Of all places, it had to be the institution I work in and love (platonically of course). A number of my colleagues are up in arms against the University over its treatment of the student newspaper Ir-Realta`.

The rub was Alex Vella Gera's 'story' Li Tkisser Sewwi carried in the latest issue. This short work of modern fiction talks about erotic enterprise, shall we say. University was not amused and banned the newspaper.

What followed was a spot of pass the buck fun - from the KSU, to the Rector, the chaplaincy, and so on. I honestly don't know who did the censoring, and I don't care that much. Even if it was the Rector, there's no way he would do such a thing on a personal whim. Rather, he would be acting according to the unspoken general rules that define what's acceptable on campus. In short, we're looking at an attitude rather than a one-off.

In this case the general attitude seems to decree that heavy-duty sexual content corrupts youngsters. The literati will retort with stories on Socrates and an endless list of great works that contain, well, heavy-duty sex. Their enthusiasm, however, is probably misplaced.

Vella Gera's story is more raspberry than laurel. Apart from the stream of obscenities that would make a Thai pimp change the subject, it's a plain and pointless piece that left me totally unmoved and resolved never to look at any of his writings as long as I live.

How do I know this? Because I've read it. (Someone was kind enough to leave me a copy at my office.) And that's the point really, that I should hope I'm old enough to read a page of literature and make up my own mind whether or not I have time for more.

The assumption seems to be that our students aren't. They may be adults, they may be expected to write sophisticated essays on complicated subjects, but they're in no position to read a page, decide it's nonsense, and bin it. In doing that service for them, University is effectively telling them it has no faith in their critical faculties.

Which is extremely disturbing. First, the attitude is an insult to our students' intelligence and maturity. I certainly wouldn't want a younger person to read Vella Gera's masterpiece, but we're talking about adults here. Not just any adults, mind you, but ones paid by the taxpayer to think.

There's a second, perhaps more serious issue. One of the perennial headaches at University is resources - library materials, staff, IT facilities, and such. It's encouraging to note that this is being taken seriously, in many ways.

There is, however, one resource without which one cannot provide a university education, no matter how many books and computers one has. That resource is our students' open-mindedness and capacity for critical thought. Speaking at least for the humanities and social sciences, our lectures cannot begin to make sense in the absence of this quality. We need it as much as, if not more than, material resources.

Hopefully without sounding snotty, I see University as a rather special place. The gap between it and sixth form is not just a quantitative one (the amount of study required) but qualitative, in the sense that it should present a totally different approach to knowledge. At University we don't just pass on material, we actively produce and submit it to critical peer review. For lecturers, this is the biggest challenge that comes with the job.

So, it's up to University to encourage anything that fosters an evaluative and critical culture. I'm not sure that banning student newspapers is a step in this direction.

I rather tend to see it as mind-numbing nannying that absolves students of their intellectual responsibilities.

The ban on Ir-Realta` should also be seen in a broader context. Moviment Graffitti complained last week that they've been robbed of their little office space on campus. Even if I don't buy Graffitti's leftie antics, I feel their departure is our loss.

They're quite unique among student organisations in that they tackle political issues in a sustained and colourful way.

I mention their case because it may be symptomatic of a general malaise among students. One that sanitises and robs them of intellectual stimulus, and that leaves them with inane discussions on pre-marital sex, condom dispensers, beliefs in angels and eternal damnation, and boring lifestyle surveys. And with the meddling Theology Students Association, which at the moment seems to be the busiest body on campus.

It's ironic that this is happening at a time of genuine optimism and positive initiatives at University.

We've launched a debating society on one hand and banned a debatable newspaper on the other.

One might suggest a link between the censorship in question and the continued absence of a condom dispenser. Such a dispenser, the theological argument goes, would encourage promiscuity.

Just as well it would. The more promiscuity on campus, the better.

I'm not referring to the sexual type, about which students will make up their own minds. Rather, the kind of sleeping around I'd encourage is the intellectual one.

Reading Vella Gera's piece may well require some prophylactic precautions, but experience is made of adventure and practice.

mafalzon@hotmail.com

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