Your Letters
The author of the best letter in each issue will receive a pair of free tickets to see the film of their choice at the Phoenix.
GETTING IT WRONG Dear Sir,
Could OUSU in general and its (allegedly) journalistic arm in particular please make the correct distinction between "it's" (short for "it is") and "its" (indicating possession)? Currently it is so consistently wrong as to seem deliberate.
OUSU claims to represent Oxford students; at least represent them as literate.
Yours faithfully, Disgusted of St John's
After a few weeks in Oxford, I was really beginning to miss the idle debate of disgusted commuters in that Metro newspaper. Imagine my surprise when this turned up, then. Spending hours on public transport has the understandable effect of making people irritated at the small matters while the world is screwing up all around them. What's your excuse? Haven't you got anything else to get wound up about? There's a second Starbuck's opening in town for Christ's sake.
Still. to get my tutor off my back, I'll give you the tickets. On one condition: You call in at OUSU on the way home to help us with our sub-editing.
DOCTOR, DOCTOR Dear Sirs
A recent poll of students showed that they consider health and education the most important issues.
Health is certainly important. I just want to make the point that I think there have to be limits. It is perhaps disturbing that there may be plans to use material from abortions or stem cells from cloned embryos to treat stroke patients.
I don't personally, along with many others, agree with this, for religious or other reasons. What worries particulalrly is that stroke patients may be unaware what is happening, due to impaired mental faculties. It could be very alarming if someone who disapproved was treated in this way without his or her knowledge, then afterwards recovered and found out what had happened. The person might feel suicidal.
I think no such treatment should be administered where there is reasonable doubt that the person involved would have given his or her consent.
I am writing to you although I am not a student because I wish to raise the point with someone, but again to bother Evan Harris shortly before an election, having written to him previously to disagree with cloning, because I don't wish to see Conservatives get in!
Although I sometimes prefer their tighter moral stance, I don't agree with their social policies.
LIFE-CHANGING Dear OxStu,
Just wanted to congratulate you on the new 'Life' section. Let's face it, some of the old 'Features' and 'Jezebel' pages were a bit pants, and it's good to see a new section that takes issues seriously and looks nice too. Hurrah.
Yours faithfully, Laura Travers
P.S. I am a sixth form student from Witney seeking work experience with a high quality, cutting edge newspaper such as the Oxford Student.
Oh no, not another one...
3rd May 2001