I'm the President of the Aberdeen University Students' Association (AUSA).

I agree that we take the freedom of our media in the UK for granted.

In fact, Gaudie has operated in the same way as the Guardian, financed and supported by the Students' Association, but it '(critically) remains editorially independent'. True, this was never put down on paper. But there was never an agenda to censor Gaudie. And it is also one of the reasons that AUSA had started to put together a constitution for Gaudie, even before the fuss about Vox-Pop kicked off.

for the Students Association to be a succesful organisation and for it be effectively held to account, it is vital that students are able to criticise it, its actions and the decisions of officers. Therefore, an editorially independent student newspaper is crucial to the vibrancy of campus, and why, if anything, I would wish to encourage criticism of the SA in the Gaudie.

Robin Parker