You must join the debate

This newspaper has a long and distinguished history of informing, supporting and entertaining students and in the coming years, during your time at this great university, this vital role that Felix plays at Imperial will be ever more important.

Coming to university is an exciting experience but also a little frightening, even in the good times. Saying goodbye to family and old school friends is difficult and finding your feet at university isn't always straightforward. At the same time however, the freedom of being an independent person and the fantastic new experiences that you will have are guaranteed to put a beaming smile on your face.

Unfortunately, as you will well know, we no longer live in good times. The fact that you are reading this newspaper means that you were not one of 220,000 students who didn't receive a place at university this year. No doubt this is due to your intelligence, ability and grades but you must be under no illusions about the changes that will occur while you are at university.

The coalition will likely implement cuts to university funding of between 25% to 40%. This will affect the quality of your teaching, of the facilities that you use and your university experience in general. In addition the Browne Review into how students pay for university will, at the end of October, probably recommend increasing tuition fees to £7,000. The government may not accept the review's recommendations but don't fool yourself into thinking that the system is going to stay the same. There will be a change.

There is a debate raging in this country about this impending change in higher education and it is your responsibility and your duty to future students at Imperial to be involved in it. It has become a truism that Imperial students are apathetic and apolitical, but now the politics is about you, about your education and about your money. It is simply not good enough to say I don't care.

So make yourself heard. Engage in the debate online, in comment threads and on blogs. Inform yourself by reading up on the issue, newspapers would be a good place to start. This is your moment, your opportunity to shape your university experience and to protect it; donít let it pass you by.