficulties. If we accept that they should not pay, and support them, why should the rest of us pay? And if no one accepts to pay, then the University will disappear. Of course, we are faced with a very difficult situation, and the denial of the republican principle of free education is indeed very bothering. But once the central government has decided to reduce subventions, and given the necessity to finance the University's activities, it appears as if we do not have a choice. The only relevant pressure to try and maintain should be oriented towards the government, and not against those who run this University. It is their job to threat non-payers because, as I have said, it would be unfair to those who pay and allow the University to function, if they did not. Non-payers are in a position of infraction, and if they wish to attend this University, they must accept its rules. My point is obviously not that fees are good, but rather that the students and the University are on the same side, trying to deal in a just way with a very difficult and effectively bothering issue.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Grouet
JCR President
St. Edmund Hall
I'LL GET MY COATES
Dear Sirs,
I am writing to express my disgust and utter contempt at the failure of your newspaper to do anything to give me cause for complaint.
You are evidently deserting your left-wing tawdry tabloid roots. BASTARDS.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Coates
Deputy Editor, Oxford Student
15th Feb 2001