Vision says:
It’s nothing less than outrageous that the University Health Centre cannot provide accessible treatment for such a prevalent sexual infection as chlamydia, especially when young people aged 16-24 are at most risk of its contraction.
That the medical staff were not only unhelpful and patronizing, but often inaccurate in their diagnoses, is more than just salt in the wound, it is an insult to our collective intelligence and a definite threat to the welfare of York’s student body.
This shocking insensitivity to students’ situations could lead to students being reluctant to report very serious issues and therefore suffering in the long run.
Evidence suggests that doctors are treating students like textbook cases rather than taking each case as it comes.
Vision can only hope that the imminent YUSU survey will finally lead to some concrete improvement in this regard.
Thumbs up to:
Scott Bryan, Rich Martell and the campaign to get FitFinder back online. While some might find the website immature, UCL’s blackmailing of founder Rich Martell represents a attack on the foundations of student free speech.
In doing so, university administrations are in danger of establishing a worrying precedent.
How long is it before an external system of morality is imposed wholesale from above on any website accessed from a university network? Our values are not to be commandeered and directed by others.
If a website exists on morally shaky ground, let its users make the final judgement.
Thumbs down to:
It’s hard not to be of the opinion that sports initiations have become something of a relic. The hockey team’s dog chow-related torture is merely the latest incarnation of a less than illustrious tradition.
The idea that ritualized degradation is a necessary precondition for good teamwork may lead to in some cases a strong bond of shared suffering, but in cases of ‘failure’ this can have a profoundly negative effect on the sportsperson’s future participation in the team.
A challenge can be healthy, but forcing people to do things they feel uncomfortable with is completely against the true spirit of university sport.