Art of Compassion

By Unknown Author

An editorial on a feature is a little unconventional, but this week your Editors feel honour bound to defend that poor beleaguered creature, the science student.

We are to such a large extent defined by subject here. One of the first questions you ask of a new acquaintance is what subject they do, and you make assumptions from their response: PPEist - bullshitter; Historian - doesn't know the meaning of work until two weeks before the extended essay deadline; Physics - smile nicely and RUN.

Now, I'd like to say I'd known some perfectly normal physicists in my time, but I'm afraid that would be a lie. Nevertheless, we must confront our prejudices and accept that, just because someone gets up for nine o'clocks (no, staying up till nine with an essay crisis is not the same) does not necessarily mean that they are odd.

In fact, the aforementioned nine o'clock is part of the reason one must pity the poor scientist. Not just because while us arts students are sleeping the sleep of the soon-to-be-hungover they are staggering to lectures and practicals, but because one of the great advantages to being an arts student is a vaguely flexible workload. Your lectures range from the useless to the less than essential, and your once or twice weekly essays can, if necessary, be ignored for six days of the week and then completed to a reasonable standard with a large pot of coffee and a stack of books in one night. Which allows you free time. Either to bond with your duvet and television, or to venture out into the wider world and get a "hobby". And allow that hobby to become all important and overshadow your degree, without actually getting sent down. Meanwhile the scientist emerges blinking from labs at 5pm, about the time your average arts student can no longer postpone going to a library for a couple of hours.

So take pity on the poor science student. Whilst we can't tempt them out of labs on a permanent basis, we can at least stop them knowing what they're missing. I won't mention the joys of Crossroads if you don't.

31st Jan 2002