Should we steal from SUSU?

Whilst sitting on the toilet in the Stags Head the other day, I had a thought. The toilet roll dispensers are always so plentifully stocked, and dangerously easy to prise open. As a fee-paying student currently left with about a dozen sheets of loo paper between seven housemates, would it be morally wrong for a roll to ‘accidentally’ fall into my bag?

Although the answer is clear that no, we should not steal from the Union, this is definitely a question worth considering. It is entirely dependent on an individual’s perception and definition of stealing.

For instance, it is almost customary, if not expected to an extent, for students to occasionally take glasses from pubs, and I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t snaffle a huge handful of pens on a university stall or be tempted by sandwiches from a prepared buffet even if the organised event is nothing to do with them. But is this stealing?

The problem is defining the line between acceptable pilfering and blatant theft. On the one hand, it could be argued that as students, we deserve the right to make the most of all the Union’s features, including resources such as paper and stationary, yet in doing so, are we indirectly increasing overall costs?

So, in true Soton Tab style, I would like to open the debate. Leave your comments below, and let’s see how honest the students of Southampton really are!