Editorial

Nick Jenkin’s letter (this issue) and Nitisha Singh’s letter (last issue) about my editorial in 7th February’s Felix raise a number of points worth answering.

Firstly, I would counter Nick’s claim about my editorial being unpatriotic with charges of hypocrisy. Secondly, with today’s financial strictures, no source of funding is secure, so if the medical students receive a ‘ring-fenced’ amount of money, where are the inevitable cuts going to come? Other, non-ring-fenced, student funding perhaps?

Such favouritism is bound to increase resentment between medics and non-medics, which, I agree, we must work together to dispel. Nobody denies that the geography of the medical schools will incur increased costs for the various unions, but the best and fairest way to disburse funds amongst student services and societies is through the existing mechanism, ie ICU. This will have the additional benefit of proper financial accountability to the union’s members.

Finally, the only reflex criticism that occurs when St Mary’s is in the news is by medical students’ ‘representatives’ reacting to comment they see as detrimental to their ‘cause’. Why these ‘representatives’ assume a victim complex every time there is any comment about them I have no idea, but it is definitely reactionary. We (by which I mean all non-medics) are not trying to put you (the medics) down; we simply are not that bothered. Any antipathy that does exist has been generated by St Mary’s xenophobia, which is something the students of Charing Cross might do well to dwell upon