Dirty money

Curtailing bop banter is not exactly a new trick among the old dogs of Oxford officialdom – while defacation is hardly the most original of pranks – yet this week these two titans found themselves up for debate in that most intellectual of hot-houses, St John’s College.Whoever did the deed just isn’t very funny, or very clever, but the hilarity of the college’s response can hardly be lost on many. Surely this is the kind of incident which should be swept quietly under the carpet, yet instead the richest college in the university has decided to penalise the entire student body for the actions of one idiot.To impose a levy to pay for the cleaning up of some poo is silly, but to do it as the institution which makes the wealth of colleges such as Lady Margaret Hall and St Hugh’s pale into insignificance is hardly a mature response. The undergraduates of St John’s can hardly be eager to pay just to clear this smear on their illustrious name.ARCHIVE: 3rd week MT 2005