Independent Student Groups in St Andrews

There are a number of unaffiliated groups run by students in the University of St Andrews, Scotland

Independent media

• Newspapers
  • The Saint, published fortnightly, is the oldest of the student publications (although it has been published under a number of titles, of which The Saint is the most recent) and has the highest circulation. The publication was named 'Best Student Newspaper in Scotland' by the Herald in 2002 and 2003, runner-up to 'Best Student Newspaper in the UK' and 'Best Small Budget Student Publication' in the Guardian Student Media Awards, 2001.

It received nominations for Best Student Newspaper, Best Photographer, Best Features Writer, Best Production and Best Sports Writer in the 2005 Herald awards. In the whole of the United Kingdom, only Oxford's Cherwell and Cambridge's Varsity are similarly independent. However, the paper made headlines in the national press over accusations of anti-Welsh sentiment and homophobia in late 2004 which threatened to remove the paper from its established offices, which the Students' Association provides to the paper, and therefore threatened the short term future of the paper. There was a fair amount of sympathy for The Saint from the national press^[1],. After the Christmas break, the paper was re-instated in its original premises.

The paper publishes once every two weeks and distributes around 1,000 copies, with each copy estimated to be read by three students. A new website was launched in October 2006, featuring an interview with former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.

• • The Mitre - a conservative newspaper targeted at, but not limited to, the university's Roman Catholic students. The paper was established in 2003 as reaction to what its writers perceived as the occasional intellectual shortcomings of the Saint. It seems to have disappeared with the graduation of its editor and limited readership base.

• • Between 1995 and 1997, there was an irregularly-published satirical magazine called the "Horn of Plenty".
  • Between 2003 and 2006 a monthly satirical magazine called "The Chihuahua" was available, but was shut down at the end of 2006 after the November issue was deemed very offensive, and possibly slightly illegal.

• • The "Colonnade" is a literary magazine.

• • In 2006, "The Andie," a St Andrews "society" magazine, was launched and sold out its first and only run. However, the style and content of the publication was highly controversial, due in part to its scathing criticism of the Students' Association's elected officials and their conduct in the March 2006 elections, and the perception that the magazine was aimed at a narrow, upper-middle class demographic. As with the Mitre,the Andie has disappeared following the graduation of its editorial team.

• • The Student's Association funded a newspaper in the 1990s called Newsreel, which contained union-related news plus unrelated stories about music, film, and pop culture.

Online communities

Separately to the University The Sinner was a side project by St Andrews computer science student James Baster. "St-Adz" as it was first called, provided a place where students could exchange books and other goods. It later developed into a messageboard and unofficial Guide to St Andrews, under its new name, The Sinner. Oli Walker took over the running of the site in May 2003, expanding the messageboards to provide an online presence for halls of residence, student societies and academic groups.

Members of TheSinner.net are known as "Sinners", and a new student society called "SinnerSoc" was started in September 2005 to ensure the Guide to St Andrews is up to date and to encourage people from all over the University to interact in thought-provoking debate.

St Andrews is one of the many British universities and colleges to have a community on the Facebook, and listed 12,606 students and staff members, as of 31 May 2008.

References