Freedom of speech

IBN CAMPUSINO is definitely not the PR officer of the Rector nor is he his mouthpiece. We also realise that very often the statements in the Insiter are pronounced with tongue in cheek. So one could be ridiculing oneself if one takes Insiter to court.

Insiter is meant to be a paper which reproduces some of the small talk that goes on in the campus quadrangle. However, Neville Borg did go a bit overboard in his article on the front page of the Insiter entitled "Student Freedom of Speech Threatened." The article itself proves that this is far from the case. If anything, it shows the opposite.

No one, not even in the liberal United States, would have dared to call a response from the rector of a University as a typically nonchalant response. If one wanted to label Professor Roger Ellul Micallef as erring, he would certainly be described as being overcautious, too careful and considerate. Certainly "typically nonchalant", coming from somebody who probably does not know the Rector from Adam, does not fit. We feel it is time to instil some respect in our University even if we do not need to reattach the "Magnificus" to our Rector's title.

If one wants to illustrate the present rector's relations with the rest of us on campus, one could say that he gives the necessary attention to the needs of the University, its staff and students like a bonus paterfamilias. Sometimes he needs to appear a bit cruel to be kind. He uses his vast experience to calm a situation with the correct tactics where silence (or a low tone) is golden.

It is no easy task to be a Rector. Sometimes the Rector needs everyone to rally behind him and we are sure that most staff, academic and administrative, are doing so with all their energy, even if behind the scenes. The Rector may publicise his response to all staff and student expressions of complaints. However his response may be more effective by his having a good word in the ear of those concerned in a dignified manner as befits his high office, even though this method may be much more time-consuming and attracts less appreciation from certain factions such as Insiter.

The Rector being a shrewd medical doctor and a pharmacologist at that knows how to calculate the correct dose, administer the remedy in the right method so that it hurts the least, avoiding as many side effects as possible and without announcing the name of the disease of the patient to one and all.

This attitude of the Rector contrasts with that of Insiter where they state that Insiter "will not allow itself to be defeated by such behaviour and will continue to uncover and publicise any shortcomings or injustices committed within our university!" While recognising that the raison d'être of Insiter is different from that of the Rector, it is important to recognise that the Rector has a much more serious responsibility. Fortunately, our Rector is usually well chosen to possess the necessary acumen to carry out his duties with the dignity and attention that such a tertiary education institution demands.

What irked Insiter was the question of hygiene in the University canteen. This column has regularly criticised the canteen. However one must realise that it is also a mammoth task to develop a low-cost service to an unpredictable number of staff and students.

There are many other health and safety aspects that certainly create daily headaches for the Rector. How about the recent fire in a nearby factory? What would have happened if one of our laboratories which have no suitable fire exits caught fire and caused death among our staff and students. Would we then blame the Rector for this happening? Should he order right away the closing of the laboratories and hence of the relevant courses sending the students home? Or should he act in a more strategic manner, as he is doing?

How about the unhealthy situation where 60 students are crammed in a lecture room meant to take 25 and is designed as a tutorial room rather than a lecture room? Should the Rector impose a numerus clausus in most courses until the government provides enough suitable space for lecturing or should he act by putting convincing pressure on the government to provide the University's basic needs?

Let us all, including Insiter, rally behind the Rector to make sure that the University is provided with at least the barest needs. This is a crucial time when the 2006 Budget is being given its final touches. A few thousand liri may provide us with a decent canteen and suitable lecture rooms. We are sure that this is what both the Rector and Insiter want and that they are both working very actively towards this aim in different ways.