5th Week is perhaps the low point of the term. The stress levels have slowly increased as any youthful optimism one may have had upon starting the year at Oxford have been crushed by the claustrophobic walls of books in the libraries that have become most people’s horizon.
5th Week is perhaps the low point of the term. The stress levels have slowly increased as any youthful optimism one may have had upon starting the year at Oxford have been crushed by the claustrophobic walls of books in the libraries that have become most people’s horizon.
As we all know, the best way to deal with stress is of course stress-eating. I find the most common source of my sustenance is the fast food vans that line the street every night. However, we must not forget the struggle for rights that these vans fought in Oxford. A landmark was reported in the Cherwell on 10th November 1962. Apparently Young’s hotdog van had been repeatedly harassed by the police and forced to move on, until eventually he ‘appeared before a court on a charge of “unnecessary obstruction”’. His cause seemed hopeless, especially when Young himself remarked that “Sometimes I get more summonses than customers”. However, his brave defence counsel pointed out to the court that there was a principle at stake: ‘the whole institution of hot dog vans’. Thankfully the charges were dropped. Spare a thought for this brave martyr next time you have a kebab, my friends.
Harassment of particular groups seems to be a common theme of 5th week, as it turns out that Oxford was a far more God (or in fact witch) fearing place all the way back in 1991. The November 8th issue reported a row over the ‘Oxford Golden Dawn Occult Society’. Their leader, ‘Mandrake Katon Shual’, complained about harassment of his members, with one student being told she would be ‘unable to continue her studies due to Occult connections’. Even the Diocese of Oxford commented on the society, saying, ‘Occult activities are wrong and forbidden’. However some defended the occultists, with a member of Exeter CU aptly pointing out, ‘You start off harassing people… like Occultists and gays, and end up picking on people for being Catholic or Jewish, or even having acne and wearing orange baseball boots’. Or, indeed, owning a hot dog van.
On a brighter note, it seems not everyone is intolerant of eccentrics. On 12th November 2004 Cherwell reported Corpus Christi JCR to have voted to send Fidel Castro a ‘get well soon’ card. This came after he broke an arm and a leg in a fall, claimed by some to be a CIA assassination attempt.
As we all know, the best way to deal with stress is of course stress-eating. I find the most common source of my sustenance is the fast food vans that line the street every night. However, we must not forget the struggle for rights that these vans fought in Oxford. A landmark was reported in the Cherwell on 10th November 1962. Apparently Young’s hotdog van had been repeatedly harassed by the police and forced to move on, until eventually he ‘appeared before a court on a charge of “unnecessary obstruction”’. His cause seemed hopeless, especially when Young himself remarked that “Sometimes I get more summonses than customers”. However, his brave defence counsel pointed out to the court that there was a principle at stake: ‘the whole institution of hot dog vans’. Thankfully the charges were dropped. Spare a thought for this brave martyr next time you have a kebab, my friends.
Harassment of particular groups seems to be a common theme of 5th week, as it turns out that Oxford was a far more God (or in fact witch) fearing place all the way back in 1991. The November 8th issue reported a row over the ‘Oxford Golden Dawn Occult Society’. Their leader, ‘Mandrake Katon Shual’, complained about harassment of his members, with one student being told she would be ‘unable to continue her studies due to Occult connections’. Even the Diocese of Oxford commented on the society, saying, ‘Occult activities are wrong and forbidden’. However some defended the occultists, with a member of Exeter CU aptly pointing out, ‘You start off harassing people… like Occultists and gays, and end up picking on people for being Catholic or Jewish, or even having acne and wearing orange baseball boots’. Or, indeed, owning a hot dog van.
On a brighter note, it seems not everyone is intolerant of eccentrics. On 12th November 2004 Cherwell reported Corpus Christi JCR to have voted to send Fidel Castro a ‘get well soon’ card. This came after he broke an arm and a leg in a fall, claimed by some to be a CIA assassination attempt.
