THIS letter is in response to that sent by Mr Kelly printed in the last edition of the Citizen.

His letter was particularly worrying to us as representatives of the student body at Lancaster University and St Martins College, and we are both very concerned to hear such avid and bitter anti-student sentiments being expressed.

Within Lancaster it is recognised that there are somewhere around 19,000 students in attendance at both St Martins College and the University and Mr Kelly clearly believes that these numbers are responsible for the decline that he feels he has witnessed in Lancaster.

We would like to take this opportunity to point out the benefits that our students bring to this city, that we are all resident in and feel great sentiment for despite our not being born here.

Firstly we have a number of questions for Mr Kelly, where would he have those that wish to further their education go? Why is it wrong to add a collection of intelligent and committed young and enthusiastic people to the membership of Lancaster?

What does Mr Kelly think would happen to many of the industries and businesses in Lancaster that enjoy the large customer base that the students, and the university and college staff provide? I'm sure the taxi companies among many other businesses feel the absences of the student community quite deeply in their pockets while they are away.

We are always keen to feel that we add something to the community and would like to stress that we make many efforts to use our wide skill base and our varied interests to greater use than just our respective institutions.

To name but a few in the last year, we have invested money in community and police initiatives such as the Walkaway campaign and we constantly campaign to make our streets, pubs and clubs a safer place. Students also played a major part in the fight to save the women's refuge in Lancaster.

We have always attended a variety of local meetings and would always be keen to go along to any forum that discusses wider community issues. This year there are plans for LUSU (Lancaster University Students' Union) to use funding to run an active volunteers in the community scheme, which will see us working in Lancaster on a number of important local projects and developments. We also provide a large number of facilities that local people can use.

To contradict what Mr Kelly says we would like point out that the new St Martins sports centre is in fact more widely used by the local community than the students.

It is disappointing to hear such a negative view of the student population and we would hope that this view is not too widely held. Yes the students may well need houses to live in, and places to park their cars and socialise. They cannot be blamed however for the fact that many other companies and individuals see a chance to exploit their existence, and are bringing in pub chains or buying up houses and raising the market price. It should not be forgotten that they bring with them great diversity and create a more dynamic and exciting Lancaster for everybody concerned.

Trish McGrath (LUSU President)

and Mark Holt (St Martin's Student Union President)

Bowerham

Lancaster