Well it wouldn't be an ICU election/referendum without the usual flurry of complaints which, whilst technically correct, serve little to enhance a good debate.

In my book, editorials, leaders and comment pieces are all opinion and are thereofe all bias. Each campaign is entitled to write bias pieces and have them published - the crucial point is that everyone is given fair *access* to media, not that the media is overally balanced. If the no campaign has 20 articles printed and the yes campaign only 10, this is fine as long as articles are not being rejected without very good reason.

Some of the points raised do however strike me as sloppy journalism which should be corrected, either by the original author(s) or by a response from the opposing campaign. Frankly spouting nonsense about NUS fees being taking from club budgets is of no help to anyone and only serves to undermine the "no" campaign. It's not as if there aren't enough genuine reasons to oppose NUS affiliation, so let's not start making things up.

I agree that my language was sloppy. What I should have said that the Union could spend the affiliation fee on many other things and not just C&S although I do belive that the money we are not paying ULU would be of greatest benefit to your average student in this area.

I intended to be completely over the top (regular readers of Felix will know that this is my default style, a style which will be altered for next weeks edition) and thought it a bit pedantic for this to be an issue. The sentiments expressed are still my opinions however. I will be able to express my views far more eloquently later on in the campaign than I have done in the last 200 words of an editorial, which by the way I only had to write to fill up the last bit of space on my page as the other articles submitted could not be edited to fit.

PS. could i have the caption beneath my picture changed from "the accused" to "Guilty as Charged"? The complaint was that by writing my piece as an editorial implied that this was the view of Felix and not my own personal views and I ackowledged my error.

"Felix comments pages accused of bias."

Well, duh. That's the point, surely?

In a way, I should have caught this, and removed "Comment Editor" from the page, under Steve's picture. I think anyone who reads Steve's writing regularly will realise his comments are very much tongue-in-cheek.

The idea of an Opinion Piece is not dogmatically to hijack free thought. You do not find opinion columns in propoganda sheets.

Rather, the comment section is intended to provoke thought; in many cases, an extreme article will provoke more criticism than agreement, and it will be harsh, because it occours in people's minds.

I would far rather see a definitive and honest opinion than a politically constrained, hoplessly strained collection of conflicting articles. Who wants to read a dual-sided, 'unbiased' view of a political situation?

I commend Steve for writing it, and I think the inclusion of his press title was far from a bad thing. I think Felix ought to take a stance! The NUS question potentially effects college's media heavily - and Felix is one of the only arms of the Union that really does reach almost every student in the college.

I'd love to be able to take a stance, but I'll get my wrist slapped. So, for the time being, I shall continue to laugh heartily.

graham you legend. keep up the sloppy writing. more people who get upset about it the better.

why exactly do we keep having nus referendums anyway everyone always ends up voting no. horse is dead guys, so you can only really explain your continual flogging of it by deviant sexual fantasies on your part

this is so sad. its a student newspaper ffs. cant u ppl just shutup and let it be? this isn't anything high quality, its a bunch of ppl sacrificing their free time when they could be drunk to write something because they feel motivated. and then some assholes from the union have to "uphold the constitution" and any other document they see fit just to slander these poor ppl. get a life! do something besides acting like nobs! its like mun all over again, with just as much arrogance and small-penis-syndrome as in high school!

andys last comment is legendary as well. props to the felix ed for not giving a s**t for conventional mud-slinging

i like sex. its nice.