We Must Abolish Private Education

For all its eloquent turns of phrase and broad, literate vocabulary, Ed Cummings’ article on admissions (An Unsurprising Elite, 28th September) was intellectually lazy and contradictory. As such, the article’s mismatch between form and content serves to undermine its own argument: it proves that you can polish a turd, especially with the help of a private education.

For Cummings fatally conflates the ‘best schools’ with ‘the best students’. The mere fact of going to a very expensive school does not in itself confer merit. With sufficient help and coaching, even a mediocre student can achieve five As at A-level and summon sufficient brio to blag their way through an interview. Again, this isn’t an indicator of their intelligence: merely a function of their class background. Meanwhile, highly able students from rough schools routinely fail to get As because of the obstacles that low-income life and disruptive school environments throw in their way.

Crucially, the defining feature of private schools is not only that they are ‘better’ than state schools, but also that one has to pay. Although he bleats about “meritocracy”, Cummings admits that these schools are there for those “either able to foot the fees or bright enough to secure a scholarship”. Because scholarships are necessarily a minority, Cummings finds himself defending a system under which one can pay to cheat the meritocratic system by buying success. That’s unjust. A good education should be a right, not a very expensive privilege. We must abolish private education.

Edward Maltby
St John’s College

An Incomplete Argument

The visit by Bjorn Lomborg, author of the ‘Sceptical Environmentalist’ to the Union was interesting, though controversial.
One member of the audience asked why he had not mention the effect of global warming on agriculture and water supplies in his talk. Lomborg replied to this by saying he did not have time to address everything. He added that the growing population of the world would cause a water shortage anyway. Yet surely climate change will only make this worse?

Lomborg seemed pessimistic about ever preventing climate change. He stated that the Kyoto Protocol costs $180 Billion per year and will only delay the warming by 5 years. I found his use of economic figures confusing. How can you put a price on a human life in the future?

However, as well as his pessimism about preventing climate change, he seemed optimistic that global development and progress will generate enough wealth to solve all the problems caused by climate change. This poses the question; how will this develoment occur if it is hindered by catastrophic climate change?

After Lomborg’s talk it struck me that he had not once mentioned the idea of a climate ‘tipping point’ and the risk of positive feedback mechanisms caused by warming. I had the opportunity to ask Lomborg after his talk why he had not mentioned this at all. His response was that he did not mention it as the science was not definite on this issue, but he did admit that it is likely such a ‘tipping point’ does exist. This struck me as a glaring omission from his argument.

Helena Wright
Secretary, Cambridge People and Planet

Girton JCR Stands Strong

Please find below a list of the JCR Committee members which undersigned the following statement. The entire Committee has signed which clearly shows that the rumours about the JCR Committee threatening to step down are not true.

“I am not in anyway planning to step down from the JCR Committee and I support Karoline Klose as President of the JCR at Girton College.”

Gemma Brady- Vice President,
Stef Porter- Treasurer,
Deborah Margolis, Secretary/External,
Jon Webb - Ents Officer,
Tom Fitch – Ents,
Carrie Raynham, Wolfson Court Bar and Ents Officer,
Joanna Harries Welfare and Academic (Women’s),
Nick Evans – Welfare,
Breanne Mc Ivor -Ethnic Minorities Officer,
Luke Andrews - LBGT rep,

Dave Walsh - Target Schools Officer,
Bernard Travers - JCR Webmaster and Computer Representative,
Daniel Ryder-Cook - Bike Rep,
Mothusi Turner - Representative for International Students,
Roz Tandy - Green Officer,
Jonny Tassell - Wolfson Court Officer,
Jordan - Comms Officer,
Rishi Baveja - Comms Officer,
Ewan Livingston - Girton JCR Curator,
Tom Klaentschi - Girton JCR Bar Rep

Karoline Klose
Girton JCR President