YES: Soren Rasmussen This article is not  sponsored by Aikman’s Bar & Bistro. It seems the work of the Aikman’s defender never ends. Every day, I find my honourable home laid siege to by those whose narrow imaginings of the student pub fail to comprehend it, who see nothing more than a jaundiced quagmire of the drunk and disorderly. Every day, I hear this invective butchery by you torch-wielding mob, your misguided diatribes. But so be it. Dutifully, I’ll roll up my sleeves a

YES: Georges Toulouse We can all agree that St Andrews is not exactly Oxford or Cambridge. We’re much smaller, slightly colder, do not have one-on-one tutorials, and are not exactly producing the same quantity of research. Ensues a refrain which one often hears in St Andrews and elsewhere: ‘How on Earth is St Andrews competing with Oxford and Cambridge in national rankings?’ Here’s what I feel inclined to argue: academic prestige should not be defined by the metrics of yester

NO: Sophie Rae Few things in life are guaranteed, but the existence of so-called ‘f***boys’ at university is a given. One of the most common associations around going to uni is that you are your own person for the first time. Naturally, you are going to explore new things about yourself, your living habits, and your sex life. Moving away means you can explore and reinvent yourself and, despite its smaller population, St Andrews is no exception. They say that you either leave

YES: Gregory Chang Let me be clear. I'm not saying suffering doesn't matter, or that civic participation is optional. Vote. Don't be cruel. Help when you can. But the demand that every educated person maintain emotional engagement with every global crisis isn't moral clarity. It's a recipe for burnout disguised as virtue. Be proud if you dedicate yourself to a cause. But don’t, perhaps, sharpen the guillotine for those who simply don't share your particular passion, wagering

YES: Milly Smith Celebrities possess a lot of soft power. If the term ‘influencer’ is anything to go by, those in the public eye certainly have the ability to affect the behaviour of their loyal fan bases. Celebrities continue to encroach on the political sphere — the US President himself is a celebrity, and even actors, singers, and Instagram stars are now expected to speak out on each and every political cause, with silence being taken as a venomous denial of human rights. 

NO: Saffron Rowell You’ve all read the title. Like every good porno, we’re throwing foreplay out the window. Let’s skip to the good bit. First off, smut has a wider plot. It has character development, a narrative arc separate from the non-sexual content of the novel. How would we know that the Dark Prince has overcome his daddy issues, and learned that mafioso violence does not qualify as a love language, if we don't see him, tenderly but with inhuman strength, take Y/N from

YES: Maria Ebrahim Is the year abroad nothing short of a glorified holiday? My mother — and a handful of my Instagram story viewers — probably think so. I spent nine months on the University’s WIYA programme in Spain, teaching English at the University of Cádiz. Working  rather than studying is a niche version of the year abroad, but it gave me a much-needed perspective on life outside the Bubble. A year abroad is the one opportunity you have to travel, live somewhere new, an

NO: Petra Pender Social media has the power to destroy, but it also has the power to create. The arts and creativity have never been more accessible in the field of human history. Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes, Chappell Roan —  all household names who got their start posting online. In an era where nepo babies dominate Hollywood, social media can level the playing field, widening access to people from all backgrounds, not just those with the right surname.  Although I’ll be the

NO: Truman Cunningham Like wine and cheese, a good film adaptation can only complement the book on which it’s based. The book provides...