Voice of Reason
I shall deal with the very important business first. Due to a technical error last week, the thrust of my final point about Southside became a tad garbled. The piece as written implies that I am advocating the consumption of cream beers, such as Caffreys. Nothing could be further from the truth. These insidious creations are the bodily fluids of Beelzebub himself. Wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole, mate. I was, of course, referring to the unsurpassed range of proper real ales on offer. I thought I better make that clear, lest anyone think I have taken leave of my senses (no sniggering at the back, thank you).
It would seem that the Library is the centre of attention once again for all the wrong reasons. First we had the water leak that knocked out the electrical supply to Sherfield. My dear friend Keith Reynolds, Head of Fire and Security, said that this presented no danger. No Danger? Did not the loss of power and subsequent battery exhaustion mean that the Chemistry explosion was not indicated in Sherfield? This is not the first time that his comments looks unnerving. A reassurance from Mr Reynolds usually leads me to assume the foetus position under a stout table and pray for salvation. The other problem concerns the closure. This has understandably irritated our biological friends, coming as it does in their revision period. On a personal level, my degree of sympathy for them is slightly reduced by the racket I had to endure in the Library last summer caused not by the builders but said students; regular readers will remember that this prompted the mobile phone ban.
Nevertheless, they have a valid point. The initial excavation of the basement began the day after my final exams, but since mine were first, this affected a huge number of people. The whole project timing has been a shambles. While it would be naive to expect no inconvenience, the major works could have been organised a little better. Exam dates are, give or take a day or two, written in stone. It is not therefore unreasonable to expect the boys and girls at Schal and College Estates to take them into account.
If the project had started a mere month earlier this would have coincided with Christmas, a slack period for the library. Surely one of the 200-plus people in Estates could have realised this (I deliberately include all of them, not just the management). Of Schal Project Mismanagement, I suppose this is par for the course. I don’t know what they do in the bowels of Southside, but I fear that they are heeding my advice on the neighbouring bar a little too enthusiastically. I would love to know what their management fee is for all this, but suspect that no one in Sherfield will readily volunteer (or even know) it. At this rate, Campus Renaissance will be more Michael Mouse than Michelangelo.
It was nice to see that the Europe debate has become fractionally less hazy, with speeches from Robin Cook, espousing EMU, and John Major going as far in the opposite direction as Ken Clarke will allow him. Make no mistake, the man who decides EU policy in the Cabinet is not the Prime Minister.
If the debate continues, the public will at last have some sort of choice on what could be the most important decision taken since the War. It also throws the Conservatives a lifeline. Every poll conducted indicates widespread public opposition to closer union, both here and abroad. Though most should be taken with a large pinch of the white stuff, the trend is clear. Parties so out of step with public opinion on major issues have two choices- change policy or move to the Opposition benches. The public realise that EMU is fatally flawed, albeit for reasons of varying validity. The Conservatives should stop beating about the bush, and if that means losing a chancellor, even a good one, so be it. The economy is at stake.
